Assessment Tips...

Stuck with an Assessment or Assessment Reporting problem. Check here- there could be a solution!

1. The IF Function- 'tidy up the data!'

2. The Replace Function- 'Change what is displayed to serve your needs!'

3. Custom Sorts- Sort a list in any way you want! Forget alphabetical and numerical!

 

1. The IF Function

The data item-

Student.Statistical.Giftedandtalented

gives a 'true' or 'false' which is not particularly good for the look of a report.

Change the line in the list report to-

IF(Student.Statistical.Giftedandtalented='true','ü','')

and change that line's font to 'Wingdings' and the 'true' becomes a 'tick' and the 'false' becomes a blank.

The font for a column in a list report can be changed from the 'Design a list report' window by clicking Advanced then Print Configuration followed by clicking the Columns tab. Select the column and click Font opposite Data and select the font that you want.

2. The REPLACE Function

The REPLACE function is another way to change what is displayed.

The first item in the brackets is the data item itself. This is followed by the 'default' value if the data item is not matched (nothing in this case), and then pairs of values- the value given by the data and the alternative value to be displayed.

This line turns 'Male' or 'Female' into 'Boys' or 'Girls'.

REPLACE( Student.Personal.Sex,'','Male','Boys','Female','Girls')

This line turns the numerous possible ethnicity codes into a smaller number of broader groupings.

REPLACE(Student.Personal.Cat9.Code,'OTH', 'ABAN','BA','AKAO','PA' ,'AKPA','PA', 'AOPK','PA','AIND','IN', 'AOTA','AOTH', 'BCRB','BC', 'BSOM','BOTH','BAOF','BOTH','MABL','MR','MWBC','MR','MWBA','MR', 'MOTM','MR','WBRI','WH','WIRI','WH','WOTW','WH')

 

3. Custom Sorts

Typically, sorting of lists is done alphabetically or numerically but the REPLACE function can be used to achieve a custom sort.

For instance, if you wish to sort a list of subjects so that core subjects come first followed by the rest in alphabetical order try this.

REPLACE(Subj,'', 'EN','1', 'MA','2', 'SC','3', 'AD','4', 'DT','5', 'DR','6', 'FR','7', ...etc....)

Hide this column and set it up for a numerical sort. From the editing window, in Advanced>Sort, select the column and choose ascending order. 'Subj' is a varaible which needs to be set as the subject code as a variable within the list report itself. For instance, in an embeded list of Object type 'Student' and Subobject type 'Subresults', 'Mudule.Code' could be used instead.

 

 

 

More Assessment & Reporting Tips coming soon!

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