If districts will be using FastBridge for summer school, there are a few considerations to keep in mind.
FastBridge subscriptions for the year expire on July 31st, but users will be able to continue using FastBridge until the Summer Session is finished.
We strongly recommend that summer sessions occur at the end of the school year, after spring session has ended.
Rollover
There are three dates available for a district’s new school year rollover. If conducting summer school in FastBridge, we strongly recommend selecting a rollover date that is AFTER the summer session has ended. We do not recommend rolling over to the new school year before the conclusion of the summer session.
When the rollover date comes, FastBridge will migrate the data to the new school year. Once the data has been moved to the new school year, users will not be able to access the previous school year, including the summer session. Data, including that from the summer session, will continue to be available in our historical reports, but the live instance of data (graphic reports, etc.) from the previous school year and summer session will no longer be available. For more information on the School Year Roll Over, see the End of School Year Guidance.
Screening Periods
If districts haven't already done so, they may need to add additional screening period(s) to facilitate screening in the summer. If using FastBridge during the summer for progress monitoring only, users do not need to add additional screening periods. For information on adding additional screening periods, see Managing Screening Periods.
If users plan on using FastBridge for screening during Summer School, we recommend adding the summer screening period(s) when districts complete the beginning of the year setup.
Progress Monitoring
Student Login Access
If using FastBridge during the summer for progress monitoring only, users do not need to add additional screening periods. Users will want to make sure that their student access extends to the end of the summer session, so that students will be able to use the platform throughout the summer. Users can adjust the end date by following the directions in Setting Up Student Login Access.
Progress Monitoring End Date
Another aspect to note is the end dates of any progress monitoring plans that will be used over the summer. If students enrolled in the summer session will be progress monitored using their existing PM plans, users will want to ensure that their plans' end date extends until the end of the summer session. This can be done by going into the plan’s Edit Setup and extending the end date on the Monitoring Schedule page.
Progress Monitoring Calendar
Lastly, check the Progress Monitoring Calendar to ensure the Summer School weeks are enabled.
- Navigate to the Master User tab.
- Select Assessment Info.
- Select PM Calendar.
- Use the checkboxes to select any Summer School weeks.
Roster
Sometimes teachers and students are not at their regular schools for Summer Sessions, which may seem at odds with the original roster. When creating a roster for summer school, the objective is to group students so the teacher who is responsible for them has convenient access to their data. The following is recommended:
- Roster the student in their current grade. Do not advance them to the next grade until the roster upload for the beginning of the next school year after rollover has occurred.
- Keep students at their current school, if possible. If users need to create separate summer school sites, they will need to contact FastBridge Support to assist with this setup process.
- Do not advance students to their new school for next year until after rollover.
- Keep in mind that the summer school roster may add an additional school to a student’s enrollment. If a student is rostered to more than one school, they will have an option to choose the school at which they’re testing whenever they take a FastBridge assessment in the upper left-hand corner of their screen. Make sure summer school students select the appropriate school.
- Users will most likely have a summer roster that differs from their regular school year, so users will want to wait to upload their summer roster until after the regular school year has ended. For more information on uploading the roster, see Uploading a Roster.
- If students are un-enrolled in preparation for rostering for summer school – for example, if a district usually has 1,000 students, but only 100 are attending summer school, so the uploaded roster only contains 100 students – there is a chance that those students' historical data will not show on reports if they are not re-enrolled prior to rollover. To ensure accurate reporting after the school year rollover, districts may want to:
- Avoid rostering specifically for summer school if it means un-enrolling the general student population.
OR - Re-enroll the entire general student population prior to the FastBridge rollover, whether they did or did not participate in a summer school program.
- Avoid rostering specifically for summer school if it means un-enrolling the general student population.
Next Steps
To learn more about setting up summer school programs in FastBridge, view Summer School - Detailed Guidance.