Dear Teacher's Partner Users,

TP Version 12 expires September 30th 2009 as per the license agreement. New Version 13 CDs will be sent out to shortly to all our boards with with full board licenses. If your board has a license, and you are getting an expiry message, please contact  the appropriate employee from your board to get a CD to upgrade to the latest version.  If you are a single user or your school has a license, please contact sales@leadinged.com .

In order to ensue compatibility with other users, consistent instructions, and ongoing support, it is essential that all users upgrade to the latest version.  If you choose not to re-subscribe we wish you all the best,  and thank you for your past patronage.

New Features in Version 13

Version 13 will be ready shortly.  I have been developing new email features for the program as well as improvemnts to the gradebook and ways to provide good feedback quickly. More to follow.

New Features in Version 12

Here are some of the new features in version 12. I hope you like them.

Ed Jackson (Teacher/Developer).

• Import results from an online Moodle quiz
• Copy marks and comments from one student to another (for group marks)
• more to come

New Features in Version 11

Here are some of the new features in version 11.

• Access 2003 Runtime

This version of Teacher's Partner uses the Access 2003 run time.  For 10 years I've used Access 97.  It been good.  But this is more robust.  And anyway, to be compatible with Vista I needed to upgrade.  I think you'll notice the changes in the interface and like them.  Last year I did a trial run with the Near North board and I received very positive feedback from them.

• First Names First!

Every year a few teachers have asked me about organizing the gradebook by first names instead of last names.  It seemed an odd idea to me. But I've come to realize its a good idea. How often do students hand in their work with their first names only?  And then you're racking your brains to figure remember the last name, so you can find them in the class list. Organizing the class lists by first names will make data entry in the GradeBook easier. (report cards are still organized by last name).

• GradeBook Comments made easier

I figured out another way to provide good feedback for students on projects and presentations.  You could do it before, but I think you'll find this easier.  Just list the criteria, and then for each student check whether its a strength or something to improve.  Then the information gets organized for you.

• Multiple Choice questions now marked for you in Teacher's Partner 11

For years teachers have been kidding me about finding a way to get Teacher's Partner to mark their work for them. For a lot of assessments, yes its still impossible.   I've never been a big fan of multiple choice questions because there are a lot skills that couldn't be assessed with a multiple choice test.  But this last year I've discovered a way to create and use multiple choice tests. And now I've added a feature that allows you to enter the students answers, and Teacher's Partner 11 marks it for you.  Its a lot faster than marking it yourself.  And there is an added advantage that you can determine quickly which questions gave the most students trouble. This won't be for everyone.  But some of you are really going to like this feature.  I know I do.

New Features in Version 10

1. New English curriculum (2006)
2. Strand filter in Rubric Builder
3. Improvements in Rubric Builder to make it easier to build custom rubrics for planning and reporting purposes.
4. More...

New Features in Version 9

1. New math, social studies, and history curriculum (2005/2006)
2. New features to import and export to Trillium systems.
3. New Quick Plan makes it easier to get started with planning.
4. Print Report Rubrics
5. More...

New Features in 8.11

1. Adds Kindergarten Report Comment Bank.
2. Has option of printing Kindergarten report without a Logo.
3. Fix for importing and exporting problems with Windows NT and Windows 2000.
4. Now able to select custom groups when going to Report > Other Report Info > Teacher's For Each Subject.
5. Behaviour Manager makes it easier to tracks trends of specific periods of time.

New Features in 8.0

1. Daybook adds 2004-2005 year to records.
2. Improvements to the Gradebook Editor - easier searching.
3. Manage Category weights using new easier methods.
4. Import French Immersion Expectations.
5. View and reuse rubrics in new Subtasks.
6. Mega Comment builder can now organize report rubrics according to category.
7. Recording a "Not Done" for any part of a Subtask automatically makes a notation on feedback sheets that part of the subtask was not submitted or handed in.
8. Easier to import Report Comment Bank Rubrics from other people.
9. Backup and Restore your entire to Teacher Data file easily to an external memory device such as a USB Flash memory stick.
10. 15 New Tutorials on the Teacher's Partner Version 8 CD.

New Features in 7.6

1. New Gradebook Editor allows you find, edit, and add data even faster than before.
2. Daybook now allows and week at a time preview and print.
3. Kindergarten Report Card (specifically designed for TVDSB).
4. Faster data entry for marks in Gradebook.
5. Daybook now has a quick set schedule button.
6. Create and weight categories when calculating Report Grades.
7. Fixes to 7.02 Issues. (More info)

New Features in 7.02

1. Spell Check in Mega Builder
2. Improved Printing of Units
3. Improved Printing of Subtask Sheets
4. Rubrics and Instructions can now all be done in Subtask Writer 1
5. Able to import an entire unit all at once (not just one subtask at a time)
6. Able to create and assess subtasks directly from the Gradebook (e.g. no planning required).
7. Print Day Plans for a whole week.
8. Analyze report grades for a whole division or the entire school.

Click here to see more of what is new in version 7.02

Bug Fixes in 6.2 Special Edition

1. Fixes error message when importing CSV file for a class file
2. Fixes request for parameter when printing long range plans
3. Fixes error message that Windows XP users get when report term is clicked.
4. Some minor changes to a few printouts to minimize paper waste.

New Features in 6.2 Special Edition

1. Palm and Pocket PC compatibility improvements
2. New Auto Planning Feature.  You don't have to select the assessed expectations anymore. You can choose to have categories and rubrics are automatically selected for you. Basically all you have to do is name your subtask and you're ready to print tracking sheets and record marks.  If you thought planning took too many steps before - take a look again.  This is really simple now.
3. New Gradebook Feature - A Mega Marks and a Mega Comment feature have been added to the Class Format.  Do things like select all students and give all of them a 3 - and then edit the few students who got 1,2,and 4s.  You won't use it for every assessment, but there will be times when you find it to be very handy. 
4. Report Mega Comment Auto Select. This feature is really slick.  Select a subtask that you have assessed.  Create a report rubric (using the builder).  When you click on "Level 4" the level 4 comment appears and all students who achieved a level 4 on the subtask are automatically highlighted.   Then click on the level 3 button.  The level 3 comment appears and level 3 students are automatically highlighted.  Finish the process without ever moving to another screen.
5. Mega Fix Pronouns - Now one click can fix all subject comments for all students.

Our philosophy has always been the same.  Provide one great piece of software that does virtually everything a teacher or a principal needs to do.  Here is a list of just some of the new features that you will discover with this version. 

New with Teacher’s Partner Version 6 (2002)

• Greater Portability Between School and Home

Now you can create a unit and a subtask and enter the grades at school and then save the data to any device so that you can take it home to merge it with your data on your home computer.  This is possible because when you export a subtask you can also choose to export the marks that go with it.  You no longer need to go through the long process of backing up all of your data to 4 floppies and then restoring at home.  You can even email the file to your home. 

• The Fastest Data Entry System

Teacher's Partner has always allowed you to enter data much faster than any other system.  But you can now enter levels using the keyboard including pluses and minuses and the program automatically advances to the next student or skill.

• New Gradebook Printouts

New Gradebook printouts allow you to select exactly the information that you want to print out.  Clear detailed communication with parents has never been so easy.

• New Daybook Feature

A Daybook has been added.  Teachers can enter their schedules and create dayplans by clicking on the subtask that they plan on covering during a selected day. 

• Save Reports to Any Device or Location

When you save reports you no longer need to only save them to floppy disks.  You can now choose the device, location and the name or your report file.

• Import or Export TAB files from Ministry FileMaker Pro Programs

You can now import and save to a tab file if you need compatibility with the relational version of the Ministry report card.  The files are also compatible with eTeacher®.

• Import Units from the Curriculum Planner

 You can now import from the Ministry Curriculum Planner.  Open the unit with FileMaker Pro and then save the unit as a tab file. Then import the unit as you normally would through the plan import process. 

• Add Unit Logos and Word Art

In the Unit Planner you can now insert Word Art and Clip Art to serve as the unit logo.  Both of these will appear when you print student worksheets and long range plans.   

• Assess By Category or Expectation

Previous versions of Teacher's Partner only allowed you to link marks to expectations.  Version 6 now allows you to link marks to categories (e.g. problem solving, communication) .  This is more consistent with the Ontario Ministry of Education's directives and exemplars. 

• Export to MS Excel Files

•  New Rubric Comment Banks Linked to Subtasks 

• Instant Honour Roles

Honour Roles can now be calculated and printed.  The honour role calculates an average for each term and then an overall average for the year. 

•  Print Reports for Any Combination of Students

Analyze

This is a whole new section that did not exist in previous versions of Teacher’s Partner.  Originally it was developed to be a separate program to help principals implement a school plan and track progress for the entire school for a given set of skills.  However, many teachers have expressed an interest in these features.  Therefore, we have included the Analyze features as part of the standard Teacher’s Partner program.

Strengths and Weaknesses Graph.

 This graph shows the results from any subtask.  Each subtask is summarized according to the skill categories that were assessed.  A graph is generated that shows the highest level achieved in each skill category by each student.  The summary can be for an entire grade or for selected classes.  It is also possible to analyze data according to gender.  You can choose between a stacked bar graph or a regular vertical bar graph. 

Compare Assessments

Compare students’ performances on one assessment with their performance on another.  This can be done as a before and after comparison.  Or it can be done to assess the validity and reliability of assessments. (Compare EQAO scores with performance on a writing assessment).  You can view a graph that shows the number of students that got a higher mark on the second assessment, the number that got the same mark, and the number that got a lower mark.  In addition, you can print out a detailed summary that shows each students’ performance on the two assessments.

Graph of Reports

This shows a summary of the marks that students achieved on their reports.  Summaries of both page 1 and 2 of the report cards can be viewed and printed. You have a choice between a stacked bar graph and a regular vertical bar graph.

Notes:  eteacher® is a restricted trademark of Media-X

Send Us Your Suggestions

If you have specific features or improvements you would like to see included with future upgrades, send them to ideas@leadinged.com.