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Creating the September Re-Issue Assessment Definition in Aspen

Creating the September Re-Issue Assessment Definition in Aspen: Supporting a 1:1 Chromebook Initiative

The West Warwick Public Schools has been a K-12, 1:1 Chromebook district since the spring of 2012-2013. Our district uses Aspen to assist us with our management of over 4,200 Chromebooks for students, and every staff member. This blog post will explain how we use Aspen's Assessment tool to manage the process of re-issuing Chromebooks in September. As you can well imagine it is a tremendous task to move each student's Chromebook from their previous year's classroom to their new classroom in time for the new school year. What makes it even more difficult is that in the last weeks of August it's not uncommon for student to be shuffled from classroom to classroom, and sometimes moved to another school within the district.

Why Use the Assessment Definition

All of this movement demands that we have an easy way for teachers to communicate with the helpdesk in an easy and efficient manner. We use Aspen Assessments to ensure that every student has their Chromebook as soon as possible in September. The following step-by-step directions will assist any Aspen district the opportunity to set-up their own "Chromebook September Re-Issue" assessment definition. You can also view the quick video below that explains the entire process.



Step 1: From the District View in Aspen do the following:


  • Click on the Assessments top tab.
  • Click the Assessment Definitions side tab.
  • Click on Options and add a new assessment definition.


























Step 2: Add the Columns (fields for the Assessment Definition)


  • Click on the Columns side tab located under the Assessment Definition Details.
  • Click on options add to create a new field that will be added to the assessment definitions Extended Data Dictionary (EDD).
  • Fill-in all of the appropriate information for your assessment field.
    • Choose the field name.
    • Select the appropriate field data type.
    • Select the appropriate user field length.
    • Enable the field, and select the field as Mass Updatable, and Live Editable.



Step 3: Complete the Add the Columns (fields for the Assessment Definition)


  • Once you’ve set the appropriate field data type, and field length Aspen will choose the actual field from the EDD. Set the following:
  • Choose or create a reference table for the field.
  • Set the Detail Control of the field.

The field set below illustrates the created fields in the Chromebook September Assessment Extended Data Dictionary (EDD).










 Download the Extended Data Dictionary fieldset data.

Step 4: Reload the Extended Data Dictionary

Reload the Extended Data Dictionary once you’ve finished adding the fields you want to use in your assessment.
Click Options and select reload the Extended Data Dictionary




















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