Learning Tasks In Reports

Learning Tasks In Reports

Overview

The Compass Learning Tasks module can be used to assign work to students, as well as function as an online markbook and a method of continuous reporting. When combined with Semester Reports you can use the data you've already put into Compass to help write your reports. There are two ways of doing this - importing the previously given curriculum (AusVELS, VicCurric, AusCurric) grades directly into the curriculum grading item on the report, or including the Learning Task itself on the completed report. 

Integrating Learning Tasks into Semester Reports is an excellent way of doing continuous reporting within Compass. Many schools at both the primary and secondary level are already doing this, see below for examples.


Permissions

Staff who create a Learning Task have access to be able to set it for inclusion in a Semester Report and the ability to choose the reporting cycle and the layout for the task within the Semester Report.

Staff with the permission LearningTasksAdmin have the ability to set any Learning Task for inclusion in Semester Reports and determine the cycle and layout within the report.

If your school has the Learning Task security feature enabled, there will be other staff such as Subject Coordinators and Faculty Managers who are able to set certain Learning Tasks for inclusion in Semester Reports.  For details on staff access to Learning Tasks when the security feature is enabled, please refer to the Learning Tasks article from our Knowledge Base.  If you would like the security feature enabled for your school or are unsure if it is in place, please contact our Support Team via support@compass.edu.au.


Continuous Reporting Examples

At the secondary level teachers will generally create CATs or SACs within Compass as Learning Tasks, and publish both the task and the results to the student or student and parents. These are typically done monthly or in some cases every two weeks, so students and parents are aware of how the student is doing in the class. During setup the learning task is included on the relevant semester reports cycle, and when the semester reports are published at the end of the semester the student and parent have a record of all of the CATs or SACs, and these results are augmented with other semester report results such as Work Habits, attendance data, semester result scores, standardised results (e.g. Victorian Curriculum etc.) Generally, this helps decrease report writing time as teachers are continuously working on their reports throughout the year, rather than all at once at the end of the semester.

See below for an example of how including Learning Tasks in Semester Reports looks:



At the primary level typically only the classroom or generalist teacher uses learning tasks, while the specialist teachers do not. The classroom teacher will generally create tasks once per term (or more frequently if desired) to report on English/Literacy, Mathematics/Numeracy, and Inquiry, and include these six tasks on the published report at the end of the semester.


Setting up Learning Tasks

For full details on creating Learning Tasks please see the Knowledge Base article on Learning Tasks. 


Including an existing Learning Task on Semester Reports

To include an existing Learning Task on a semester report navigate to the Edit section on a Learning Task, which can be accessed by clicking the Spanner Icon (highlighted in red below) for the relevant task from the Learning Tasks tab of a class or subject page.



From the edit screen click the 'Reporting' tab and select the Semester Report cycle, or cycles, you want to include the task on.  If you need the Learning Task title to differ in the report to what it is called at the class or subject level, you can edit the details in the 'Title on Report' field.

If you do not see a tab labelled 'Reporting' from this screen your school may not have this function enabled. Please speak with the Compass Sponsor at your school, or if you are the Sponsor please contact Compass Support to have this function enabled.
     


From this section, you are able to specify which Components you'd like to include on the report. The green tick beside a component indicates that these will be included on the report, while the grey cross indicates the component won't be included on the report. To include a component, simply click on the grey cross and this will turn into a green tick.

The description section allows teachers to include a description of the task to parents when they view the task on a students report. This description can differ from the description of the Learning Task itself, or you can copy the existing description using the 'Copy Original Task Description' button.  

Note:  It's important to check that the Learning Task Report Description properly reflects what you want to be displayed on the Semester Report. You may wish to include more or less detail on the Semester Report.

You're also able to choose how you would like the components to appear on the reports by editing the 'Display Type'. Certain components can only be displayed using some display types, and either a warning will display or components simply won't appear for you to tick.

     

Where ever there is a   icon next to a title or text, simply hover over the icon and this will provide an explanation of the function.

Once you've added a reporting cycle to a Learning Task, you will see from the Learning Task  tab of your class or subject page whether a task has been included in reports as shown below:



Please note: There is a limit to the number of grading components that can be published on a Semester Report per-Learning Task. You are able to include a maximum of three grading components, but the following components are not counted towards this value, so you can include as many of the following components as you like:

- Work Habits: Excellent, Very Good, Acceptable, Needs Attention
- Approaches To Learning: Always, Usually, Sometimes, Rarely, Never
- Performance: Outstanding, Very Good, Good, Fair, Of Concern, Unacceptable
- Demonstrated Level of Knowledge and Skill: Well Above, Above Level, At Level, Below Level, Well Below
- Result Type: Normal, Modified Task, Re-sit. Displayed beside task name on Semester Report.
- Result Type: Normal, Modified, Improved, Enhanced. Displayed beside task name on Semester Report.
- Comment: Choose from a bank of pre-existing comments, or enter free text

Compass will alert you once you've reached the maximum number of included components for the task.


Learning Tasks from Templates

Using Learning Task Templates is an excellent way to have a set structure for all tasks that staff are reminded of when creating the tasks for their classes. 


Learning Task Templates can specify that they should be included in Semester Reports, but teachers will need to set which cycle specifically when they set the task up for their class. Within templates, you can set up which grading elements are included on the task, as well as their status in relation to reports.




When the teacher creates a Learning Task from a Template that was preset for inclusion in Semester Reports, they need to add the cycle it is to be included in and can edit the layout if needed.

Note:  It's important to check that the Learning Task Report Description properly reflects what you want to be displayed on the Semester Report. The Learning Task description and the Learning Task Reporting description are separate.  The information that you type into the Learning Task description box will not automatically flow through to the Learning Task Reporting description; you will need to click the 'Copy Original Task Description' button to copy what is currently displayed on the Learning Task Description into the Learning Task Reporting Description.

Including Learning Tasks in Reports when Pushing from School Resources

If you use School Resources to store Learning Tasks for regular use each Semester or Academic year, you can preset them for inclusion in Semester Reports and then when pushing them to the applicable classes or subjects, set the semester report cycle they are to be included in and the layout. 

The benefit of using this method means that Report or Curriculum managers can set the Learning Tasks in reports structure for your school, push the tasks out to the applicable subjects and classes and then the class teachers do not need to manage the reporting attributes.  This method allows you to maintain a consistent approach to reporting and also assists teaching staff with being able to contribute to reporting results throughout the Semester, reducing the end of Semester intensity of the reporting workload.

The structure of Learning Tasks in reports is not limited to assessment tasks and can include work habits.  Utilising the Learning Tasks in reports from the School Resources level will allow you to essentially create a digital workbook that teaching staff can grade throughout the semester from their class or subject page that then seamlessly transitions to form your Semester Reports.

If you are unfamiliar with the features of School Resources and how to store Learning Tasks in this location, please see the School Resources article from our Knowledge Base.

Learning Tasks stored in School Resources are retained there ongoing for use as needed (unless intentionally deleted by a staff member with the applicable access to do so).  They are not in themselves linked to a particular class or subject page.  When in School Resources, a Learning Task is essentially a template of a task layout that you can push to a subject or class.  The original Learning Task remains in School Resources with an independent copy created at the subject or class level.  This means that the orginal task can be pushed over and over to whichever class or subject requires them.  They can be adjusted at the class or subject level to be more specific to the work being undertaken.

Below is an image of an example structure within School Resources of Learning Tasks that are going to be used across a range of subjects/classes each Semester.



Each of the three Learning Tasks in the image are preset for inclusion in Semester Reports.  You can set this when editing the Learning Task and clicking on its Reporting tab.  You can also preset the way the task will display on a report with regard to layout and which components you want included.  Please refer to the section in this article 'Including an Existing Learning Task in Semester Reports' for details on setting the display aspects for components.



At this time the Learning Tasks are not associated with a specific Semester Reporting cycle as they are not yet associated with a specific class or subject.

At the start of the year (or a time of your choosing), the reporting coordinator would go to this section of School Resources and choose to push this series of Learning Tasks to the applicable classes or subjects.  At that time, they will be able to specify which Semester Reporting cycle the Learning Tasks are to be included in.
Please note: To specifiy a reporting cycle when pushing Learning Tasks to classes or subjects, the reporting cycle must have already been created. All the set-up aspects of the Reporting cycle do not need to be complete at that time, the cycle just needs to exist. For information on creating a Semester Reporting cycle, please refer to the Semester Reports article from our Knowledge Base.
To push the series they would right click the folder and choose 'Push to Subjects/Classes'.



This will open a pop-up in which you can select the Semester Report cycle, or cycles, you want these Learning Tasks to be included in.



Once you have chosen the cycle, you then need to choose the subjects or classes you want to push them to. 



If you are wanting to push to subjects, choose 'Subject' from the 'Push to' drop-down.  Pushing to a subject will create the Learning Task as a subject-wide learning task that each class within the subject will complete.  Then select all subjects you want these Learning Tasks to be pushed to by ticking the subject's folder.



Click 'Push Content' to complete the process.
The Learning Tasks will then go to the applicable subject pages (and class pages as a subject-wide Learning Task) and be set for inclusion in the Semester Cycle you specified.



If you want to push the Learning Task to classes as a class Learning Task, select 'Classes' from the 'Push To' drop-down.  Select the classes you want the tasks to go to by ticking the class' folder box.



Click 'Push Content' to complete the process.
The Learning Tasks will then go to the applicable class pages and be set for inclusion in the Semester Cycle you specified.



If we look at the grid view on the Learning Task tab of a subject or class page, you can see that the assessment tasks and work habit task can be marked in workbook style.



When the Semester Report cycle is then open to staff, the class teacher will simply import the curriculum grading results from the Learning Tasks and add any attendance data if applicable.  The report for a student with this structure would then display like the below image for their English class.  The section outlined in red shows the Learning Tasks included in the report.



The curriculum results were ascertained from importing the results of the Learning Tasks the student completed during the semester.
Note: The import will bring across the the highest grade the student received for that item within that class. So if a student received a 7.5 and an 8.0 for the same item on two separate tasks, the result that would be imported into the Semester Report would be the 8.0 score.



There are many variations in content that you can set up for your Learning Tasks in Semester reports, this is just a starting example.  By utilising School Resources to establish your Learning Tasks in Reports structure you can have an efficient, streamlined reporting process for staff at your school.


Importing Curriculum Scores (VicCurric, AusVels, AusCurric) from Learning Tasks
to Semester Reports

With this method teachers can import the results that they've previously given students for government curriculum items (e.g. Victorian Curriculum) within Learning Tasks directly into their Semester Reports results entry screen. Once imported the teacher can still choose to edit this value, but the system will autofill with the highest score the student received for that grading element on any learning task in the class.

For example if an English class has previously assigned Learning Tasks that included the three English Australian Curriculum items (like in the image above) as grading items, and the teacher had given students grades through Compass for these items, then these values could be quickly added as a score for the selected Australian Curriculum modes/strands to a Semester Report for the class with just three simple clicks.

In order to import this information the teacher would need to be on their Results Entry screen of the Semester Report and then:
  1. Click the 'Import' button at the top right of the Results Entry screen
  2. Select which sort of data to import (either AusCurric, VicCurric, or AusVELS)
  3. Click the 'Import' button on the popup window


Once this has been done the grading column for each Australian Curriculum element will fill with the appropriate value for all students that had scores available for the selected data type. Though as mentioned previously this value is still able to be edited if the teacher feels an alternative grade is in order.
Note: The import will bring across the highest grade the student received for that item within that class. So if a student received a 7.5 and an 8.0 for the same item on two separate tasks, the result that would be imported into the Semester Report would be the 8.0 score.

Learning Task Report Exports in Compass

There are some export reports available to look at Learning Tasks across the school.

The Learning Task Administration page can be accessed for staff with the Configure permission by hovering on the Tools menu (cog icon), click 'Administration Tools' and then locate 'Learning Tasks Administration' from the menu. From this page, select the 'Reports' tab. This page allows you to run reports on the Learning Tasks that exist within Compass.

As the Configure permission provides access to other features on the Administration Tools page we generally recommend this permission is limited to a few senior staff only at the school.

Alternatively staff without the Configure permission but who have the LearningTasksAdmin permission, can be provided with the url to this same location and access it directly.  Please refer to our Individual Permissions article for details on these two permissions.

The Academic Year Export (CSV) will display an export of all student Learning Task results for the chosen academic year. This export is helpful in providing schools with an overview of how students performed in their assessments for the year.

The Missing Results Export (CSV) allows you to export out a CSV file that indicates which students have tasks with missing results. You can filter by just academic year or academic year and semester reports cycle, to see which specific tasks and students have not yet received a result for tasks included in the selected reporting cycle.

The Number of Learning Tasks included in Semester Report Export (CSV) is a helpful export for seeing the total number of tasks each class has included in Semester Reports. This is especially useful if your reports are set up with the expectation that each class will include 3 learning tasks in the cycle, you can use this report to ensure there are indeed 3 per class.

The two High Achieving Students Reports will display the students with the highest marks in their Learning Tasks that have been included in the selected Semester Reports cycle. Choose the export here that reflects the grading scheme your Learning Tasks used (A, A+ grades or Outstanding, Excellent grades). 

Please Note: Access to the above articles may be restricted due to your permission level on Compass or the modules your school subscribes to. Please contact Compass Support if you do not have access to an article you believe you should.


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