Issue:

 

What do I need to do to get my Accelerated Grammar & Spelling, Accelerated Grammar & Spelling High School, Accelerated Math 2.x, Accelerated Writer, or MathFacts in a Flash 1.x programs ready for the new school year?

 

Resolution:

 

Tips for Summer School

 

If students will be using the program during the summer, you should wait until summer school is over to complete the steps in this article. Check KB article #7901571 for recommendations on using the software in summer school.

 

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As you prepare for the end of the school year and think about getting ready for the fall, there are a few tasks you will need to complete. If you need to wait to finish some of the steps because you don't have the student list yet or aren't sure of the new school year dates, at least complete Step 1 (you may want to check off each step as you finish it). If you are also using Accelerated Reader, Accelerated Vocabulary, Perfect Copy, or Perfect Copy High School, refer to KB article #1655213, and for STAR Early Literacy, STAR Math, or STAR Reading, refer to article #1655218.

 

You should also check KB article #3458214 to ensure that you are running the latest versions for your Renaissance Learning software. For information on upgrading and downloading the latest version, see KB article #2447571.

 

Step 1: Making a Backup of Your Existing Database

 

See KB article #1679552 to create a backup of your data folder, saving your backup in a different location than where the original data is being stored.

 

Note for Accelerated Math Users: If you are still using Accelerated Math 1.0x libraries, you will want to install the latest 2.x libraries. All of the Accelerated Math content libraries have been updated with release 2.0. Some math objectives have been added, renamed, split into two skills, deleted, replaced or re-sequenced. Check Knowledge Base Article #2122028 to verify your Accelerated Math library versions and for instructions on upgrading your libraries.

 

Step 2: Exporting Students (optional)

 

If students are moving to another school using Renaissance Learning software, you may want to export their records and send the data to the new school. If you choose to do this, you will need to export from each of your Renaissance Learning programs, even if they are sharing a data location.

 

Note: Student Name and ID fields should not contain any commas. The student information will export without error, however if you need to import that file to another computer or send to another school, the file will not import. You will receive the error, “Not a valid export file.”

 

1)     Log in to the Management program with full administrative access.

 

2)     Click the [School] button.

 

3)     Click the [Students] button.

 

4)     From the Students menu, choose [Export].

 

5)     If you have several students moving to the same school, select them as a group and save their records to the same file. To export the students by grade, click the Grade column, and use the <Shift> key to select a range, or <Ctrl> key (<Apple> key on Macintosh) to select individual students. Click the [All] button to select all students. Depending on the version of the program that you are using, you may have to click [Add>>] or [Add All>>]. Then click [Next].

 

6)     Be sure to choose [Students with all Student Detail Records], then click on [Finish] or [Done].

 

7)     Windows users: In the Save as: dialog box, in the Save in: field, browse to the location where you want to save the export file. In the File name: field, specify a file name and extension, i.e., grade4.exp.

Macintosh users: Navigate to the location where you want to save the export file, and enter a file name.

 

8)     Click the [Save] button.

 

If you are exporting the students in groups, repeat steps 4 through 8 for each group. You may then copy the files to floppy disk, burn to CD-ROM, or send via email to the program administrator at the new school.

 

Step 3: Unenrolling Students

 

In order to enroll students into their new classes, they must be unenrolled from their existing classes. Remember, unenrolling students in Accelerated Grammar & Spelling, Accelerated Grammar & Spelling High School, Accelerated Math, Accelerated Writer, or MathFacts in a Flash deletes all performance data. If it is necessary for you to keep ongoing records, you will only want to unenroll non-returning students. You will then transfer the existing students in Step 8 instead of enrolling.

 

To unenroll all students (only available in Accelerated Grammar & Spelling, Accelerated Grammar & Spelling High School, Accelerated Math and MathFacts in a Flash):

 

1)     Log in to the Management program with full administrative access.

 

2)     Click the [School] button.

 

3)     Click the [Classes] button.

 

4)     From the Classes menu, choose [Unenroll All Students].

 

5)     Confirm the unenroll process by clicking [Yes]

 

6)     Verify by typing in your Administrator password.

 

To unenroll selected students:

 

1)     Log in to the Management program with full administrative access.

 

2)     Click the [School] button.

 

3)     Click the [Classes] button.

 

4)     Highlight the class you want to work with, and then select the students within that class to unenroll them. Multi-select using the <Shift> key to select a range or the <Ctrl> key (<Apple> key on Mac) to select individual classes or students.

 

5)     Click the [Unenroll] button, and click [Yes] to confirm.

 

You will need to unenroll your students from each of your Renaissance Learning applications.

 

Step 4: Deleting Non-returning Students

 

When you delete students, you're not just removing them from the application that you are logged into; you're actually deleting all of the student information from the entire student database. If you use other products from Renaissance Learning that share this data (such as Accelerated Reader, Accelerated Vocabulary, Perfect Copy, Perfect Copy High School, STAR Early Literacy, STAR Math, or STAR Reading), you will delete the student information from those programs as well.

 

1)     Determine which students will not be returning due to graduation or for any other reason.

 

2)     To access the Student Management screen, select Students from the School section of the Go Menu.

 

3)     Select the students you want to delete. Use the <Shift> or <Ctrl> key (<Apple> key on Mac) to select more than one student.

 

4)     Click [Delete], and click [Yes] to confirm the deletion.

 

Step 5: Running Data Doctor

 

The Data Doctor utility that came with your software repairs the normal wear and tear caused by the continuous storage and retrieval of information. Run Data Doctor once in each Renaissance Learning application.

 

1)     Open the program location, and double-click the Data Doctor program. Enter your password, and click [OK].

 

2)     The dialog box that appears next lets you indicate the location of your program database. If the correct data location is listed, click [OK]. Otherwise, select the drive and folder location of your database.

 

3)     To repair all of the files, click [Fix All].

 

4)     When the Data Doctor finishes repairing the files, click [Quit].

 

5)     The Data Doctor will give you the complete folder location of a text file that lists the results of the repair. You should view that file for specific information about the repair, especially if the Data Doctor was unable to repair one or more of your files. After you've noted the folder location, click [OK] to quit the Data Doctor utility program.

 

Note: If Data Doctor was unable to repair any or all of the files, please contact Renaissance Learning Technical Support at support@renlearn.com .

 

Step 6: Adding New Students/Updating Existing Students

 

If you received an Accelerated Grammar & Spelling, Accelerated Grammar & Spelling High School, Accelerated Math, Accelerated Writer, or MathFacts in a Flash export file from another school, you can import this file now.

 

1)     Log in to Management program with full administrative access.

 

2)     Click the [School] button.

 

3)     Click the [Students] button.

 

4)     From the Students menu, choose [Import].

 

5)     Insert the floppy disk that contains the student information. Skip this step if the file was sent via email or is saved on your network.

 

6)     Windows users: In the Select the file to import dialog box, browse to the location where the file is saved. Select the file, and open it.

Macintosh users: Locate the file, and open it.

 

7)     Select all of the students to be imported. Use the <Shift> or <Ctrl> key (<Apple> key on Mac) to select more than one student. If you would like the students’ data to transfer, you must only select those students that will be enrolled into the same class and re-import for each separate class. Depending on the version of the program that you are using, you may have to click [Add>>] or [Add All>>]. Click [Next] to move through the panels.

 

8)     If all students will be enrolled in the same class, you may enroll them now. To import previous data, you have to enroll the students into a class with the same objectives/levels. Otherwise, choose Do not enroll the students at this time. After viewing the Summary panel, click [Finish] ([Done] on Macintosh).

 

If you have exports for multiple programs, you will need to import them into each program separately.

 

Using the Promote Feature to Update Student Grade Levels.

 

Important: If your school has more than one Renaissance Learning application that use the same student database, keep in mind that promoting students in one application will change the grade assignments in the other programs as well. To help keep your student information accurate, you'll need to enter the Administrator password for each of the other programs whenever you promote students. You will know which applications have been affected by noting the Administrator passwords you must enter. If you have not yet promoted the students in another Renaissance Learning application, follow the steps below:

 

1)     Log in to the Management program with full administrative access.

 

2)     Click the [School] button.

 

3)     Click the [Students] button.

 

4)     From the Students menu, choose [Promote]. This will start the Student Promotion Wizard/Assistant. Click the [Next] button.

 

5)     Choose whether you want to exclude some students. If you've selected to remove some of the students from the promotion group, the Select Students to Exclude panel will open. Select the students you do not want to promote. If you want to exclude more than one student, hold down the <Shift> or <Ctrl> key (<Apple> key on Mac). If you have already imported students from another school, check to see if their grades have been updated for the next school year. If they have been, do not include them in this step. Then click [Next] to move to the Summary Screen.

 

6)     Click on the [Finish] button ([Done] on Macintosh) to start the promotion.

 

Remember: If your Renaissance Learning applications (including Accelerated Reader, Accelerated Vocabulary, Perfect Copy, Perfect Copy High School, STAR Early Literacy, STAR Math, or STAR Reading) are sharing a data location, only complete this step once. If you will be setting up those programs for the new school year, use Knowledge Base article #1655213 and/or #1655218, and check off the promoting students step as completed.

 

If you only need to make changes for a few students, use the Edit feature instead of promoting the students. To change the information for multiple students, multi-select using the <Shift> key to select a range or the <Ctrl> key (<Apple> key on Mac) to select individual students. To make changes to students' password, grade, gender, race, and student characteristics, click the [Edit] button.

 

To manually add new students, click the [Add] button in the Student Management screen.

 

Step 7: Setting the Dates for the New School Year

 

If the school year dates have been determined for the next school year, you may set these now. If your school has more than one Renaissance Learning application that uses the same student database, keep in mind that changing your school year dates in one application will change the school year in the other programs as well. To help keep your calendar information accurate, you'll need to enter the Administrator password for each of the other programs whenever you edit the school year settings.

 

Note: You may not be able to run certain reports if your school year is not set.

 

1)     Log in to the Management program with full administrative access.

 

2)     Click the [School] button.

 

3)     Click the [Preferences] button.

 

4)     Highlight the School Year option, and then click the [Edit] button. The School Year Preferences Wizard, or Assistant, will appear. Follow the instructions on your screen to define your school year and the new marking periods.

 

Remember: If your programs are sharing a data location, complete this step once.

 

Step 8: Enrolling/Transferring Students**

 

Before students can use the program, they must be enrolled in a class.

 

Enrolling Students:

 

1)     Log in to the Management program with full administrative access.

 

2)     Click the [School] button.

 

3)     Click the [Classes] button.

 

4)     Select the class into which you want to enroll the students.

 

5)     Click [Enroll]. This will open the Enroll Students dialog box.

 

6)     Choose a student to enroll by highlighting them in the Students to choose from list, and then click on [Add >>]. This will add the student to the Enroll these students list. Additionally, you can click the Grade column in the Students to choose from list to sort by grade, and use the <Shift> key to select a range, or <Ctrl> key (<Apple> key on Mac) to select individual students. Once students are highlighted, click on [Add >>].

 

7)     After you’ve added the students you want to enroll to the Enroll these students list, click [OK]. The Enroll Students dialog box will close, and the students will be assigned to the class. When you return to the Class List, the right side of the screen will list all of the students enrolled in that class.

 

** Duplicating existing classes can save you time if your classes are similar from one product to another and you are sharing your database with other Renaissance Learning software. Set up your classes and enrollment following the steps above for one of your applications and then follow the duplicate class instructions in the program help files or your software manual for each of your remaining applications sharing the same database.

 

Transferring Students:

 

If you did not unenroll all of your students in Step 3 because you want to keep ongoing records, you can transfer the students from one class to another. Transferring students allows students’ work to be copied from their original class into the new class, but is only helpful if students will be working on the same content as the previous year. If students will be working on new content, for example, a new Accelerated Math library, but you want to keep track of what they did previously, you should print Student Record reports for the previous year’s work and keep them on file. You can then unenroll the students to remove all previous data and start them out fresh in the new library. If students will be working on the same objectives, assignments, or levels as the previous year, before you transfer data you will need to make sure that both classes have the same objectives added for Accelerated Grammar & Spelling, Accelerated Grammar & Spelling High School, or Accelerated Math, the same assignments assigned for Accelerated Writer, and the same levels added in MathFacts in a Flash. If students have any outstanding assignments in Accelerated Grammar & Spelling, Accelerated Grammar & Spelling High School, Accelerated Math, or Accelerated Writer, or have worked on a level in MathFacts in a Flash but have not mastered it, this work will be deleted in the transfer.

 

1)     Log into the Management program with full administrative access.

 

2)     Click on the [School] button.

 

3)     Click on the [Classes] button.

 

4)     Select the class that the student(s) are currently enrolled in. Then select the student(s) under Enrolled Students that you want to transfer into a new class. If you want to select more than one student, remember to press the <Shift> or <Ctrl> key (<Apple> key on Macintosh).

 

5)     From the Classes menu, choose [Student Transfer].

 

6)     Select the class that you would like the students to be transferred into. Click [Next]. The Select Students screen will show you the percent transferable for the students. You can either click [Next] to continue or [Cancel] to stop the transfer.

 

7)     At the Student Transfer Summary Screen, click [Finish] ([Done] on Macintosh) to complete the transfer 

 

Step 9: Making a New Backup

 

After you have completed updating the students' records, you should create another backup copy of your student data. Please refer to Step 1, Making a Backup of Your Existing Records. This will be the initial backup for the new school year. Be sure to keep it in a safe place.