For optimal performance, there are several tasks to perform before adding information for a new school year:
(1) Activate the New School Year - required
(2) Perform Bulk Operations Procedure - required
(3) Manage Assessments - best practice is maintenance each year, but not required
(4) Review Security - Roles, Permissions, Teams - required
Before information syncs or uploads to ion for the new school year, be sure to activate the new school year.
1. Access the School Year Setup by clicking on Admin>Dictionaries>School Year>Years
2. Click on the green check mark for the new school year to activate it.
3. Review the Year, Start Date and End Date. If any of these need to be adjusted, click the Edit button. Use the setup box to adjust the start/end Dates for the school year and make adjustments to the first and last day of school as needed. Click Save.
ion will create new school years as needed. If you do not see a school year in your system, contact Customer Support.
Bulk operations is part of our Year End Closeout Procedures. This action allows districts to...
- Close plans before the new year begins
- This action must be performed separately for each school in the district
- This action must be performed for all districts that have active plans
- Deactivate students who are no longer enrolled
- This will not be necessary for most districts- see items highlighted below about active/inactive students
If plans need to remain open during summer, they can be reopened on the Student Plan page after the bulk close. Do not forget to close out any open plans from summer BEFORE the new school year begins.
1. Select Bulk Operations on the drop down menu Admin>Data>Bulk Operations
2. Check the school you are in - the Bulk Operations must be performed for each school, individually.
3. Choose the date for close. Make sure all the plan data for that time period has been entered before selecting the close date.
4. Select the components that you wish to close.
5. Click "close selected."
The operation can run in the background. The user does not need to remain on the screen.
6. Deactivate Students - Most districts do not need to deactivate students during Bulk Closeout Procedure. Throughout the year, ion syncs (nightly) with the district SIS to verify students' enrollment activity. When students do not appear for 4 consecutive days, they will automatically be marked in the system as inactive.
If there is a change of more than 15% in the list of active students, ion will not deactivate anyone. Please contact customer support to process this change.
7. Verify closeout by reviewing Active vs Archived plans. Click MTSS>Plans>Active plans and toggle between active and archived plan tabs. Active plans should be empty. Archived should hold the recently closed plans.
Before the beginning of the new school year, districts can manage their assessments in these applications:
(1) Update the assessment dictionary as needed
(2) Import manual data uploads
(3) Edit and / or create data walls
The items described here are guided steps for preparing assessments for the new year. Be sure to review Assessment Management for more information on the Assessment Dictionary.
1. Access the Assessment Dictionary by clicking Data>Assessments>Assessment Dictionary
2. Hide any retired assessments.
Assessments will be hidden in the data wall editor so they will no longer be viewable to select for creating / editing new data walls. However, these assessments will still populate in the data walls they are already on AND they will populate on the student profile history.
- Search for the assessment in the left hand box.
- Click the hyperlinked assessment to view the Setup Functions in the right hand box.
- Click the box next to "Hide" under options to hide assessments.
3. Verify Testing Fields and adjust as needed.
Only those fields that have been selected will be available when creating data walls. Any fields that have been mapped are viewable by clicking on assessment points in Student Profile or Data Walls.
- Search for the assessment in the left hand box.
- Click the hyperlinked assessment to view the Setup Functions in the right hand box.
- Verify the fields that are available and mapped for your assessment have been selected here. Click to select. To add more than one field, use Ctrl+Click function.
4. Verify Testing Windows for Assessments and adjust as needed.
Testing windows in the Assessment Dictionary align with the testing windows on data walls. ion suggests creating testing windows that provide a buffer AND that butt up against a preceding window in order to... (1) reduce time editing each year (2) make allowances for late testers without having to adjust the testing window.
- Click the Testing Windows Tab
- Review Testing Windows and add/edit as needed.
5. Verify Testing Fields for Assessment Strands and adjust as needed.
Only those fields that have been selected will be available when creating data walls. Any fields that have been mapped are viewable by clicking on assessment points in Student Profile or Data Walls.
- Click the Strands Tab.
- Verify the fields that are available and mapped for your assessment strands have been selected here. Click to edit the strand. Then, click to select the fields. To add more than one field, use Ctrl+Click function.
6. Verify Master Color Bands and adjust as needed.
Master Color Bands are created on data walls. They are edited on the Assessment Dictionary. Any adjustments made here will adjust the color band for all data walls using the master color band.
- Click the Color Bands Tab.
- Click to view and edit as needed.
School districts can verify data imports for current and new assessments.
Integrations & Imports
For more information, see our online guide regarding Data Imports. If there any questions, contact Customer Support for assistance.
1. Access integrations by clicking on Admin>Data>Integrations.
2. Review integrations to ensure all selections are made for the desired data to sync properly. Click on the hyperlinked instructions for more information.
3. Be sure to view our online support when uploading data as it has links to instructions for several vendors.
ion recommends that users review their current data walls and make make adjustments as needed and/or desired by staff to prepare for Fall Data Review.
Some school districts use percentiles for their progress monitoring. They will need to update their terms for the new school year in order for the correct percentiles to populate on the student skill page. For more information on Terms, see CBM Dictionary
1. Navigate to Admin>Dictionaries>School Year>Terms
2. Create Terms for the new school year by clicking on the "+" icon
Any staff changes may require changes in users, roles, permissions, and teams. Use the links provided here to make changes as needed so that staff will have the appropriate access to schools, students and information.