Test Score Import Definition Page

On this page:

Use this page to define the interface records for loading students' test score information into eSchoolPlus from the fields in a source file.

An import interface definition has three panels:

• Interface - contains the code and description identifying the interface definition.
• Test Information - determines the test to be updated (Test-Level-Form), identifies the character used in delimiting files, and specifies the name of the source file.
• Import File Layout - defines records for controlling how field data from the source file will be loaded to create students' Test History records. Click Edit to display fields for adding details to a record.

To create a new definition from an existing definition, click Copy at the upper right after you retrieve the existing file. You then can modify the displayed values to set up the new definition.

Delimited versus Fixed-Length File Formats

The format of the source file determines how you will define your interface records. Source files supported by eSchoolPlus use one of the following formats:

• • Delimited format
    You must define a separate interface record for each field in the source file, including fields being skipped.
    For example, if you are loading data from fields 1, 2, 3, and 10, you also must define records for fields 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, which should have their Action fields set to Skip Field.
  • Fixed-length format
    You must define a separate interface record for each field in the source file that contains test data, but you can set up individual records for skipping consecutive positions in multiple source fields.
    For example, if you are loading data from field 1 (positions 1-5), field 2 (positions 6-10), and field 10 (positions 46-50), then you would define four detail records: three for the data fields and one for the fields being skipped. As a result, record 3 would have a field length of 35 (for positions 11-45), and its Action field would be set to Skip Field.

View test score import definitions

1. Select Administration from the main menu, select Test Scores Setup submenu, select Setup, and then select Test Score Import Definition.
2. If the definition you want does not display, run a simple or advanced search.
3. Click the definition's Interface ID link.
4. On the Test Score Import Definition page, review the definition's values.
5. To view additional details on an import field, click the Edit icon to the left of the row's File Field ID field. Click Cancel to close the fields that display.

Add test score import definitions

1. Select Administration from the main menu, select Test Scores Setup submenu, select Setup, and then select Test Score Import Definition.
2. Click Add at the upper right.
3. Complete the fields on the Interface and Test Information panels.
4. On the Import File Layout panel, define each field being imported from the source file.
5. To add details for an interface field, click the Edit icon to the left of a row's File Field ID field.
6. Enter details in the additional fields that display, and click Apply.
7. Click Save.

Add detail to interface records

1. Select Administration from the main menu, select Test Scores Setup submenu, select Setup, and then select Test Score Import Definition.
2. If the definition you want does not display, run a simple or advanced search.
3. Click the definition's Interface ID link.
4. On the Import File Layout panel, click Edit to the left of a row's File Field ID field.
5. Enter details in the additional fields that display, and click Apply.
6. Click Save.

Copy an interface definition to create a new definition

1. Select Administration from the main menu, select Test Scores Setup submenu, select Setup, and then select Test Score Import Definition.
2. If the definition you want to copy does not display, run a simple or advanced search.
3. Click the Interface ID link of the definition being copied.
4. On the Test Score Import Definition page, click Copy at the upper right.
5. On the Interface panel, enter an Interface ID and Description to identify the new definition.
6. On the Test Information panel, change the Delimit Character and Filename fields as needed. You cannot change the Test - Level - Form fields.
7. On the Import File Layout panel:
   • You can add details for a row by clicking the Edit icon to the left of its File Field ID field. Complete the fields that display, then click Apply.
   • You cannot change the File Field ID field for a row that has been saved.
   • You can delete a row by selecting its

     

      (Delete) checkbox. The record will be deleted when you save the page.
8. Click Save.

Change test score interface definitions

1. Select Administration from the main menu, select Test Scores Setup submenu, select Setup, and then select Test Score Import Definition.
2. If the definition you want does not display, run a simple or advanced search.
3. Click the definition's Interface ID link.
4. On the Test Score Import Definition page, change the definition's values as needed.
5. To add or change details for an interface field, click the Edit icon to the left of a row's File Field ID field. In the fields that display, enter your additions and changes, then click Apply.
6. Click Save.

Delete test score interface definitions

1. Select Administration from the main menu, select Test Scores Setup submenu, select Setup, and then select Test Score Import Definition.
2. If the definition you want to delete does not display, run a simple or advanced search.
3. Select the definition's 

   

    (Delete) box.
4. Click Save.
5. At the confirmation prompt, click Yes.

Fields

Interface Panel

Test Information Panel

Import File Layout Panel

This panel defines how data in the source file will be loaded.

• Each record represents a source field that is being used to load data.
• Additional records must be set up for either skipping source fields or in the case of fixed-length files, skipping consecutive positions in multiple fields.
• Records also can be set up to include literal values. These values can either replace data from source fields or add data that the source file does not include.

Interface records must be organized in the order of the corresponding source fields. The exception is records that are used to add literal values to Test History records that are not found in the source file. To avoid confusion, we recommend that you add these records with higher field order numbers than the records corresponding to the source file's fields.

Field	Description
Edit	Click the Edit icon to display fields for entering additional details for an interface record. Using these fields you can: Set up literal values. Specify a format for the field's values. Provide table validation for the field. Define external matching values. Set up rules for handling blank or specified values in the source file. Convert codes in the source file to specific values.
Field Order	Order that this field will be listed from left to right in the upload or download data file. You can skip numbers to leave room for additional fields. Small Integer
File Field ID	Code identifying the field in the source file. Character/5
Action	Specifies how the Import Scores from File option (menu path: select Test Scores from the main menu, select All submenu, select Utilities, and then select Import Scores from File) will process the value from a source field. Select: Determines Student ID - to specify that the value from the source file is the student ID or is a field that you are going to use to return the student ID. For example, if the source file contains the student's last name, first name, birthdate, and gender but not the ID, you would select Determines Student ID as the Action for each of these fields to indicate that the student ID will be returned based on their values. Map Field to Score - to load the value from the source field to a Subtest Score field. Map Field to Test - to load the value from the source field to a Test field. Skip Field - to skip the field. If the source file is delimited, you need to specify an interface record for each field you want to skip. For fixed-length files, you can specify one dummy record for all fields being skipped between two source fields. In this record, you must enter the total number of positions in the fields skipped. Use Field ID to Determine Score - is used in state reporting. For more information, refer to your state reporting documentation or your state reporting team lead at PowerSchool.
Subtest/Field ID	Subtest for the score field you want to update. This field is accessible if the Action field is set to either Map Field to Score or Use Field ID to Determine Score.
Field Name	Name of the field you want to update. The list of available fields is based on the value you selected in the Action field. If the Action field is set to... Then... Determines Student ID You can select Birthdate, First Name, Gender, Last Name, Middle Name, Student ID or Student State ID to identify the student. Map Field to Score You can select from the list of score fields defined for the selected Subtest. Map Field to Test You can select: Age - If you do not load a value, the student's age on the test date is loaded. Building - If you do not load a value, the building the student was enrolled in on the test date is loaded. Grade - If you do not load a value, the student's grade on the test date is loaded. Print on Transcript - If you do not load a value, Y (for Yes) is loaded. Test Date - This is a required field for loading test scores. To specify the test date: If the test date is in the source file, you can load the date from the file. If you will run this interface multiple times a year for different test dates, do not specify the date in an interface record. Instead, you can enter the test date when you run the Import Scores from File (menu path: select Test Scores from the main menu, select All submenu, select Utilities, and then select Import Scores from File) option. If you will run this interface multiple times for the same test date, define a literal for the test date in an interface record. Use Field ID to Determine Score You can select from the list of values defined for the selected Subtest or Field ID.
Field Length	Maximum number of positions in the field being loaded from the source file. Be sure to specify the appropriate length to avoid truncating data from the source file. Small Integer For fields where you are specifying a literal value, you can enter a length of 0 (zero) to make it easier to identify that the field has a literal value. However, if desired, you can enter the length of the value.
(Delete)	To delete a row, select its Delete checkbox, then click Save.

Edit Fields

These fields allow you to add details to interface records. To display the fields, click Edit to the left of the Import File Layout panel's File Field ID field. You then can enter details for loading data from the source file, adding a literal value to Test History records, or retrieving a value from the database based on multiple fields in the source file.

If you are loading subtest scores, you can set up rules to skip fields that contain blanks or certain specified values. This is useful when students have multiple records for the same test within the source file. For related information including examples, refer to the field descriptions.

Field Details Section

External Matching Section

Externals are used to return a value in your database when the source file does not include the field value needed for loading records. They also can be used to validate values against data stored in Registration.

The fields in this section are set automatically and cannot be accessed if you selected Determines Student ID in the Action field.

For more information on using externals, refer to External Matching.

Convert File Fields Section

This section enables you to convert a source file's code to a specific value in eSchoolPlus.

Field	Description
Code	Value in the source file that you want to convert when the data is loaded. For example, if the source file uses the value 1 to identify the student as female, enter 1, then use the Value field to convert this to F, the gender code used in eSchoolPlus.
Value	Value that you want to use in place of the source file's specified code. Your entry must be a valid value in your database. For example, if the source file uses the code 1 to identify a student as female, enter F, the gender code used in eSchoolPlus.
(Delete)	To delete a row, select the Delete checkbox. The row will be deleted when you save the page.

Additional Information

The Test Score Import for TAL21 (TELPAS ALT 2021) will allow the TELPAS ALT Score Code that encompasses all four domains of testing (Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing). To distinguish TELPAS ALT scores, a Subtest is added to the existing TELPAS test definition called TELPAS ALT Score Code with a single field of Score Code. You can upload both TELPAS and TELPAS ALT test score files to the updated TELPAS Test Definition. You will see a populated TELPAS ALT Score Code Subtest Score Code field after uploading a TELPAS ALT test score file. For the TELPAS test score file upload, you will see an unpopulated TELPAS ALT Score Code Subtest Score Code field.