In many cases, ETO customers use this functionality to replicate intakes or other forms that previously existed in paper form in an effort to become paperless and maintain all Participant data in ETO.
Fields developed with the Assessment Wizard appear on the Participant Assessment screen. Depending on the type of Assessment selected, they may also appear on the following screens: Family Assessment, Entity Assessment, General Assessment, Self Assessment, Staff Assessment.
There are two main reasons for creating Assessments:
As a continuation of the Add New Participant or Add New Entity pages to avoid making them too long. Ideally, it's best to limit those pages to no more than 20 fields. Consider what information would need to appear on the top page of a Participant's folder: Name, Address, Phone, Emergency Contact, etc. Those fields are best entered as Demographics. More detailed information, such as Medical History, Family Background, Education & Employment History, etc, can be captured in an Assessment instead. Typically, this type of assessment is completed just once per Participant enrollment, such as an Intake.
To track a change in knowledge, attitude, behaviors, etc. Typically, this type of assessment is completed at least twice per Participant, but may occur many times, such as an Individualized Plan. Creating this type of an Assessment with weighted and/or numeric elements is one of the best ways to track ETO (Effort Toward Outcomes)
Fill out required and applicable fields (with the exception of Assessment Type each of these settings can be changed later):
Allow Updates: You can choose whether to allow updates to an assessment response or not, and if you do, whether to allow updates forever or for a limited number of days. The update period will begin after a user submits an assessment (not the Date of Assessment selected at the top of the data entry screen). The Save Draft feature allows a user to bypass the update period restriction if they have not completed the assessment. (Save Draft can be turned off by the Site Administrator on the Review page of the assessment in Manage Survey/Assessments).
Select users can be allowed to update Assessments after the specified number of days. This setting is accessed by the ETO Administrator from any Assessment data entry page that includes a submitted occurrence of the Assessment in question that also has an expired Update period. Open the Take Action drop box and select Manage Locking. Select the staff who should have the ability to Update regardless of how many days it has been since the Assessment was originally submitted. Note that if a site includes a large numbers of users, there is a search option to help you find the staff you are looking for more easil
Allow assessment to be taken ONCE per Entity/Family/Participant/Staff/Program: By checking this box, you prevent the assessment from being taken more than once by anyone.
Allow Assessment Identifier: By checking this box, you allow staff to enter a word or number (or combination thereof) to identify the Particular assessment. This is helpful if users are taking the same assessment several times in a row and need to distinguish from each response. The assessment identifier can be set to auto-populate with an ID number, or with the program name that the user is in when they take the assessment. This can be adjusted on the Review page of the assessment in Manage Survey/Assessments.
Assessment Name: Assign the Assessment a name that will sufficiently represent its contents to ETO Software users who will be completing it.
Assessment Type: Choose from Entity, General, Participant, Family or Staff.
HINT: Most Assessments built in ETO Software are Participant-focused. Assessment Type cannot be changed after an assessment is created. If Participant is selected, an option will come up to allow the Administrator to create the Assessment as Beta. Beta assessments look more attractive and have an interface that is easier to navigate. They also offer more robust conditionality options. However, there are some element types not supported in beta assessments: demographic, crosstab, entity cross reference, entity cross reference attribute, and calculations. To learn more about Assessments in Beta, scroll to the bottom of this page.
Response Period: If the Assessment is intended to capture information over a definite period of time (i.e. First Quarter, 2004, November, 2003, 07/01/04 – 12/31/04) those parameters can be entered here. This is available to promote ease of cataloging data. This field will accept any alphanumeric data elements.
Assessment Header Text: The Assessment header will be the first thing that ETO Software users see when they begin the Assessment. General information about the purpose of the Assessment or instructions about completing it should be included here.
Section Label: If you add a Section Header element (see below), the default name is Section. In Section Label, however, you can change the default to anything you like (page, part, etc).
Hint: Words can be made bold in an assessment by surrounding them with asterisks (*). This can be done in any assessment text.
Hint: Note that unlike the Demographics Wizard, there is no scope on the Assessment Wizard. By default, Assessments are available to all programs in the site. They may be secured to the selected program on the Manage Survey/Assessment page. To make the Assessment available to some programs but all, utilize the Manage Program Groups feature.
Click on Continue to proceed to the second page.
Select the radio button of the type of element you want to add and click continue.
Note that there are some element types that you will use frequently, but some may never be utilized. Elements can be reordered at any time!
Section Header: This Element Type is distinct from the other types, as it allows you to organize your Assessment into sections.
HINT: If your intake form has questions that can be categorized into types such as Family Information, Housing Information, and Health Information, section headers are recommended.
Yes/No: Yes/No Elements are also referred to as Boolean. By default, Yes responses have a value of 1, and No responses have a value of 0.
HINT: If these values don't meet your needs, create an Exclusive Choice element instead with weighted choices Yes and No.
Exclusive Choices: Use this element when you can define your choices, and the user can choose only one of these choices.
NOTE: It is not recommended that you create more than 50 choices for an exclusive choice question. If your assessment does require more than 50 choices, it is recommended that you submit the first 50 choices and then add the rest of the list one at a time. This is due to constraints on the time it takes the software to process newly created assessment elements. Each choice allows for up to 300 characters.
Non-Exclusive Choices: Use this element when you can define your choices, and the user can choose more than one of these choices.
NOTE: It is not recommended that you create more than 50 choices for a non-exclusive choice question. If your assessment does require more than 50 choices, it is recommended that you submit the first 50 choices and then add the rest of the list one at a time. This is due to constraints on the time it takes the software to process newly created assessment elements. Each choice allows for up to 300 characters.
Arbitrary Text: Use this element when you can’t define the universe of choices. This should be an element of last resort, as it is always best to try to define your choices so you can ask questions of your data later. With Arbitrary Text, all you will know when you ask questions of your data is whether there is information in the field, but you won’t know what it is unless you look at the specific record. This element allows users to type in any alphanumeric response up to 100 characters.
Arbitrary Text 5000: Use this element when you can’t define the universe of choices, and the response is lengthy. This element allows users to type in any alphanumeric response up to 5000 characters.
Hint: Reporting on Arbitrary Text values has a degree of user error. Please be conscious of spelling mistakes or variants of a similar answer (Attended/Was Present/Here/etc.) when using reports to further analyze data.
Number: Use this element when you want to capture numeric information.
HINT: It is important to note that you should use the Number element when you plan to utilize this number in calculations. (such as getting an average of Number of Children of Participants in your Program). You should not use this element for items such as phone numbers, as you will not often calculate on these numbers.
Percentage: Use this element when you want to capture a percentage.
Note: When completing the Assessment, users will be prompted by a % sign next to a numeric response field.
Money: Use this element when you want to capture money-related information.
Note: When completing the Assessment, users will be prompted by a $ sign next to a numeric response field.
Date: Use this element when you want to capture a date.
Entity Cross Reference: Use this element when you want to link the Assessment respondent with an Entity that currently exists in your Enterprise.
Entity Attribute Cross-Reference: This element should only be used in conjunction with an Entity Cross-Reference and will auto-populate a custom entity attribute associated with the entity selected in the Entity Cross Reference element associated with the attribute.
HINT: An Entity Cross Reference may be used to ask "Who is your math teacher?" and the Entity Attribute Cross Reference would then be used to ask "What is your math teacher’s classroom number?" Classroom number would be a custom attribute associated with Individual entities used to track teachers.
Participant Cross Reference: Use this element when you want to link the Assessment Respondent with a Participant in your Enterprise
Signature: This will generate a line that will appear on printed Individual Assessment Reports.
Print Page Break: This feature will automatically generate a break in pages when printing an individual assessment report.
Page: This type of element also allows you to break up your assessment to eliminate lengthy vertical scrolling; a page will create a separate tab at the top of the assessment for each subject area (similar to the tabs on the bottom of an Excel workbook). If the page element is selected after another element type has been added, the message will pop up, and the software will automatically create a page and insert it as the first element in the assessment.
Demographics/Program Information: This element allows you to auto-populate a field with demographic or current program enrollment data (standard or custom) captured on the Add New Participant or View Edit Participant pages. Program Start Date pulls from the current program start date if the participant is enrolled in the program on the day the assessment is recorded. If the participant is not active when the assessment is recorded, this field will not populate.
Note: To update the assessment with updated demographic information, resubmit the assessment.
Crosstab: This element is a grid formatted to contain other elements. Crosstabs are made up of Row Groups, Rows within each Row Group and Columns. When multiple rows are created, the elements added to the first row of the cross tab will populate to the subsequent rows. Row groups are used to create separate rows that are not copies of the row above them, or to create multiple sections within the same row. There is a preview on the page when creating a crosstab to assist you. Adjusting the number of groups, row per group and columns will populate to the preview which can be used to map out the number you need of each. Other options when creating a crosstab include Show Column Headers, Show Sections, and the ability to adjust the names of the columns headers and sections.
NOTE: The number of rows, row groups and columns cannot be adjusted after a crosstab is created. After adding a crosstab you must click "Review This Assessment…" to add elements within the crosstab. To add elements within the crosstab from the review page, click the + within each section. Individual Row Group names can be edited by clicking the "E". To remove an entire crosstab, click the X below the crosstab name. Crosstab data CANNOT be uploaded via Upload Files, it must be entered manually.
File Attachment: This feature allows you to upload a file (a Word document, Excel file, etc.) and attach it to the assessment response. This is helpful if responses include more text than is allowed in the arbitrary text area–5000 symbols.
Note: Bonterra provides storage that varies per contract, and additional storage can be purchased. Contact your Account Manager for details.
Message/Instructions: Similar to a section header, but will not impact element numbering
Please note that the following page will be different depending on the Element that is being created. Fill out the applicable information and click Continue...
Stimulus: This is simply the assessment question or direction for the field you are creating.
Use Pseudonym: Checking this box allows the creation of a shorter name for the element. This is helpful for exporting the assessment data through the Assessment/Survey Flat File report and importing it into Excel. Because there is a limitation of 64 characters for the stimulus in the Assessment Upload, the pseudonym is a good way to avoid limiting your assessment question length.
Solicit Comment: Comments can be solicited from respondents for any question. When Solicit Comments is checked, the Site Administrator will be asked to add the text that clarifies the type of comments that are sought. Comment sections will contain up to 5000 alphanumeric characters and will appear immediately below the question for which comments are sought. Conditional rules are typically utilized instead of this option, because rules allow comments to be solicited based on response.
Advanced Formatting: This feature allows 4 alternative options for changing the formatting of the element and the way it is displayed on the screen when taking the assessment. This includes the option to make conditional elements appear with a gray background rather than the default yellow. These options will only affect the display when taking, updating or reviewing the assessment. Assessment Reports will not be altered when using these features.
Show Stimulus: This is commonly used when the element is in a crosstab where the column or row name already labels the elements contained in the section, or when a demographic field is pulling the Participant name to be displayed at the top of the assessment. This feature will only show the actual response or response options for the question, and not the question or stimulus itself.
Show Stimulus and Element on Separate Lines: Unchecking this box will display the question and response on the same line of the assessment, instead of displaying the question on one line and the response directly below it. It is a good option for shortening the size of the page.
Place following element on the next line: Unchecking this box will display the element directly following this one on the same line of the assessment instead of directly below it. This is also a helpful option for shortening the page length of the assessment.
Indentation: The drop down options for this allow you to indent the assessment element 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4 spaces from the left side of the screen. This can be used in conjunction with the previous option to provide space in between elements on the same line.
After creating your element as needed, click Continue to review your choices and Continue again. You will be redirected back to the Select Element Type page. Select an element type and click continue to add another question to your assessment, or click the Review This Assessment link at the bottom of the page to Manage your newly created assessment.
You have now successfully created an assessment using the Assessment Wizard. For further instructions on how to manage your created assessment, please see our article for Manage Survey/Assessment for more information regarding changes to your created assessment.