Dear Valued Customers,
We are including you in this communication in an effort to respond to recent scanning and performance challenges that some of you have been experiencing. Not all users have experienced these challenges; however we want to ensure that those who are experiencing this issue receive this message. It is our policy to address issues openly and to provide you with immediate resolutions. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you.
SCANNING TEMPLATE
CHALLENGE: In October we released version 8.8 of our STARS software that included modifications to the scanning process. The scanning template was reformatted to accommodate 120 items in one page (increased from 80). Due to the close proximity of items, the scanning error rate increased. This challenge has been most noticeable to customers who have created answer documents that include question types with differing number of choices. This image is an example of such a scenario.
RESOLUTION: A maximum of 80 questions per answer document has been re-established and we are releasing this change to our customers during the December holidays. This will alleviate the scanning issues for future printing. When scanning answer documents generated prior to the update in December, the issue will still persist. We cannot release this long term solution to you until you have completed scanning assessments that you have already printed. Releasing the patch ahead of the scanning of already printed answer documents will cause further challenges. In an effort to provide the necessary support to you as you finish scanning affected answer sheets, we are offering two solutions:
SOFTWARE PERFORMANCE
CHALLENGE: As schools have progressed through the early months of school, scanning of test answer documents has increased exponentially. At the same time that assessments are being scanned, reports are being accessed, A+ scoring data is being entered and answer documents are being printed. Your awesome use has pushed our software to full throttle. As a result, some of you have experienced performance issues.
RESOLUTION: We have upgraded to new servers and we have fine tuned many processes in the background. Other adjustments will be implemented immediately to further improve the overall system performance.
You are incredibly valuable to our organization. It is our goal to provide you with a product that streamlines the data analysis process. There is much at stake; the academic success of children. We are doing everything possible to resolve these issues immediately.
Best regards,
Erika Benadom
Vice President, Product and Solutions
SchoolCity Inc.
We are including you in this communication in an effort to respond to recent scanning and performance challenges that some of you have been experiencing. Not all users have experienced these challenges; however we want to ensure that those who are experiencing this issue receive this message. It is our policy to address issues openly and to provide you with immediate resolutions. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you.
SCANNING TEMPLATE
CHALLENGE: In October we released version 8.8 of our STARS software that included modifications to the scanning process. The scanning template was reformatted to accommodate 120 items in one page (increased from 80). Due to the close proximity of items, the scanning error rate increased. This challenge has been most noticeable to customers who have created answer documents that include question types with differing number of choices. This image is an example of such a scenario.RESOLUTION: A maximum of 80 questions per answer document has been re-established and we are releasing this change to our customers during the December holidays. This will alleviate the scanning issues for future printing. When scanning answer documents generated prior to the update in December, the issue will still persist. We cannot release this long term solution to you until you have completed scanning assessments that you have already printed. Releasing the patch ahead of the scanning of already printed answer documents will cause further challenges. In an effort to provide the necessary support to you as you finish scanning affected answer sheets, we are offering two solutions:
- When you experience a high error rate while scanning; stop, save the document as an ROA file and send it to us. We'll fix it and upload it to your server.
- When you experience a high error rate while scanning; stop, package your answer documents in an envelope or box and FedEx them to us. SchoolCity will pay for the shipping cost. We will scan them and send them back to you.
SOFTWARE PERFORMANCE
CHALLENGE: As schools have progressed through the early months of school, scanning of test answer documents has increased exponentially. At the same time that assessments are being scanned, reports are being accessed, A+ scoring data is being entered and answer documents are being printed. Your awesome use has pushed our software to full throttle. As a result, some of you have experienced performance issues.
RESOLUTION: We have upgraded to new servers and we have fine tuned many processes in the background. Other adjustments will be implemented immediately to further improve the overall system performance.
You are incredibly valuable to our organization. It is our goal to provide you with a product that streamlines the data analysis process. There is much at stake; the academic success of children. We are doing everything possible to resolve these issues immediately.
Best regards,
Erika Benadom
Vice President, Product and Solutions
SchoolCity Inc.