Home Page

When users log on to the California Educator Reporting System (CERS), the users are directed to the Home Page (figure 1). This page allows users to perform tasks permitted by their assigned TOMS role(s). For example, the Home Page for teachers with the Test Administrator role does not display the Administrator Tools or Search by School features. Tasks initiated on the CERS Home Page include searching for individual and group assessment results, and other features that vary by role like generating various reports and performing administrative tasks.

Figure 1. CERS Home Page for Users with an Administrator Role

The elements of the Home Page are:

1. Header Bar: Includes links to the following:
   • CERS User Guide
   • Interpretive Guide: Designed to help educators understand and effectively use Smarter Balanced summative and interim assessments results.
   • My Reports: Allows access to all reports that the user has generated. Refer to the My Reports section for details.
   • User Icon: Selecting the ] icon allows the user to log out of the system.
2. Administrator Tools: Perform administrative tasks and create reports for institutions and districts. This section displays only for those with administrator roles.
   • Custom Aggregate Report: Generate customized reports of student performance. Refer to the Custom Aggregate Reports in CERS section for details.
   • District/School Exports: Export a CSV file of assessment results for one or more schools or districts. Refer to the District/School Exports section for details.
   • Student Groups: Create and manage student groups for users. Refer to the Manage Student Groups section for details.
   • Instructional Resources: Upload local instructional resources in the system. Refer to the Manage Instructional Resources section for details.
3. Search by Student: Search for assessment results for a specific student. Refer to the Search by Student section for details.
4. Search by School: Search for assessment results for students of a specific grade or multiple grades within one school or multiple schools. Refer to the Search by Student section for details.
5. Search by Group: View assessment results for a group of students that have been assigned to the user. Refer to the Assigned Groups and My Groups section for details.
6. Welcome Side Bar: Describes User Guide and Interpretive Guide, including links to both.
   • Note: Displays clarifying notes regarding system information or updates, if needed.

Navigation and Menus

Navigation within CERS is designed to be user-friendly and intuitive, primarily relying on hyperlinks to drill down into further detail.

When a user navigates to a page, a navigation path or “breadcrumb” appears, showing the current location within the system and an icon to navigate back to the Home Page. Each item in the path is separated by a forward slash (“/”), representing the path from the Home Page to the current page. In the example shown in figure 2, the user is on a screen presenting results for student responses. To return to the Home Page, the user can select the [Home icon].

Figure 2. Home Page Icon

Accessing Assessment Results

Based on a user’s role, there are several tools available to search for assessment results quickly on the Home Page (refer to the User Roles and Permissions section): Search by Student, Search by School, and Assigned Groups and My Groups.

Search by Student

The Search by Student panel (figure 3) is available on the Home Page to quickly search for a specific student using the Statewide Student Identifier (SSID). The Search by Student panel is available to all user roles. However, for teachers it will only display results for the students in their assigned groups.

Figure 3. Search by Student

To search for a student:

1. Enter the student’s SSID into the box. The full SSID must be entered to search for a student.
2. Select the [Search] button (or select [Enter] on the keyboard).

If the SSID matches a student record with available assessment results and the user has permission to view that student’s information, the Student Test History Report page will display (figure 4).

Figure 4. Student Test History Report Page

If the SSID does not yield test results, either the SSID is incorrect, the user does not have permission to view that student’s information, or there are no test results available for the student. A message will be displayed (figure 5).

Figure 5. Search By Student Message When Results Are Not Found

Refer to the Student Test History Report section for more information about this view.

View Individual Student Results

Individual student results can be accessed from the Home Page using the Search by Student function.

They can also be accessed from any group/school results view by selecting a student’s name and selecting [Student’s Test History] from the Context Menu three-dot icon ⋮ ] (figure 6). Refer to the Accessing Assessment Results section for more information.

Figure 6. Context Menu to View Individual Student’s Test History

Student Test History Report

Once a student’s test history report has been selected, the Student Test History Report page is displayed for that student (figure 7). This view displays available assessment results that meet the selected criteria.

Figure 7. Student Test History Report Page

In addition to identifying the selected student and the student’s SSID, the Student Test History Report page includes the following elements:

1. School Year, Subject, Assessment Type filters: Choose specific school years, subjects, and assessment types to display, or choose “All” from the drop-down menus to see all the years, subjects, or assessment types for which assessment results exist for the student.
2. Advanced Filters: Show or hide a filter panel to more precisely select which assessment results to view.
3. Student Test History Report panel: Displays assessments that match the school year, content area, assessment type.
4. [Export CSV] button: Export all the student’s test history to a comma-separated value (CSV) file for download.
5. [Printable Reports] button: Select and download Individual Student Reports (ISRs) in PDF format.

Advanced Filters for Assessments

The [Advanced Filter] button on the Student Test History Page (element 2, figure 7) opens the Advanced Filters panel for assessments (figure 8).

Figure 8. Advanced Filters Panel for Assessments

The elements available in the Advanced Filters for assessments are shown in figure 8. Changes to the filter criteria immediately modify the list of assessment results displayed.

1. Currently selected filters: Selecting the [Remove] “x” icon [ ] removes a filter from the Assessment Filters panel.
2. The Assessment Filters panel, which includes:
   • [Off-Grade Assessments] toggle (for interim assessments only): Indicates that a student took an assessment for a grade other than the student's assigned grade. This filter is only applicable for interim assessments.
   • [Manner of Administration] toggle (for interim assessments only): Indicates how the assessment was administered (Standardized or Non-standardized) in terms of protocols and security procedures.
   • [Valid/Invalid] toggle (for summative assessments only): Indicates the condition under which an assessment is administered. An assessment is noted as invalid if an appeal was submitted to invalidate the assessment due to a testing irregularity or breach.
   • [Completeness] toggle: Indicates whether the assessment results meet the definition of complete. The default is [Complete], but it can be toggled to [Partial] for partial assessments or to [All] to generate a report that includes results from assessments that are either complete or partial. Summative and Interim Comprehensive Assessment (ICA) tests are considered “complete” if the student answered the minimum number of operational items specified in the blueprint for the CAT and all items in the performance task part. Interim Assessment Blocks (IABs) and Focused IABs (FIABs) are considered complete if the student answered all items in the test.
3. [Collapse] toggle: Collapse the bottom half of the panel, leaving only the selected filters displayed. This toggle becomes an [Expand] toggle when the panel collapses. Select the [Expand] toggle to reopen the Assessment Filters panel.

Student Test History Report Results

The Student Test History Report results (figure 7) are displayed in a dashboard format with each assessment that matches the selectors and advanced filters appearing as a separate card. A sample card is pictured in figure 9.

Figure 9. Student Test History Report Results Card

The information presented on each Student Results Card contains:

1. An icon representing the assessment subject or topic
2. An icon for the grade level of the assessment
3. The name of the assessment
4. The date the assessment was administered
5. The student’s achievement level, performance level, or reporting category for the assessment
6. The number of results available for the assessment

Selecting anywhere within a Student Results Card displays a table of additional information below the card. Depending on the type of assessment chosen, this table contains slightly different information.

For IAB assessments, the table appears as it does in figure 10.

Figure 10. Student Results Table

In addition to the information displayed in the card, this table displays:

1. Student’s enrolled grade when the student took the assessment.
2. Status (Standardized, Non-standardized, or Partial, Complete) of each result, if applicable.
3. Reporting category, based on the achievement or performance level on the assessment. Refer to the Interpretive Guide for more information about the reporting categories.
4. Student’s Scale Score/Error Band of each result. The student’s error band is based on the standard error of measurement (SEM) associated with the score.

Selecting the date in the Context Menu three-dot icon ⋮ ] brings up the menu with additional links to specific information that may be available, as shown in figure 12 .

For ICAs and summative assessments, the Overall view of this table is similar to the IAB table but includes the student’s achievement or performance level on the assessment based on the scale score.

The ICA and summative assessments table also includes buttons to toggle the scores between the default Overall view and, if available, Composite, Claim, Domain, Lexile, or Quantile scores. Selecting the button changes the view to show student’s results in the selected option, as shown in figure 11.

Figure 11. Table Toggle for Math ICA and Summative Assessment

In figure 11, the ICA assessment claim results are provided for Concepts and Procedures, Problem Solving and Modeling & Data Analysis, and Communicating Reasoning. Claim results are reported as Below Standard, Near Standard, and Above Standard. Refer to the Interpretive Guide for additional information.

Selecting the [Overall] button returns to the default Overall view.

Student Test History Report Details Menu

Each row in the Student Test History Report displays a Context Menu by selecting the three-dot icon ⋮ ] that provides access to additional information, as shown in figure 12.

Figure 12. Student History Report Context Menu

For all interim assessments, this menu allows the user to view the student’s item responses (refer to the Interim Assessments section) for the selected interim assessment. For IAB/IA results, the menu also includes a link to Instructional Resources, such as the Smarter Balanced Connections Playlists in the Smarter Balanced Tools for Teachers website (ELA and math IABs and FIABs), Smarter Balanced Tools for Teachers home page (CAST and ELPAC IAs), or any instructional resources uploaded by the user’s LEA. For summative assessments, this menu is disabled.

Student Responses for Interim Assessments

The Student’s Responses table includes an individual student’s responses to interim assessment items, as shown in figure 13. This table is available from the Student’s Test History Report page and from the Results page for groups or schools. Refer to the Interim Assessments section for more details.

Figure 13. Student Responses

Selecting an interim assessment item’s down arrow icon [] expands the row to provide additional item details (figure 14).

Figure 14. Student Responses with Expanded Row Showing Additional Item Details

• The [Item Viewer] tab displays the interim assessment item as it appeared on the test and the student’s response. The item number is shown at the top left for the item being viewed. This view is read only; there are no user-editable fields.
• The [Rubric and Exemplar] tab functions as described in the Rubric and Exemplar section.
• The [Item Information] tab functions as described in the Item Information section.

Export CSV

The [Export CSV] button (element 4, figure 7) generates a CSV file for download containing all the student’s test history for the selected school year, subject(s), and assessment type(s). An example of this file that opened in Microsoft Excel is shown in figure 15.

Figure 15. CSV File Opened in Microsoft Excel

Printable Reports

The [Printable Reports] button opens a pop-up menu (figure 16) allowing users to generate and download Individual Student Reports (ISRs) in PDF format of student assessment results.

Figure 16. Printable Reports Pop-up Menu

The selections available for assessment type, subject, and school year are limited by system configuration. The report’s name defaults to the student’s name but can be modified to define the report more clearly if preferred.

The Students Who Tested Elsewhere option may be selected to either show or hide student assessment results from schools outside the user’s assigned institutions. Users can exclude those assessments by selecting the [Hide] toggle when generating a report.

Selecting the [Create Report] button will create the report based on the selections in the pop-up menu. Refer to the My Reports section for how to download and view the report.

Search by School and Grade

If the user’s TOMS role permissions allow access to student results at the school level, the Search by School panel is available on the Home Page (figure 17) to allow quick access to assessment results by school and grade.

Figure 17. Search by School Panel

To search for a school:

1. Type the name of the school in the Search by School search box to activate the name list. Schools to which the user is assigned are listed alphabetically by name and grouped by district.

2. Scroll through the complete list to select a school or enter the name of a school in the search box to find a specific school. As a user types, the drop-down list of schools is filtered to only show school names that have matching text anywhere in the name, as shown in figure 18.

   

   Figure 18. Search by School Search Box

   1. Select the name of a school to view student results for that school.

   2. If results are available for more than one grade at the school, select the desired grade using the Grade drop-down, as shown in figure 20. If only one grade is available, it will be selected.

      

      Figure 19. Grade Drop-Down List

   3. Select the [Search] button to search for assessment results for the selected school and grade.
   4. If results are available, the Assessment Results page with the default assessment will be shown.

   5. If no results are available, a message will be displayed on the Assessment Results page, as shown in figure 20.

      

      Figure 20. Search by School “No Results” Message

After selecting a school from the Search by School function, a user does not need to return to the Home Page to search for a new school. The Results by School and Grade panel appears after school, grade level, and search have been selected on the home page. The Results by School and Grade panel allows the users to search for a new school, grade, or school year (element 1, figure 21).

View Student Assessment Results by School and Grade

Assessment results by school are accessed by using the Search by School panel. If the user’s TOMS role permissions allow access to student results at the school level, the Search by School panel is available on the Home Page. Selecting a school and grade for which assessment results exist displays the results page. Figure 21 shows the top panel on that page.

Figure 21. Results by School and Grade Panel

This panel allows users to change the view of selected assessment results by:

1. Changing the School, Assessment Grade, or School Year from which to select assessments
2. Showing or hiding the Advanced Filters panel
3. Selecting one or more assessment(s) in the [Selected Assessments] panel. Refer to the Select Assessments section for details.
4. Removing a selected assessment by selecting the [Remove] “x” icon, ].
5. Adding assessments to the [Selected Assessments] panel by selecting the [Add] plus sign “+” icon, ]
6. Toggling between only the [Most Recent] assessments or [Selected Assessments]
7. Exporting a CSV file of assessment results for one or more schools or districts. Refer to the District/School Exports section for details.
8. Printing a download of Individual Student Reports of the selected assessments in PDF format. Refer to the Printable Reports section for details.

Advanced Filters for Assessments and Student Demographics

The Advanced Filters for assessments and student demographics panel (figure 22) allows users to filter the assessment results to view only selected types of assessments and status, or to view only students with selected demographics.

Figure 22. Advanced Filters for Assessments and Student Demographics Panel

The elements available in the Advanced Filters for assessments and student demographics panel are shown in figure 22. Changes to the filter criteria immediately modify the list of assessment results displayed.

1. Currently selected filters: Select the [Remove] icon “x” ] to remove the filter. If the area is blank, no filters have been selected.
2. [Collapse] toggle: Collapse the bottom part of the panel (elements 3 and 4 in figure 22), leaving only the selected filters displayed.
3. Test and Status assessment filters: Select values to reduce the list of students to just those that match those values. Select “All” for a field to clear the filter for that field.
4. Student filters: Depending on the system configuration, these may include: Race/Ethnicity, English Language Acquisition Status, (Primary) Language, and Migrant Status. Select values to reduce the list of students to just those that match those values. Select “All” for a field to clear the filter for that field.

Selected Assessments

By default, the system displays the most recent assessment for the selected school, grade, and school year, and the [Most Recent] button is selected. Selecting the [Select Assessments] button or the [Add] plus sign “+” icon [] opens a lower panel that displays all available assessments, as shown in figure 23.

Figure 23. Displaying All Available Assessments Panel

Each available assessment functions as a toggle to include in the Results panel or remove it. Selecting an assessment in the lower panel adds it to the list of Selected Assessments in the upper panel and adds its results to the Results panel, as shown in figure 24. Reselecting the assessment removes it from the upper panel and the Results panel. Refer to the Interim Assessments and Summative Assessments sections for details describing the information that will display based on assessments chosen.

Figure 24. Selected Assessments Results Panel

Student Assessment Results Printable Reports

The [Printable Reports] button (element 5, figure 7) opens a pop-up menu (figure 25) allowing users to create a PDF of Individual Student Reports (ISRs) for a group of students. An ISR is produced for each student by assessment type and subject, and provides a summary of the student's assessment results with details for each assessment selected in the filters. The results on ISRs are one indicator of the student's performance and should be used along with other information, such as classwork and other assessment results, when making educational decisions.

Figure 25. Printable Reports Pop-Up Menu

The pop-up menu for the printable report is the same for an individual student or group of students, but for a group of students it has an additional sort-order option. The system’s configuration limits the selections available for assessment type, subject, and school year.

The report’s name defaults to the group’s name but can be modified to define the report more clearly if preferred. The Students Who Tested Elsewhere option may be toggled to either show or hide any assessments students took outside of the user’s assigned institutions during the selected school year.

Selecting the [Create Report] button will create the report for the selections in the pop-up menu. Refer to the My Reports section for details on printing and viewing the report.

Assigned Groups and My Groups

The Assigned Groups and My Groups panel (figure 26) is available on the Home Page to allow quick access to assessment results for groups of students to whom the user is assigned.

Figure 26. Assigned Groups Panel

No Groups Shown

A message will be shown if no groups are available (figure 27). This could be because there are no assigned groups to the user, there was an error in the student group file upload, or the email used to create the group does not match the user’s account. Refer to the Manage Student Groups section for more details.

Figure 27. No Assigned Groups Available to Current User Message

Select Group Name to View Results

Selecting a [Group Name] in the list (figure 28) takes users to the Student Group Assessment Results page for that group. This is true whether the group is selected from the Assigned Groups panel or one of the customized groups from the My Groups panel.

Figure 28. Group Name for Selection

Searching Assigned Groups

If there are many groups assigned to the user, a live search box appears above the list to assist in finding the desired group (figure 29).

To search for a group:

1. Begin entering the name of a group in the Search by Group Name box.
2. The list of groups displayed will automatically filter to only show groups that match the characters entered.
3. Select the desired group from the filtered list.

If the search entered does not match any of the user’s assigned groups, then a message will display (figure 29).

Figure 29. No Groups Match Search Message

Searching My Groups

Teachers may create customized groups of students based on the students assigned to them by an administrator, as found in the Assigned Groups panel. The teacher-created groups display in a second tab called [My Groups] next to the [Assigned Groups] tab (figure 30). Search functionality for the My Groups panel is identical to the Assigned Groups panel. Refer to the Creating My Groups section for instructions on creating customized groups.

Figure 30. My Groups Panel

Creating My Groups

Teachers can create customized groups of students selected from the Assigned Groups panel by selecting the [+ Create] button on the My Groups panel. This displays the New Group definition screen (figure 31).

Figure 31. New Group Definition Screen

To create a custom group:

1. Select a group from the School or Group entry box. Selecting this box displays a drop-down list of all assigned groups. Typing directly into the box activates a live search to filter this list.
2. If there are multiple assigned groups, select the group from which the new group will be created. The Students panel will be populated with the list of students in the selected group.
3. If necessary, filter the student list by entering characters into the Student Name or SSID box. It is enabled for live search and filters the student list by matching the entered characters.
   1. Advanced Filters for student demographics may also be used to filter the student list. Refer to the My Groups Advanced Filters for Student Demographics section for instructions on applying advanced filters.
4. In the Students Panel, select the students you want to add to the new group. The added students will appear on the Students list in the panel on the right of the page, also shown in figure 32.
5. Repeat steps 1–5 to add students from other assigned groups. The new group may contain students from multiple assigned groups.
6. Remove any students added to the new group by selecting the students’ names in the new Students list in the panel to the right of the page. Select [x Remove All Students] shown in figure 32 to clear the list and start over.
7. Select [+ Add All Students] to add all the students in the assigned group to the new group.
8. Name the new group by entering a name into the Group Name box in the right panel.
9. Select the tested subjects for the group using the [Subjects] buttons.
10. Select the [Save] button to create the new group or select the [Cancel] button to cancel creating a new group and return to the My Groups list.

Before saving, the right panel should appear (figure 32).

Figure 32. Completed New Group Definition Screen

After the new group is saved, it is displayed in the list in the My Groups panel on the Home Page (figure 33).

Figure 33. New Group Added to My Groups Panel

A group may be edited by selecting the [Edit] button in its row. The edit screen also contains a [Delete] button, which allows the user to delete the new group from the system.

My Groups Advanced Filters for Student Demographics

Advanced filters for student demographics can ease the task of selecting students for the custom groups in My Groups. Selecting the [Show] button under the Advanced Filters for student demographics panel on the New Group page opens the subgroup filter controls (figure 34).

Figure 34. New Group Page—Advanced Filters for Student Demographics

These controls can be used to filter the list of students from the selected assigned group. Only the students who match the configured filters will display. Student data may change in CERS when a student transfers or when a new test event occurs. This makes it easier to identify and select students by subgroup. When filters are selected, the [Show/Hide] button displays a number indicating the number of configured filters. This number persists even when the Advanced Filters panel is toggled back to hidden.

View Student Group Assessment Results

Assessment results for student groups are accessed by selecting a group using the Assigned Groups or My Groups panels. Once a group has been selected, the results for that group are displayed. The way results are displayed varies by the type of assessment, but all results have the Groups panel, as shown in figure 35.

Figure 35. Groups Panel

Use the Groups panel to:

1. Select a different student group or school year for which to view results
2. Use the [Show] or [Hide] buttons to display the Advanced Filters panel to precisely select which results to view
3. Add one or more Selected Assessments for which to view results. Selected Assessments works as described in the Selected Assessments section.
4. Toggle between viewing results for the [Most Recent] assessment administered to students in this group or [Select Assessments]

5. Navigate to the IAB/IA Dashboard page, the District/School Exports page (if applicable to the user’s TOMS role), or download PDF reports of assessment results for students in the selected group

   Refer to the following sections for details:

   • IAB/IA Dashboard
   • District/School Exports
   • View Student Group Assessment Results
   • Interim Assessments for details describing the information that will display based on assessments chosen
   • Summative Assessments for details describing the information that will display based on assessments chosen