(or any other report writing professional)
As a professional with a tremendous caseload, you surely look for ways to be more efficient without sacrificing the quality of service you provide. Because a large portion of report writing is simple data entry, describing tests, and reporting performance on standardized assessments, the opportunity exists to both save time and even improve the quality of your service by automating some of these tasks.
The tutorial videos on this site will show you how to make Microsoft Word your personalized report writing program. The method does not use cut/past or find/replace, and it eliminates those moments when you might discover a wayward pronoun (or worse). You can have a personalized program that is accurate, efficient, and easily updated. It will reduce the effort required to write reports and allow you to spend time on your observations, interpretation, and recommendations. Your reports will still be your words, and they will still be individualized to the student. You will, however, write them faster and with fewer opportunities for error.
Everything here is free. There is no sales pitch, no paywall, and nothing to buy. If you have Microsoft Word, you have all you need. This page was created to provide easy access to this information so anyone can learn at their own pace.
I am not a software engineer, programmer, or anything even close. I consider myself to be an average professional who uses Microsoft Office products to send emails, write reports, and keep spreadsheets. If this describes you, I anticipate you will be able to easily follow the tutorial videos and implement the techniques.
Is it worth your time?
Your time is valuable, which is also why you don't have enough. Watch this demonstration of how it works to see if this is worth learning.Be sure to watch in 1080p and full screen to see the text.
If you watch all the videos, you will be able to-
- Turn Microsoft Word into your own report writing program.
- Use your current report format or district mandated template.
- Program frequently used data tables, descriptions, and recommendations to automatically populate names, test scores, and basic descriptions of performance.
- Update and improve your program as tests change.
- Back up your program and transfer it to other computers.
Keep in mind:
- This is an investment in time
- It pays you back in time saved.
- You reap dividends with every report you write.
- Anyone can learn this, but be aware of your limits.
- You are your own tech support, but you probably won't need it.
- Take this as far as you want and use the parts that you want.
- You don't have to use everything to improve your report writing efficiency.
- A few techniques can make a big difference.
- There is no need to develop your report writing program all up front.
- Start with one test and develop your program as you find opportunities to save time.
- Start using a few techniques with the first report you write and add more with each evaluation.
- Share with others – they will share back!
- But don’t become the unofficial tech support for your department.
The steps to learn the entire process:
- Set up Microsoft word to access these features
- Use tabs and build your template
- Use basic form fields
- Create formatted data tables
- Exploit AutoCorrect (no more cut & paste)
- Add REF Fields to auto fill data (here's where the magic really starts)
- Use switches in REF fields to make things more readable
- Use nested IF fields to automatically describe Standard Scores
- Transfer your personalized report writing program to other computers (and back it up!)
-Downloads-
These documents will help you as you follow along:Tutorial PDF - a step by step guide through the process (includes translations for Mac OS). This is the most updated tutorial guide and it contains some additional information not in the videos.
Sample Paragraph - a completed sample so you can see how it works first hand.
Sample Codes Document - contains field codes to cut and paste into for your coded paragraphs. Modify the codes by swapping out the bookmark. All the hard work is done for you here.
Template Starter - a head start when writing a template from scratch.
CASP 2017 - Thank you for attending our workshop at CASP 2017. Here are Dr. Turner's files from the presentation.