GALIS FAQ’s – Frequently Asked Questions

Data Entry

Why aren’t my changes being saved?

After making any changes on the page the ‘Save’ button in the lower right corner of the form must be clicked for the changes to take place. If your screen resolution is set too low, the button may not be visible.

How do you enter city and state?

The city, state, county and zip code can easily be entered by typing in the zip code and clicking on the ‘Auto Fill’ button. The city, state and county drop down lists are automatically populated with the corresponding cities, state and counties. If the city and county drop down lists are not showing the city or county boxes you will need to click on the down arrow on the right of the box to see other selections.

How can I sort the information on the screen?

When you have information displayed in a data grid, move the mouse (cursor) over the column headings. If the heading shows an underline, when you have the mouse (cursor) over the top of it, it is a sort-able column. Click once on the heading to sort by that column in ascending order, click again to sort by descending order. Many of the data grids through out the application have sort features.

I can’t see the whole form on my screen, can you make it smaller?

To reduce the image, please adjust the monitor resolution by:

I do a Student Search and click 'Display Details', but the previous student appears when I click a different tab.

To ensure the same student record appears as the user moves from screen to screen, please set the following option in Internet Explorer:

3. Make sure that "Check for new versions of stored pages" is set to "Every visit to the page".

Example: If a student attends Coastal Georgia and while their makes a level completion from ABE1 to ABE2, then time goes by and he attends West Central the same year and also makes a level completion there from ABE1 to ABE2 (or whatever) ... each SDA gets credit for 1 level completion on Table 4. It's only the statewide NRS table 4 that unduplicates things and counts 1 (not 2) level completions for that student in the system.

Tests and Goals

Does administering Form 8 as a pretest and Form 7 as a posttest produce a score indicating greater achievement than administering Form 7 as a pretest and Form 8 as a posttest? Does administering Form 10 as a pretest and Form 9 as a posttest produce a score indicating greater achievement than administering Form 9 as a pretest and Form 10 as a posttest?

The difference in average scores between 7& 8, and between 9 & 10, amount to “decimal dust.” There is absolutely no practical difference between the forms. Therefore, it makes no difference which form is used as a pretest or posttest. There are no differences that would result as a function of the order of administration.

Does the 9/10 Form allow for Survey and Complete Battery interchangeably as the 7/8 Form does?

Yes, they are interchangeable. The survey is a subset of the complete battery, and the scores are equated. The only difference between the forms is that there is a slightly higher reliability in the battery over the survey. For our purposes of placing students into educational functioning levels for instructional purposes, or for reporting aggregate data to the state and the NRS, the reliability difference between the survey and battery is completely insignificant.

I have a student placed in ESL6, and there is no default goal showing. Is that a problem?

Students at ESL6 do not have a default goal in GALIS. Default goals are set only for students in ABE 1-4, ASE 1-2, and ESL 1-5. However, a goal “ESL6X” denoting that the student has completed all ESL levels may be manually set.

If I roll over a student whose latest test is older than 180 days, how does it affect testing the student in the current fiscal year?

If a student's record is rolled over to the current fiscal year from the previous year, and their most recent test from the previous FY is over 180 days old, that test can not be used as a pre-test for the current FY. The student needs to be tested and that new test used as the pre-test, For example if the student's most recent 2007 test was at the ABE3 level, and when testing the student this year their 2008 entry level turns out to be ABE2, that is fine. Each year you start over with a new pre-test and all NRS level completions are based on that new pre-test, regardless of what happened the previous year.

Classes

Could a student enroll in multiple SDAs/CBOs at the same time?

Yes. GALIS allows students to enroll in multiple classes at different SDA or CBO at the same time. Each SDA/CBO will enter the student information into GALIS and will maintain its own record of the student academic progress and attainment at its respective agency without affecting the other SDA/CBO’s record on that student. As reflected in the reports, each SDA/CBO will get full credit for the student’s participation (enrollment and contact hours) and achieved accomplishments (level completion and goal achievement) during his or her tenure at the agency.

Since GALIS generated one Student ID for the student, he/she will be counted only one time in the state report to the NRS.

Could a student enroll in two different classes at the same time?

Yes. GALIS will allow students to enroll in multiple classes, multiple sites, multiple counties, and/or multiple programs (ABE and ESL) at multiple agencies. Each class, county, teacher, etc. will get credit for the enrollment and attendance that is attributed to them. When the official NRS reports are run, the student will only be counted one time for the state level report.

The reason is that a student will be counted once for each county they attend on the County reports (if they attend 12 or more hours in the county), but we can only count them once in the program total.

The reverse can also be true: A student will not be counted in a county if they do not have 12 or more hours in that county, but they will show up in the SDA count if they have combined hours (in multiple counties) that are 12 or more.

How can I create Mailing Labels from the Contact List reports?

First you will have to export the report to an Excel file (Data Only). You will need “clean up” this file a little bit, meaning delete the header rows, leaving only the rows that you need left (Name, Address, etc.). Open up Microsoft Word and do a Mail Merge with your document. From the Word menu, choose Tools --> Letters and Mailings --> Mail Merge. There will be a wizard to guide you through.

Step 1: Select “Labels”

Step 2: From Label Options, select the type of Labels you are printing on.

Step 3: Browse to the Excel File

Step 4: Click on ‘Address Block’. Select the way to display the name (probably ex. “Joshua Q. Randall Jr.” would work best). In this same window, click on MATCH FIELDS to match up the data fields. Click OK (twice). Make sure you click “update ALL labels” button on the Wizard window.

Step 5: Ensure that the Addresses are appearing in the correct format.

Step 6: Complete the merge and print.

How can I subscribe to the ADULTLIT-L listserv to be able to send/receive messages to others on the listserv?

To add faculty to the listserv, simply send an email, from the email address you wish to have added, to listserv@list.tcsg.edu . In the BODY of the email, enter :

SUBSCRIBE ADULTLIT-L First_name Last_name (You will need to substitute your first and last name).

	Frequently Asked Questions The following answers are provided in an effort to assist users. Please contact oaldatahelp@tcsg.edu if you need further assistance.	Close Window

GALIS Passwords and Roles I don’t like my password; can I change it to something else? Data Entry Why aren’t my changes being saved? How do you enter city and state? How can I sort the information on the screen? I can’t see the whole form on my screen, can you make it smaller? Why can’t I enter a date before year 1996? How do I just start keying student data in? I can open the student search, but not the student data tab. Do you have to open student search first? If so, do I key in the last name and first name in student search in order to get to the data screen? I got an error when trying to insert/update a record like this: Cannot insert NULL into (“OAL”, “OAL_TEST”, “TEST_CREATED_BY_USER_ID”). Students How do I designate the site for each student? There are two tabs called ‘Search Students’ but one of them does not give me a student I know I have. I just added a new student, but they do not show up on the ‘Student Search’ tab. How can I see all of my students/staff/classes when I search? Do I have to conduct follow-up surveys for students who exited the program? How do I enroll and report Work-based Project Learners? I do a Student Search and click 'Display Details', but the previous student appears when I click a different tab. If a student attends more than one SDA, do both SDA's get credit for level completions? Tests and Goals Does administering Form 8 as a pretest and Form 7 as a post test produce a score indicating greater achievement than administering Form 7 as a pretest and Form 8 as a post test? Does administering Form 10 as a pretest and Form 9 as a post test produce a score indicating greater achievement than administering Form 9 as a pre-test and Form 10 as a post test? Does 9/10 Form allow for Survey and Complete Battery interchangeably as the 7/8 Form does? I have a student placed in ESL6, and there is no default goal showing. Is that a problem? If I roll over a student whose latest test is older than 180 days, how does it affect testing the student in the current fiscal year? Classes and Enrollment Could a student enroll in multiple SDAs/CBOs at the same time? Could a student enroll in two different classes at the same time? Reports Why are the totals different on the reports for NRS by County and the NRS System Totals? How can I create mailing labels from the Contact List reports? LISTSERV How can I subscribe to the ADULTLIT-L listserv to be able to send/receive messages to others on the listserv? GALIS Passwords and Roles I don’t like my password; can I change it to something else? Yes, just email the oaldatahelp@tcsg.edu help desk and we can set GALIS to require a new password on your next login. Passwords must meet the following criteria: Must start with a letter. May contain 1 or more digits (0-9). Must contain at least 1 Special Character from ~ ! @ # $ % ^ & * + = ` { [ ( \| ) ] } _ : - < /STRONG > Must be at least 8 and not more than 20 characters in length. Cannot contain the same character more than 4 times. Cannot contain your Username - either forwards, reversed, or doubled. Cannot repeat any of your 4 previous passwords (including your current password). Data Entry Why aren’t my changes being saved? After making any changes on the page the ‘Save’ button in the lower right corner of the form must be clicked for the changes to take place. If your screen resolution is set too low, the button may not be visible. How do you enter city and state? The city, state, county and zip code can easily be entered by typing in the zip code and clicking on the ‘Auto Fill’ button. The city, state and county drop down lists are automatically populated with the corresponding cities, state and counties. If the city and county drop down lists are not showing the city or county boxes you will need to click on the down arrow on the right of the box to see other selections. How can I sort the information on the screen? When you have information displayed in a data grid, move the mouse (cursor) over the column headings. If the heading shows an underline, when you have the mouse (cursor) over the top of it, it is a sort-able column. Click once on the heading to sort by that column in ascending order, click again to sort by descending order. Many of the data grids through out the application have sort features. I can’t see the whole form on my screen, can you make it smaller? To reduce the image, please adjust the monitor resolution by: Right click on a blank area of your Windows desktop. Select “Properties” Select “Settings” Move the arrow in the “Screen Resolution” to the right (1280 by 1024 pixels) Clink “OK” to reset the screen resolution. Why can’t I enter a date before year 1996? The date selector can take input in two ways. You can type directly in the date field by clicking in the box (not the down arrow) or you can select the month and year and click on the appropriate date. The drop down list for the year can be confusing. If you select 1996 and click the grey back ground and then click the dropdown arrow again the list will have moved backwards about 10 years it is possible to get to the 1800’s this way, although not especially convenient. There are different places in the GALIS application where date selections are limited. This is done to assist the user in entering valid information. For example, when creating a new class the starting and ending dates must be with in the current Fiscal Year so the date selectors only allow dates to be selected which fall within that time frame. How do I just start keying student data in? I can open the student search but not the student data tab. Do you have to open student search first? If so, do I key in the last name and first name in student search in order to get to the data screen? The Student Search tab is like a doorway to student records. You must select the student that you wish to work with from the search tab. You will see to the far right of their name ‘Display Detail.’ Click on the ‘Display Detail’ and this will allow you access to the rest of the tabs for that student. (It may take a couple of seconds) The server has to remember who you selected as you move from tab to tab (in the student section). If all the tabs were accessible when you first went to the student section of the application it would not know which record to display. I got an error when trying to insert/update a record like this: Cannot insert NULL into ("OAL","OAL_TEST"<"TEST_CREATED_BY_USER_ID") The GALIS application requires the server to remember things for the user. User sessions are limited to sixty minutes. If you open the application and leave it idle for 60 minutes the session will time out and lose what was stored in memory. As a result you may get an error like the one above. Once you log back in all should work well. If not, contact the oaldatahelp@tcsg.edu help desk. Students How do I designate the site for each student? The only way a student is associated with a site is through enrollment. A class must be associated with a site to exist, but a student can exist even if they are not currently enrolled in a class. A student can possibly attend classes at more than one site. The site on the student search tab allows you to look for students that are currently attending classes at a specific site. The same student, for example, could show up in two different searches by site if he/she is enrolled in classes at each of the sites. The only time you will have to choose a site is when you are building classes. A class must have a title, start and end dates and times, faculty and a site. When a student is enrolled in a class the student is associates with the site because the class is associated with the site. You will not have to choose a site for a student – that will happen when the student is associated with (enrolled in) a class. There are two tabs called ‘Search Students’ but one of them does not give me a student I know I have. There are two tabs that are named student search. One of them is in the ‘Attendance’ section and the other is in the ‘Students’ section. The student search tab in the ‘Attendance’ section is for locating individual students who need to have attendance hours entered.The only students that will be returned on this page are ones that are enrolled in a class The student search tab in the ‘Students’ section should allow you to find a specific student in your agency. You should be able to search using any of the parameters listed at the top. You should not have to use the site parameter in order to search. The search function will only use the parameters that you have selected (clicking on the box). The drop down list will automatically show sites that belong to your agency as convenience so that you do not have to type them in. I just added a new student but they do not show up on the ‘Student Search’ tab. If you add a new student and do not see them on the first page (search page) click the refresh button. This is a result of keeping a set of students in memory, thus allowing you to search for a group of students, go to their records, and come back to find another student in the same group without having to search for them again. How can I see all of my students/staff/classes when I search? A quick why to return all records in the search is to enter a parameter that matches every entry. For example all staff and students have a last name. Select the ‘Use Last Name’ box and leave the text box blank. This will return all students with a last name. To shorten the list, just use the first letter of the last name. Do I have to conduct follow-up surveys for students who exited the program? No. Georgia uses a data matching system to obtain the following core follow-up measures for NRS: entered employment, retained employment, receipt of a secondary school diploma or GED, and placement in postsecondary education or training. Matching is conducted by the DTAE Data Center using social security number. It is important, therefore, that local programs obtain as many social security numbers as possible for those students with the above-mentioned NRS core goals. How do I enroll and report Work-based Project Learners? Georgia uses project learner outcome measures according to the following procedures outlined in the National Reporting System (NRS): The project learner measure will be completion of work-based project learner activity. The definition for progress of a project learner is “learner acquires the skills taught in a short-term learning course designed to teach specific work-based skills.” A short-term course is an instructional program of at least 12 hours but no more than 30 hours duration. Project learners are not counted for the educational gain measure and are not assigned an educational functioning level (EFL). At intake, the individual learner is identified as a work-based project learner and as entering a project learning instructional activity. The instruction must be designed to teach work-based skills and must specify the educational outcomes and standards for achievement. The final assessment of skill achievement must be a standardized test or a performance-based assessment with standardized scoring methodology. For federal reporting, the total number of learners who complete a work-based project learner activity is recorded. No core outcomes measures are reported for project learners. I do a Student Search and click 'Display Details', but the previous student appears when I click a different tab. To ensure the same student record appears as the user moves from screen to screen, please set the following option in Internet Explorer: 1. Open Internet Explorer 2. Click on Tools, then Internet Options, then Settings. 3. Make sure that "Check for new versions of stored pages" is set to "Every visit to the page". 4. Click Ok on the Settings page, and then again on the Internet Options page. If a student attends more than one SDA, do both SDA's get credit for level completions? Example: If a student attends Coastal Georgia and while their makes a level completion from ABE1 to ABE2, then time goes by and he attends West Central the same year and also makes a level completion there from ABE1 to ABE2 (or whatever) ... each SDA gets credit for 1 level completion on Table 4. It's only the statewide NRS table 4 that unduplicates things and counts 1 (not 2) level completions for that student in the system. Tests and Goals Does administering Form 8 as a pretest and Form 7 as a posttest produce a score indicating greater achievement than administering Form 7 as a pretest and Form 8 as a posttest? Does administering Form 10 as a pretest and Form 9 as a posttest produce a score indicating greater achievement than administering Form 9 as a pretest and Form 10 as a posttest? The difference in average scores between 7& 8, and between 9 & 10, amount to “decimal dust.” There is absolutely no practical difference between the forms. Therefore, it makes no difference which form is used as a pretest or posttest. There are no differences that would result as a function of the order of administration. Does the 9/10 Form allow for Survey and Complete Battery interchangeably as the 7/8 Form does? Yes, they are interchangeable. The survey is a subset of the complete battery, and the scores are equated. The only difference between the forms is that there is a slightly higher reliability in the battery over the survey. For our purposes of placing students into educational functioning levels for instructional purposes, or for reporting aggregate data to the state and the NRS, the reliability difference between the survey and battery is completely insignificant. I have a student placed in ESL6, and there is no default goal showing. Is that a problem? Students at ESL6 do not have a default goal in GALIS. Default goals are set only for students in ABE 1-4, ASE 1-2, and ESL 1-5. However, a goal “ESL6X” denoting that the student has completed all ESL levels may be manually set. If I roll over a student whose latest test is older than 180 days, how does it affect testing the student in the current fiscal year? If a student's record is rolled over to the current fiscal year from the previous year, and their most recent test from the previous FY is over 180 days old, that test can not be used as a pre-test for the current FY. The student needs to be tested and that new test used as the pre-test, For example if the student's most recent 2007 test was at the ABE3 level, and when testing the student this year their 2008 entry level turns out to be ABE2, that is fine. Each year you start over with a new pre-test and all NRS level completions are based on that new pre-test, regardless of what happened the previous year. Classes Could a student enroll in multiple SDAs/CBOs at the same time? Yes. GALIS allows students to enroll in multiple classes at different SDA or CBO at the same time. Each SDA/CBO will enter the student information into GALIS and will maintain its own record of the student academic progress and attainment at its respective agency without affecting the other SDA/CBO’s record on that student. As reflected in the reports, each SDA/CBO will get full credit for the student’s participation (enrollment and contact hours) and achieved accomplishments (level completion and goal achievement) during his or her tenure at the agency. Since GALIS generated one Student ID for the student, he/she will be counted only one time in the state report to the NRS. Could a student enroll in two different classes at the same time? Yes. GALIS will allow students to enroll in multiple classes, multiple sites, multiple counties, and/or multiple programs (ABE and ESL) at multiple agencies. Each class, county, teacher, etc. will get credit for the enrollment and attendance that is attributed to them. When the official NRS reports are run, the student will only be counted one time for the state level report. Reports Why are the totals different on the reports for NRS by County and the NRS System Totals? The reason is that a student will be counted once for each county they attend on the County reports (if they attend 12 or more hours in the county), but we can only count them once in the program total. The reverse can also be true: A student will not be counted in a county if they do not have 12 or more hours in that county, but they will show up in the SDA count if they have combined hours (in multiple counties) that are 12 or more. How can I create Mailing Labels from the Contact List reports? First you will have to export the report to an Excel file (Data Only). You will need “clean up” this file a little bit, meaning delete the header rows, leaving only the rows that you need left (Name, Address, etc.). Open up Microsoft Word and do a Mail Merge with your document. From the Word menu, choose Tools --> Letters and Mailings --> Mail Merge. There will be a wizard to guide you through. Step 1: Select “Labels” Step 2: From Label Options, select the type of Labels you are printing on. Step 3: Browse to the Excel File Step 4: Click on ‘Address Block’. Select the way to display the name (probably ex. “Joshua Q. Randall Jr.” would work best). In this same window, click on MATCH FIELDS to match up the data fields. Click OK (twice). Make sure you click “update ALL labels” button on the Wizard window. Step 5: Ensure that the Addresses are appearing in the correct format. Step 6: Complete the merge and print. LISTSERV How can I subscribe to the ADULTLIT-L listserv to be able to send/receive messages to others on the listserv? To add faculty to the listserv, simply send an email, from the email address you wish to have added, to listserv@list.tcsg.edu . In the BODY of the email, enter : SUBSCRIBE ADULTLIT-L First_name Last_name (You will need to substitute your first and last name).