PeopleSoft Recruiting and Admissions 9.0 PeopleBook

(NZL) Processing NCEA Test Scores

This chapter provides an overview of National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) processing and discusses how to:

Set up NCEA test data.
Process NCEA test scores.
Access NCEA test data in display-only mode.

Understanding NCEA Test Score Processing

NCEA is New Zealand's national qualification for senior secondary students. NCEA is part of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). Through NCEA, students can record their achieved standards, thereby acquiring credits on the NQF, as well as a variety of test results. For example, when students have achieved 80 credits at level 1, they qualify for a NCEA level 1, so long as eight of those credits show numeracy skills and eight other credits show literacy skills.

See Also

www.nzqa.govt.nz/ncea/index.html

Setting Up NCEA Test Data

Before you can load, review, post, or purge NCEA test data, you must complete some setup requirements.

This section discusses how to:

Define NCEA test components.
Define NCEA test IDs.
Map NCEA subject codes to each NCEA test ID component.

Pages Used to Prepare for NCEA Test Score Processing

Page Name	Definition Name	Navigation	Usage
Test Component Table	SA_TEST_COMP_TABLE	Set Up SACR, Product Related, Recruiting and Admissions, External Test Scores, Test Component Table	Define test components to attach to test IDs.
Test Tables	SA_TEST_TABLE	Set Up SACR, Product Related, Recruiting and Admissions, External Test Scores, Test Tables	Define an NCEA test ID and assign test components.
NCEA Subject Code Map	SAD_NCEA_MAPSB_NZL	Student Admissions, Processing Admissions NZL, NCEA Subject Code Map	Map subject codes.

Defining NCEA Test Components

Access the Test Component Table page (Set Up SACR, Product Related, Recruiting and Admissions, External Test Scores, Test Component Table).

Define NCEA test components.

See Also

Defining External Test Components

Defining NCEA Test IDs

Access the Test Tables page (Set Up SACR, Product Related, Recruiting and Admissions, External Test Scores, Test Tables).

Add a test ID of NCEA and enter test component details.

See Also

Defining External Test Components

Mapping NCEA Subject Codes to each NCEA Test ID Component.

Access the NCEA Subject Code Map page (Student Admissions, Processing Admissions NZL, NCEA Subject Code Map).

For each NCEA test component, map a subject group code.

Processing NCEA Test Scores

This section provides an overview of the steps required for NCEA processing, and discusses how to:

Load NCEA test scores.
Review NCEA suspense file process options.
Review basic bio/demo data.
Review other bio/demo data.
Review subjects.
Review standard results.
Review suspense load messages.
Post NCEA suspense data.
Set up search/match parameters for NCEA data.
Review posted NCEA data.
Review posted NCEA data details.
Purge the NCEA suspense files.

Understanding How to Process NCEA Test Scores

To process test scores:

Load the test score data from a file in your directory into a suspense table using the NCEA test score load process.

There are four files: Candidate File, Subject Group File, Result File, and Standard File.
Review and edit the data that you loaded in suspense pages.

Correct all load errors before moving on to the next step. In the search dialog page of the suspense component, enter Error in the Edit Processing Option field and click the Search button. Access each suspense record and correct the errors until every suspense record has a value of Complete (rather than Error) in the Edit field on the Process Options page.
After you have corrected all of the load errors, run the search/match/post process.

This process looks for data in your database (based on search parameters that you define on the search/match criteria pages, that can include, for example, name, ID number, and birth date) that matches the data that you are posting. For a set of parameters that suggest only a possible match (such as name and gender, for example), the process will not post the record until you can manually determine which records are actually duplicates.
View each suspense record that did not get posted to confirm that it is actually a duplicate.

On the Search Dialog page of the Suspense component, enter the NCEA test ID, Complete in the Edit Process Option field and Perform in the Search/Match Process Option field. Click the Search button. The search process finds only those suspense records that were not posted in the search/match/post process. The search/match/post process does not post records if it encounters a possible duplicate record in the database. After you access the component, find the parameters for which the process identified a match. Use Search Match to find the bio/demo information that matches the suspense record and decide whether a person who matches the incoming data already exists in the system. Specify whether you want the search/match/post process to add the bio/demo and test record to your database, update an existing record, or ignore the suspense record.
Run the search/match/post process again.

The process posts the suspense records that you manually tagged to post. By this time, all of your suspense records should be posted to your database. To view a test score record that the search/match/post process created or updated, use the NCEA Test Results page.
Purge the suspense tables.

You should purge the suspense tables as soon as all of the suspense records have been posted to the database. This helps to avoid confusion the next time that you load data into the suspense tables.
Review or edit posted test results.

Pages Used to Process NCEA Test Load Data

Page Name	Definition Name	Navigation	Usage
NCEA Load External Data	SAD_RCTL_NCEA_LD_N	Student Admissions, Processing Admissions NZL, NCEA Load External Data	Run the NCEA Data Load SQR process (ADUEBNZL), in order to load NCEA test scores in to the suspense tables.
Process Options	SAD_NCEA_SPROC_NZL	Student Admissions, Processing Admissions NZL, NCEA Suspense, Process Options	View and correct load process results.
Bio/Demo Data	SAD_NCEA_SPBIO_NZL	Student Admissions, Processing Admissions NZL, NCEA Suspense, Bio/Demo Data	Review and edit the student's personal information in the suspense record.
Other Bio/Demo Data	SAD_NCEA_SPOTR_NZL	Student Admissions, Processing Admissions NZL, NCEA Suspense, Other Bio/Demo Data	Review and edit additional personal information in the suspense record.
Subjects	SAD_NCEA_SPSUB_NZL	Student Admissions, Processing Admissions NZL, NCEA Suspense, Subjects	Review and edit the student's loaded subject data.
Standard Result	SAD_NCEA_SPSTD_NZL	Student Admissions, Processing Admissions NZL, NCEA Suspense, Standard Result	Review and edit the student's loaded standard result record.
Messages	SAD_NCEA_MSG_NZL	Student Admissions, Processing Admissions NZL, NCEA Suspense, Messages	Review message details from the load process.
Search/Match Parameters	SEARCH_PARMS	Student Admissions, Processing Admissions NZL, NCEA Search/Match/Post, Search/Match Parameters	Define your search/match parameters. These are the rules that determine what the post process should do with the suspense record after the search/match process is complete.
NCEA Post Parameters	SAD_RCTL_NCEAPST_N	Student Admissions, Processing Admissions NZL, NCEA Search/Match/Post, NCEA Post Parameters	Post NCEA test data from suspense files. Before you post the data, however, set up the search/match parameters on the Search/Match Parameters page. You can post a single record or all of the records in the suspense file.
NCEA Test Results	SAD_NCEA_TERES_NZL	Student Admissions, Processing Admissions NZL, NCEA Test Results, NCEA Test Results	View a student's posted NCEA test data.
Additional Test Score Detail	SAD_NCEA_TSTSC_SEC	Click the Details button on the NCEA Test Result page.	Review additional information about a test component.
NCEA Purge Suspense File	SAD_RCTL_NCEAPRG_N	Student Admissions, Processing Admissions NZL, NCEA Purge Suspense File	Purge NCEA suspense records.

Loading NCEA Test Scores

Access the NCEA Load External Data page (Student Admissions, Processing Admissions NZL, NCEA Load External Data).

The NCEA Data Load process loads four files: A candidate record, a subject group summary record, and a result record, (each of which is loaded into suspense and then posted to the profile test results tables), and a standard record, which is loaded each time to provide a temporary look up table. The temporary standard table is used by the load SQR to obtain the subject group for each standard/version on the result record. It is also used to obtain more detail about each standard.

Reviewing NCEA Suspense File Process Options

Access the Process Options page (Student Admissions, Processing Admissions NZL, NCEA Suspense, Process Options).

This page provides the status of a suspense record regarding the loading process. Any informational and error indicators that NCEA data load processes generate appear on this page. You can use this page to keep current on the status of an individual's NCEA processing.

Processing Options

Edit

Displays the status of the load process for this suspense record. The load process populates this value.

Complete: The load process loaded the data without a problem. This record is ready to be posted.
Error: The load process encountered problems when loading the data.

The system indicates the values that you must correct in the Error Indicators group box. Correct all errors and save the data before running the search/match/post process on this record. After you correct the errors and save the component, the system changes the field value to Complete.
Perform: You set this value manually.

This is for informational purposes only.

Search

Displays the status of the search/match process for this suspense record. The search/match process populates this value.

Complete: The search/match process completed successfully.
Error: The search/match process encountered problems.

Refer to the log file for information regarding the error.
Perform: The search/match process will process this record the next time you run the process.

Post

Displays the status of the record regarding the search/match/post process. These values can be entered manually; however, some are entered by the system after processes are run as described in the table below. If the process updated an existing person's record, the process displays the ID that was updated in the ID field on the Bio/Demo page.

Post Value	Meaning	How Set
Delete Update ID	Not used with NCEA.	Not used with NCEA.
Error	The posting process encountered a problem.	Set by the system during the search/match/post process.
New ID Add	Not used with NCEA.	Not used with NCEA.
No Action	Search/match/post and purge suspense file processes will ignore the record if this value is entered.	Set manually.
Purge	Indicates that this suspense record will be removed from the system during the purge suspense file process.	Set by the system during the search/match/post process if the record was successfully processed.
Update ID	The search/match/post process found a matching ID in the database. The process will update the matching records with the data from this suspense record. When set manually, means that the process identified a match and the user determined manually that duplication exists. The system makes available the ID field on the Personal Information page. Select the ID that you want the search/match/post process to update. You must save the page and run the search/match/post process to update the record.	Set by the system during the search/match process if a match was found in the database and if your search parameters define that an update should occur in this situation (only when you run search/match and post and different times). Set manually.
Wait Srch	This record is in the suspense file and is waiting to be processed by the search/match/post process.	Set by the system during the load external data process.

Note. While you can manually edit the values in the Edit, Search and Post fields, keep in mind that if a field contains Error and you manually change it without correcting an error, you may experience problems when posting the data.

Error Indicators

Last Name, First Name, and Birthdate

When a load error occurs, the load external data process displays the required values that were missing or incorrect in the load. Go to the Bio/Demo Data page or another page in the NCEA Suspense component where the missing or incorrect data resides to enter a valid value. When you correct the error the system clears the check box and the fields will no longer appear. After all of the check boxes are cleared and the component is saved, the system enters Complete in the Edit field.

Search/Match Results

Order Nbr (order number)	You know that the search/match process found a match and did not post the suspense record when the Search field contains Perform and displays the search order number that led to the match in the Order Nbr field. Use this information to decide whether or not a possible duplicate exists.
Matches	Displays the number of matches that the process found at order number given.

Reviewing Basic Bio/Demo Data

Access the Bio/Demo Data page (Student Admissions, Processing Admissions NZL, NCEA Suspense, Bio/Demo Data).

Review and edit the student's personal information in the suspense record.

Reviewing Other Bio/Demo Data

Access the Other Bio/Demo Data page (Student Admissions, Processing Admissions NZL, NCEA Suspense, Other Bio/Demo Data).

Review and edit additional personal information in the suspense record.

Reviewing Subjects

Access the Subjects page (Student Admissions, Processing Admissions NZL, NCEA Suspense, Subjects).

Review and edit NCEA subject information in the suspense record. Each component has its own row and details.

Reviewing Standard Results

Access the Standard Result page (Student Admissions, Processing Admissions NZL, NCEA Suspense, Standard Result).

Review and edit NCEA standard result file information in the suspense record. Each component has its own row and corresponding detail rows.

Reviewing Suspense Load Messages

Access the Messages page (Student Admissions, Processing Admissions NZL, NCEA Suspense, Messages).

Any messages that the NCEA load process generates appear on this page. Use this page to find the most current information on the status of an individual's NCEA data processing. These messages can serve historical and analytical purposes, giving you a picture of the kinds of errors encountered in your processing. Therefore, you should purge your NCEA messages only after you have completed your analysis.

Posting NCEA Suspense Data

Access the NCEA Post Parameters page (Student Admissions, Processing Admissions NZL, NCEA Search/Match/Post, NCEA Post Parameters).

Search/Match/Post Exec Options

Search, Match and Post	Select this option if you want the process to search your database for records that match the suspense record and post the suspense data to your database. This is the recommended option.
Post Only	Select this option if you only want to post the suspense data to your database (if you select this option, you must have already run search/match or manually changed the Search and Post process options on the External Test Score Suspense page).
Search and Match Only	Select this option if you only want to run the search and match process on the suspense file. You will need to post the data at a later time.

Post Processing Parameters

Academic Institution	Enter the institution for which you want to post NCEA suspense data.
NCEA Year	Enter the year of the NCEA examination.
NCEA File Number	Specify the examination file you want to post. Values are: First Examination File Second Examination File Third Examination File NCEA file number values are delivered with your system as translate values and you should not modify them.
Process Single Record	Select this check box if you want to run the search/match/post process for a single suspense record. The National Student Number field becomes available.
National Student Number	The national student number for the single record you want to process. This field applies only if you have selected the Process Single Record check box.

Setting Up Search Parameters for NCEA Data

Access the Search/Match Parameters page (Student Admissions, Processing Admissions NZL, NCEA Search/Match/Post, Search/Match Parameters).

Use this page to set up your search/match parameters. These are the rules that determine what the post process should do with the suspense record after the search/match process is complete.

See Also

Setting Up Search/Match Parameters

Reviewing Posted NCEA Data

Access the NCEA Test Results page (Student Admissions, Processing Admissions NZL, NCEA Test Results, NCEA Test Results).

Use this page to review a student's loaded NCEA test score data.

Reviewing Posted NCEA Data Details

Access the Additional Test Score Detail page (Click the Details button on the NCEA Test Result page).

Review additional information about an NCEA test component.

Purging the NCEA Suspense Files

Access the NCEA Purge Suspense File page (Student Admissions, Processing Admissions NZL, NCEA Purge Suspense File).

NCEA Year and NCEA File Number

When you purge NCEA suspense files, you do so by year and file number. Enter a year and file number that correspond to the suspense records you want to delete.

All Suspense Rows

Select this option if you want to purge all of the records in your suspense table, regardless of the status of the Post field on the Process Options page.

Marked Suspense Rows

Select this option if you only want to purge those records in your suspense file marked Purge in the Post field on the Process Options page. Select this option if you suspect that there are still suspense records that need to be processed. The purge process will only delete suspense records with Purge in the Post field on the Process Options page.

Retain Associated Messages

Select this option if you want to retain messages that are associated with the suspense records that you are purging.

Remove Associated Messages

Select this option if you want to remove messages that are associated with the suspense records that you are purging.

Accessing NCEA Test Data in Display-Only Mode

In some instances, you may want to provide view only or basic summary view access to users. Assign access to the Student Profile component (SAD_NCEA_SPS_NZL) to do so.

This section lists the pages used to view NCEA summary information.

Pages Used to View NCEA Summary Information

Page Name	Definition Name	Navigation	Usage
Bio/Demo Data	SAD_NCEA_S_BIO_NZL	Student Admissions, Processing Admissions NZL, NCEA Student Profile, Bio/Demo Data	Review basic biographical information for an individual.
Other Bio/Demo Data	SAD_NCEA_S_OTR_NZL	Student Admissions, Processing Admissions NZL, NCEA Student Profile, Other Bio/Demo Data	Review biographical and demographic information for an individual.
Subjects	SAD_NCEA_SSUBJ_NZL	Student Admissions, Processing Admissions NZL, NCEA Student Profile, Subjects	Review an individual's NCEA subject record.
Standard Result	SAD_NCEA_S_STD_NZL	Student Admissions, Processing Admissions NZL, NCEA Student Profile, Standard Result	Review an individual's NCEA standard result record.

NCEA Year and NCEA File Number	When you purge NCEA suspense files, you do so by year and file number. Enter a year and file number that correspond to the suspense records you want to delete.
All Suspense Rows	Select this option if you want to purge all of the records in your suspense table, regardless of the status of the Post field on the Process Options page.
Marked Suspense Rows	Select this option if you only want to purge those records in your suspense file marked Purge in the Post field on the Process Options page. Select this option if you suspect that there are still suspense records that need to be processed. The purge process will only delete suspense records with Purge in the Post field on the Process Options page.
Retain Associated Messages	Select this option if you want to retain messages that are associated with the suspense records that you are purging.
Remove Associated Messages	Select this option if you want to remove messages that are associated with the suspense records that you are purging.