DaSy Framework Self-Assessment Tool
This video is designed to show you how to complete the self-assessment for the ECTA
System Framework which includes the DaSy Data System component.
If you are not familiar with the Framework, please stop and review it before continuing
to watch this video.
It can be found on the ECTA and DaSy websites.
The Self-Assessment Tool, in Excel, provides a structure for state Part C and Part B Section
619 Preschool programs to record the current status of their state system and set priorities
for improvement.
Additional information about how to use the self-assessment is contained in the Guidance
Document.
Both the self-assessment and the guidance document maybe downloaded from either the
ECTA or DaSy websites.
Now let's take a look at the tool.
Once you download this Microsoft Excel document, the first important step is to enable macros.
A macro is a way of automating routine tasks, such as applying formatting to shapes and
text, and inserting drawing images.
Enabling macros in the self-assessment tool allows you to complete a sequence of steps
with just one button click or keyboard command.
If you have a later version of Microsoft Excel, once you download and open the tool, you can
easily enable those macros by simply clicking on the button that reads, "Enable Content."
That's it!
If you have a version of Excel earlier than 2010, use the instructions tab in the first
worksheet to access links containing easy-to-follow instructions for enabling macros in various
versions of the software.
The self-assessment tool incorporates 16 different worksheets.
Each worksheet is identified by a labeled tab at the bottom.
Let's go through the worksheets one at a time.
The first worksheet includes detailed instructions.
These instructions are also contained in the Guidance Document available for download with
the self-assessment Excel file on the ECTA and DaSy websites, as shown earlier.
The Participants sheet is to be used to identify the participants who have been involved in
the self-assessment process.
The top of the worksheet has fields for identifying your state and program.
Be sure to indicate whether you are Part C or Part B 619 as the information controls
other information in the workbook.
Enter the date the self-assessment for each component was completed.
Enter the names and roles of the individuals who contributed to completing the self-assessment.
Since different stakeholders can be involved with different components, you need to indicate
which component each person participated in by placing a check mark in the appropriate
column.
Next, let's look at the Table of Contents.
The Table of Contents provides a list of each of the Framework components and their subcomponents.
In addition to providing a quick overview of all the components and subcomponents, the
Table of Contents also can be used to navigate to these worksheets.
An alternative to using the links is to click on the worksheet tabs at the bottom of the
document.
The next 11 sheets are labeled from GV, for Governance, to SU, for Sustainability.
These are the sheets where you enter the ratings for the self-assessment.
The first five tabs correspond to the first five components of the System Framework, starting
with Governance and ending with Quality Standards.
The next six tabs, starting with Purpose and Vision and ending with Sustainability, are
the subcomponents that make up the Data System component which is the sixth component of
the System Framework.
All the subcomponents of Data System are color-coded in various shades of blue.
Let's look at Governance to show you how the self-assessment is completed.
You can see a set of elements organized under quality indicators.
Quality Indicator 1 in Governance has elements A through I. Quality Indicator 2 has elements
A through H. To complete the self-assessment, stakeholders will read each element and discuss
what they know about where the state is with regard to implementing that element.
The discussion and supporting evidence for each element should be entered in the text
box.
The box will expand to give you as much space as needed.
Then, on the basis of this evidence, one of four possible ratings for each element is
selected.
A rating of 1 indicates that the element is not in place and the state is not planning
to work on it anytime soon.
A rating of 2 means that the element is not in place but the state is either planning
to work on it or is getting started to work on it.
A rating of 3 indicates that the element is partially implemented and a rating of 4 means
that the element has been fully implemented.
To indicate a rating, enter a number between 1 and 4, or select a number from the dropdown
menu.
Notice that the element rating scale is provided above the rating column at the top of each
component worksheet.
When all of the elements in a quality indicator have been rated, the rating for the quality
indicator will appear automatically.
The quality indicator rating is on a 7-point scale, and reflects the extent to which the
elements in an indicator have been implemented.
The quality indicator scale ranges from "1" which means "None of the elements is yet
planned or in place" to "7" which means "All of the elements are fully implemented."
The quality indicator rating is automatically calculated based on the ratings for the elements.
This is in a blue field, which means that the result is automatically calculated and
cannot be changed.
For the auto-calculation to work, each of the elements has to be rated.
Let's look at an example.
Here we have Quality Indicator 8, and the elements A, B, through E have been rated.
As element F has not been rated, the quality indicator rating does not show up.
Let's go ahead and enter a rating.
Notice that the QI Rating cell now displays a rating.
The self-assessment also supports assigning priority ratings for improvement planning.
Within each sheet, you will be able to indicate whether an element and/or indicator is low,
medium, or high priority for the state.
To indicate the priority level, use the dropdown menu or simply enter the letters L, M, or
H as either uppercase or lowercase letters.
A rating of H in this cell signifies that Quality Indicator 1 has a high priority for
the state in terms of improvement planning.
Remember, you also can assign a priority to each element.
We recommend that you work through all of the elements on a worksheet before assigning
priorities so you have an overall sense of where the state is across the full set of
quality indicators.
On the other hand, if a high priority area for the state is clear as part of the discussion,
the priority can be assigned immediately.
Let's look at some of the features at the top of the worksheet.
Use the Show Evidence and Hide Evidence buttons to toggle the visibility of evidence.
Each element sheet allows you the option to view it with or without the evidence.
The option to hide the evidence is useful if you want to print the ratings sheet without
the evidence.
The QI buttons allow you to move easily among the quality indicators in the component.
Now let's look at the QI Summary sheet.
This sheet provides you a profile of all the quality indicators for the completed components.
As this is a read-only sheet, no information can be entered on this sheet.
Information displayed on this sheet is automatically pulled from the quality indicators on the
other sheets.
The first component, Governance, has eight quality indicators and here we see the quality
indicator ratings for each within this component.
If a priority rating was entered, it will be displayed here as well.
A bar graph displays each quality indicator rating.
Ratings of 1 and 2 are displayed in red; ratings of 3, 4 and 5 are displayed in yellow; and
ratings of 6 and 7 are displayed in green.
This sheet provides a dashboard view of the quality indicator ratings for each component.
The Total Number of Elements column shows the total number of elements for that quality
indicator.
The next column provides the breakdown of the element ratings.
Quality Indicator 3, which contains five elements, has three elements with a rating of 3 and
two elements with a rating of 4.
The sum of the numbers in the element rating boxes adds up to the total number of elements.
The columns on the right display a summary of the priorities assigned to the elements.
In this example, only one element was assigned a priority and that was a priority of Medium.
There are two buttons at the top of the sheet that control how much text is displayed.
If you want to show only one line of the quality indicator text, use the Narrow Rows.
Use the Wrapped Text button to view the full text for each quality indicator.
The links at the top of this sheet allow you to navigate to ratings for other components
or subcomponent in the summary sheet.
There are several places in the tool with special scoring conditions.
One is the Comp Data sheet, which is a special part of the System Design and Development
subcomponent within the Data System component.
This sheet displays the set of data elements that are recommended for a high-quality Part
C or Part B 619 data system.
These data elements are organized by child-level data elements, service provider / teacher-level
data elements, and early intervention services program or local educational agency-level
data elements.
This sheet is completed by indicating whether each data element is available in the data
system by entering Y for Yes or N for No.
When all of the information has been entered, a summary will appear showing the number of
data elements available for each level, the total in each level, and the percentages of
data elements in the system for each level.
Remember earlier we pointed out that you should enter whether your program is Part C or Part
B 619 on the Participants sheet?
That is important because some of the recommended data elements are not applicable for a Part
B 619 program.
If you have indicated that your program is Part B 619, you will see four such data elements
with gray shading.
The only option you can enter for the shaded data elements is Not Applicable.
Any items with a Not Applicable response will not be included in the summary calculations.
The Comp Data is part of the System Design and Development subcomponent of the Data System
component under Quality Indicator 4, element a.
There are additional elements b through q that describe the features and functions that
contribute to a high-quality data system.
The Comp Data, or element A, is not factored into the rating for Quality Indicator 4, but
elements b through q are.
Within these elements b through q for Quality Indicator 4 of the System Design and Development
subcomponent are two elements with different shading, h and p.
This indicates another case of special scoring.
Data elements h and p are only applicable to states that have a transactional data system.
If you have a transactional data system, you should rate this data element.
If you do not have a transactional data system, then use the Not Applicable option available
in the dropdown menu.
Let's take a look at one more special scoring condition that occurs in the Quality Standards
component of the Framework.
Whether you rate some of the elements for this quality indicator depends on what ratings
you assign to other elements.
This is explained here, but you don't need to worry about it because the tool will show
you the appropriate elements depending on the ratings provided.
Let's go ahead and see what would happen if these elements had received a rating of
3 or 4.
Because these elements are in place, the tool indicates that you need not rate elements
l, m, and n to receive a quality indicator rating.
However, if i and k are rated a 1 or 2, the tool makes l, m and n available to rate.
Ratings are required for these elements to receive a quality indicator rating.
Now that you know how to navigate and enter data into the self-assessment tool, let's
review the process for saving the file.
It is similar to saving any other Microsoft Excel file.
Include the date at the end of the filename, such as, ECTA-DaSy_Self-Assessment_06-12-15,
to allow for better tracking of each version saved.
Be sure to save the file periodically while you are working on it.
Finally, each worksheet has an existing default print area that is set-up to optimize printing.
Simply print as is or feel free to customize your print area settings based on your preference.
If you have any questions about how to navigate the self-assessment or would like support
in completing it, please contact ECTA or DaSy.
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