Overview
Navigate to School Info > Imports and Exports
The Import Test Results process can import both the STAAR Interim and STAAR Beginning of Year (BOY) student test results files using the same test layout. For best results, load test files at the district level when possible. The Import Test Results process will also add any new STAAR Interim and Beginning of Year test parts into the Testing Control (CTL) table and the Content Standard Names (CSN) table when the file layout is selected.
Select File Layout ↑
Select the proper STAAR Interim/BOY Test Results file layout to import either the STAAR Interim or the STAAR BOY student results file. The data file must be in the format defined in the STAAR Interim and Beginning of Year Student Data File Layouts found on the Texas Education Agency Data File Formats website. Once the file is downloaded from the testing vendor, it should NOT be opened before importing into Aeries, as that sometimes breaks the format the import routine is expecting. When deciding which year file layout to use, select the file layout that was in effect when the data was downloaded.
NOTE: It is VERY important that the correct file layout be chosen to match the results file, as there are multiple test layouts that begin with the word 'STAAR'. Choosing the wrong layout for the file being imported will result in the test records being misidentified, and not aligning properly.
Select Test Results File ↑
Once the file layout is selected, click on the Select File(s) to Load button, select the proper data file, and click on Open.
The system will attempt to validate the data file against the file layout that was selected in Step 1 by looking for key words in the file layout name. If the key words do not exist a warning message will come up to check that the correct file layout and data file were selected. In the below example the STAAR Interim/BOY file layout was selected, but the data file is the STAAR 3-8. The warning message comes up alerting the customer to double-check that the correct data file was selected. After clicking on the OK to remove the warning the customer can click on the Clear button to remove the data file and then select a new file.
Once the correct data file has been opened, click on the Upload file(s) and create temp data button to load the data file. A progress bar will display as the file is loaded.
STAAR Interim
The Administration Type field from the data file will contain the Test ID of INT for the Interim test (fields 1-3 of each record). The Default Date is derived from the Test Date in the data file (fields 15-22 of each record) and the Testing Administration is derived from the Administration field contained in the data file (fields 4-14 of each record). The Aeries Testing Administration (TST.TA, CST.TA and TEX.TA) for the test results is either Interim Window1 (IW1_YY), Interim Window2 (IW2_YY), or Interim Window3 (IW3_YY) where YY is the last two digits of the first part of the school year from the year portion of the Administration Date field contained in the data file (3/10/2023 = IW2_22). NOTE: We do not recommend updating the Default Date or Testing Administration, especially when import test records from prior administrations.
STAAR Beginning of Year (BOY)
The Administration Type field from the data file will contain the Test ID of BOY for the Beginning of Year (BOY) test (fields 1-3 of each record). The Default Date is derived from the Test Date in the data file (fields 15-22 of each record) and the Testing Administration is derived from the Administration field contained in the data file (fields 4-14 of each record). The Aeries Testing Administration (TST.TA, CST.TA and TEX.TA) for the test results is the 4 digit year from the year portion of the Administration Date field contained in the data file (7/10/2022 = 2022). NOTE: We do not recommend updating the Default Date or Testing Administration, especially when import test records from prior administrations.
If desired, the test results may also include an identification of the data source by choosing it from the Source drop-down menu, although the Source and Type fields are optional. Additional values can be added to both of these dropdowns through the Update Code Table process.
Matching Students ↑
Click on the Match Students button to match the students in the data file to the students in Aeries. The Unique ID is the primary identification in the STAAR Interim/BOY Student Results data files. It should be the first method used for matching students. If there are still large numbers of students unmatched, you can also select other options for matching.
If students are still unmatched, you can print a report of the unmatched students by clicking on the button labeled Print Unmatched Students:
Finally, students can be matched manually by searching by name, Student ID or Unique ID, or by entering the Student ID number directly into the matching field. For best results, please match as many students as possible before loading the test results. Click View Unmatched Students if necessary to assist matching the students manually by using the Student Lookup feature.
Update Test Tables ↑
The STAAR Test Results import will add/update records to the Test Scores (TST), Content Standard Scores (CST), and Test Exclusions (TEX) tables. After the import process has completed an email with summary information will be sent to the user that initiated the import.
