The arrows on the screen indicate the trend in the last month (that is, the most recent month of current data), compared to the past 12 months. Green arrows indicate a positive trend, red arrows a negative trend, and blue, sideways arrows indicate no change. A percentage change of 3% or less is considered no change.

For example, if during the past 12 months a court's clearance measure was 95%, but during the last month it was only 90%, a red arrow () would be shown, warning of the possibility of a downward trend (for this measure, the potential of a developing backlog). Or, if during the past 12 months the court's on-time measure was 95%, and during the last month it was 97%, a green arrow () would be shown, indicating the possibility of a positive trend. Blue sideways arrows () indicate no change (about the same percentage in the past month as during the past 12 months). Note that for the Aging Case Index, unlike the other measures, the red arrows point up and the green arrows point down. This is because, unlike the other measures, for Aging Case Index (backlog) a higher percentage is worse -- indicating more old cases. For all measures, however, the color coding is consistent -- green for positive, red for negative, and blue for no change.

The arrows offer only a quick and ready glimpse of possible trend (only one month). The number of cases on which each measure is based is available by clicking on "statistical data" at the bottom of each screen.

Future enhancements to the CPMS will offer users the a choice of whether to base the arrows on the last one month, the last 3 months, or the last six months (in each case, compared to the last year).