FAQ
Data Collection Fall Information Sessions
October 2011
GENERAL QUESTIONS
1.
Will there be changes to the legacy data collection systems?
The agency is moving to the SIF environment for our data collections and
changes to the legacy system need to be carefully considered as we move all
districts towards a SIF implementation.
2.
What is the difference between validation and cross-validation?
A Validation is a rule that is run locally on a single application. When you
validate your data the system checks for errors that reside within just that data
set. A cross validation is a rule that is run between different data sets
(applications). When you cross validate your data the system looks at multiple
applications and checks the data with validation rules to ensure the data sets
match.
3.
Why do the cross validation error reports open into Excel in misaligned
columns?
We understand that this is a problem and we will look into making the necessary
changes.
4.
Can information listed on the profiles page (teacher numbers, class size, etc.)
be amended?
No, we do not correct data once it is published to the profiles. Please keep in
mind that summary reports are provided in advance of publication for district
review and approval in order to minimize any potential misreporting of data.
5.
What is the rationale for reporting SCS twice during the year?
We need preliminary HQ data on teachers in relation to the classes that students
are taking. This data is used to inform policy making decisions. End of year SCS
data is used to report back data to teachers to enhance student learning.
6.
Do districts submit EPIMS and SCS in March?
No, we currently do not collect EPIMS and SCS during the March collection
period.
7.
How do districts apply for a SIMS extension?
Please fax in a request for an extension on school letterhead addressed to
Commissioner Chester. The request must be signed by the superintendent and
faxed to 781-338-6530.
8.
The relationship between the deadline of SIMS and SCS is problematic since
SIMS closes earlier than SCS. How do districts remedy this situation?
This is a common concern. However, districts can cross validate SCS and SIMS
prior to the SIMS deadline and cross-validate EPIMS afterwards; the two need not
be done at the same time. Remember that changes to SIMS will require
decertification.
9.
Why can’t the deadline be the same for all three applications?
SIMS is due earlier because the state must report the data to the legislature by
December 1 for Chapter 70 funding and other accountability functions.
10.
Can the Mass Core Curriculum data field be derived from submitted SCS
data?
Not at this time.
11.
Is the dropout rate calculated from SIMS data?
Yes, the dropout rate is calculated from SIMS data and any changes that are
needed are to be made through the SIMS application.
12.
How current is the class size information on the profiles?
The information that is currently published is from last October's collection. We
will work to continuously update the data as quickly as we can.
13.
Will the ESE be providing transcripts at some point in the future?
Potentially. We are exploring the possibility of electronic transcripts.
14.
If ESE provides transcripts will districts be able to make retroactive
changes?
This would be possible with implementation of SIF.
15.
Is ESE letting superintendents know about new information and changes
coming for SIMS, EPIMS and SCS?
Yes, we are. DESE is working on closely coordinating communication between
all parties involved.
16.
Has there been any coordination between ESE and Health and Human
Services concerning nutrition information?
Not currently.
17.
Does Massachusetts plan to implement a single SIS vendor for all districts?
Not at this time.
18.
Can there be more than one SIMS contact in profiles?
This functionality is now available.
19.
Is there a new SIMS Data Handbook?
The SIMS Data Handbook has been updated and can be found here:
http://www.doe.mass.edu/infoservices/data/sims/DataHandbook.pdf
20.
Are the EPIMS appendices up to date with the new NCES codes?
Yes.
21.
Is it possible to post the reporting schedule earlier in the year. Perhaps in
July?
Yes, however, it may not be possible to publish as early as July.
22.
Now that SASIDs and other student information cannot be sent through
email, how do districts change student information?
You have two options to relay this information, (1) call your District Support
Specialist or (2) upload a .txt or .xls file to the SIMS File Exchange in Dropbox
Central.
23.
Why would students come into a kindergarten with a SASID?
The Department of Early Education and Care will begin to assign SASIDs to
children whom they service. Also, some students are assigned SASID’s in
PreSchool programs.
24.
Is there going to be a standard of how demographic information is going to
be provided by the Department of Early Education and Care when assigning
SASIDs.
Yes, this will improve overall data quality.
25.
Is Bullying considered a violent offense on the SSDR?
Yes.
SIMS
1. Is there a way to attach a name to the error report instead of just a SASID?
No, this is not possible due to privacy concerns.
2. Why can't districts use the Single Edit function in SIMS after the window has
closed instead of going into an SCS file and changing data there to address crossvalidation errors?
3. We must have a final SIMS file that will be used for updating profiles and funding
purposes. If we allow districts to go in and make changes after the deadline for
certification, it means that there is a possibility of incorrectly projecting a budget for
district funding.
4. Can districts get all the quick and full validation errors at once in SIMS rather
than being separated out?
Currently, Quick Validate and Full Validate are separate validation processes with
error reports generated for each.
5. Is there a way to report students who earn GEDs in SIMS so that they will not
appear on the dropout report?
No. Districts may only report that a student has dropped out to enroll in a nondiploma granting adult education program but do not report to the ESE whether a
student has actually earned a GED. The ESE will remove students from the dropout
list that have earned a GED prior to October 1st of the reporting school year. The ESE
will not inform a school district if a student has earned a GED because of privacy
concerns.
6. Can children under 3 years old who receive special education services be
reported on SIMS?
No, they cannot be reported on SIMS. The ESE cannot assign a SASID to a student
until they are 3 years old. However, they will be reported on the Special Education
Indicator Report.
7. Do districts track data for outplaced students?
Yes, outplaced students must be reported in SIMS, but not in SCS.
8. We have students who attend a collaborative program. Are these programs
handled the same as alternative education programs?
Collaborative programs are not the same as alternative education programs.
9. Our special education department was not made aware of the changes in
DOE032. Do we have to rewrite all of our IEPs?
The department has worked to alleviate communication issues. We have provided a
decision tree to assist in coding DOE032. The placement categorizations are the only
options that have been changed. IEPs should not be affected and should not have to
be rewritten.
10. Where is the new decision tree for DOE032?
It is on page 71, Appendix E, of the SIMS handbook.
http://www.doe.mass.edu/infoservices/data/sims/DataHandbook.pdf
SIMS: 504 (DOE039)
11. What kind of relationship is there between special education placement and 504
plan codes?
There is no relationship. Treat the two as separate questions about the students'
education.
12. What if a student switches from a 504 plan to an IEP?
Report both 504 plan (DOE039) and Special Education Placement (DOE032 or
DOE034) in SIMS.
13. If a student comes off of a 504 plan in the middle of the school year can that data
be changed in the SIMS report?
No, the data element looks for students who were on a 504 plan at ANYTIME during
the school year and should be reported as “01.”
14. For the March and June collections, do districts leave the 504 plan (DOE039) the
same as previously reported in October?
If DOE039=00 in October and a student goes on a 504 Plan later in the year, then the
March and EOY value for DOE039 should be 01. If DOE039=01 in October and the
student comes off the 504 Plan later in the year, then the March and EOY value of
DOE039 should remain 01, and then be reset to “00” at the beginning of the next
school year.
15. Should districts report students on 504 plans for temporary injuries?
Yes.
16. Why is the ESE collecting 504 plan data this year?
This data is for compliance reasons for the US Department of Education.
17. Will there be additional elements added to the 504 plan (DOE039) field?
Not at this time.
18. Do we report 504 plan statuses for services-only students?
Yes.
19. Should we report students who have transferred into our district, and are
undergoing a reevaluation for a 504 Plan, as being on a 504 plan?
Yes, if they were on a 504 plan for one day in your district they should be reported as
“01” in DOE039.
SIMS: Unexcused Absences (DOE052)
20. A district may define truancy as a designated number of unexcused absences.
Are these separate fields? How do districts report this?
We want the number of unexcused absences regardless of the relation to a districts
local definition of “truancy.”
21. What if there are different definitions of unexcused absences in different schools
in our district? How do we report this?
The definition has always been defined as district-wide.
22. What does DESE consider an unexcused absence?
The definition of an unexcused absence is district defined. Refer to your local policy
regarding this to determine the number of unexcused absences.
23. A district reported actual truancy one year and now with the clarification of the
definition to unexcused absence, the reported percentage may increase sharply.
How do we reconcile this?
The ESE will note that the requirements had been clarified but we will not change
data from previous submissions.
24. What if our district policy allows previously reported unexcused absences to be
retroactively excused. How do we reconcile this given that the data is taken as a
snapshot currently?
Implementation of SIF will allow this change to be retroactively applied.
25. Why do we collect unexcused absence data at all given the collection of
attendance and membership data?
The DESE has been asked to provide this data. Research has shown a relationship
between academic achievement and unexcused absences.
26. Isn't it more important to collect absences at the classroom level instead of
overall in the district?
Yes and DESE is considering this going forward.
27. If we continue to put one student in for that truancy field to get past the
validation, can we continue to do this?
You should not create erroneous records to bypass a validation. Please contact your
Data Collection Support Specialist for assistance.
28. My district has been reporting actual official truancy (student skips school
intentionally) rather than unexcused absences (student may go on vacation).
Report all unexcused absences.
29. Are districts still going to have to get an exception for DOE052 if we have no
unexcused absences?
This is only an issue for the EOY collection. Please contact you Data Collection
Support Specialist for assistance.
30. My truancy calculations were based upon a simplified interpretation of the
Mass. General Law statute regarding truancy. Can we get this out to everyone
to use this as a standard?
This is part of the problem as districts define their own definition of truancy and it
may differ from unexcused absences.
SCS
1. Is there any look-back validation when a course is reported as having a numeric
grade only and is later changed to a letter grade?
No.
2. There have been complaints from Guidance Departments that students’
schedules change frequently after the collection period and that with the
cumulative collection the students end up with lots of withdrawn records on
their transcripts.
This may be a software issue with the SIS. The withdrawals should not appear on the
students’ transcripts.
3. Has the new option for reporting Alternative education in SCS been carried over
to SIMS?
No, alternative education is already reported in SIMS (DOE027), this has not
changed.
4. If a grade 6 course is reported with a grade 7 course code will an error be
returned?
No, there is no validation, but every effort should be made to have the subject area
course code match the grade level.
5. If a student is in eighth grade, but housed in a high school, do districts report as
secondary or prior-to-secondary?
These students will be reported as prior-to-secondary regardless of location.
6. Are districts reporting grades for elementary schools this year?
No, the reporting of final grades for the elementary level is not mandatory for this
school year. You can, however, report on this information if you collect it.
7. Has the ESE figured out a way to report skills and standards based grading in
SCS?
Not currently, but we are looking into it for 2012-2013.
8. Is it more important to report multi-grade level classes as a class with one grade
or do districts break it out into separate sections?
Don't report data based upon class size or composition. Statistics should not drive the
reporting. What matters is what's most important for the district overall in terms of
accurate reporting.
9. How would districts report school-wide ungraded courses, that don’t report on
transcripts?
If the course exists on the students' schedule, it should be reported. Just be aware of
the multiple grade level percentage cap (20% of all reported courses).
10. Given the new course codes, can districts still break out prior to secondary
classes, like a 1st grade English, 1st grade social studies, etc?
Yes, there are new codes for this.
11. If a student is taking classes at a higher education facility, does an associated
EPIMS work assignment record need to be reported?
No, an associated work assignment does not need to be reported. The SCS records
for these courses will be coded as CLBR#### in the school code field (#'s are the 4
digit higher education institution number from the EPIMS Appendices). This will
exempt the cross-validation between EPIMS and SCS for that record.
12. What grade level is considered secondary?
Grades 9-12 are considered secondary. Grades PK-8 are now considered prior-tosecondary. This is a change from previous years.
13. If a district exceeds the multiple grades/all grades (88/99 in WA09) percentage
cap, but actually has that many courses, how should they structure their data to
come in under the cap?
Find the most predominant grade out of all the students in that particular class and
report it as that grade or report the grade that the course is targeted for, i.e. if it is a 9th
grade English class with a mix of 9th and 10th grade students, report it in EPIMS as
grade 9.
EPIMS
1. Do districts report alternative education teachers in EPIMS?
Teachers in district-run alternative education programs should be reported in EPIMS.
2. Do districts report collaborative teachers in EPIMS?
No, collaboratives will be submitting separate EPIMS data.
3. Given the changes in the NCES codes, can a high school special education
teacher have the 99999 code (representing all subjects?)
Yes, however, only Special Education and English Language Learner teachers may
use this code on the secondary level.
4. Will the new classification of prior-to-secondary impact a teacher's HQ status?
The district will have to continue to evaluate and make a determination of the HQ
status of teachers.
5. Should we report a class that starts on October 4 in EPIMS?
No, the data for this reporting period are as of October 3. Classes started after
October 3 would be reported in June.
6. What course code would we use for a teacher who oversees a Rosetta Stone
course?
Contact your Data Collection Support Specialist who will work with you to determine
the course code.
7. Should districts total existing FTEs during second semester reporting?
No, calculate FTE for active term only. Leave the previously reported FTE as is if it
is being reported as inactive.
8. Will it be a problem if a staff member’s total FTE changes between reporting
periods?
No, however, the FTE cannot equal 0.0.
9. EPIMS only allows two 2306s per section, but can we report a paraprofessional
or a content support teacher in the same section?
Yes, you can report paraprofessionals or content support teachers in the same section.
If you do have more than 2 teachers per section you can contact your Data Collection
Support Specialist for guidance on how to report more than 2 co-teachers.
10. Should we retroactively change HQ status of teachers for inactive terms?
No, since the data is a snapshot and the collection is cumulative we would like to see
the correct HQ status while the term was active. For full year courses, please update
the HQ status to the most current status
11. How do districts report a teacher who provides all subjects to a student who is
unable to attend school?
For PreK-8, use an “all subjects” course code appropriate for the grade of the student,
i.e. the 73032 course code will apply if the student is in grade 2. For grades 9-12, use
the “all subjects” course code of 99999, if the course is being taught by a Special
Education Teacher, otherwise, all courses should be listed.
12. What is the definition of a sheltered content teacher?
The sole content teacher in general education classrooms where some of the
students are Limited English proficient (LEP). It is understood that this teacher
has undergone “skills and knowledge” training to teach LEP students.
13. Can we do a batch MEPID look-up in ELAR?
Not at this time.
14. What is an example of a non-instructional paraprofessional?
Examples might include a person who assists a professional in a computer lab,
library, or on the playground, and most importantly, does not provide instruction to
students.
15. What is the difference between a Title I teacher and a Title I tutor:
We have clear definitions of the role of teachers and tutors. You can find this
information in the EPIMS Handbook Appendices.
http://www.doe.mass.edu/infoservices/data/epims/DHAppendices.pdf
16. If a district has an approved Title I grant from the DESE for a tutor, why can’t
we report a Title 1 Tutor?
The grants will be amended to correct this error. Please report your previously
reported tutors as either teachers or paraprofessionals.
SIF AND XDUID
1. Will XDUID change the SASIDs?
The only change to SASIDS with XDUID is that they will no longer necessarily
begin with the digits “10.”
2. Since some districts are submitting SIMS through SIF and the legacy system this
fall would it make sense to use SIF errors to locate errors in the legacy SIMS
file?
The ESE will be using the data that is submitted through the legacy system for the
official October collection. The SIF data will be used as a point of comparison to
determine the effectiveness of the collection using the new architecture. It would be
prudent to address errors in each system separately. A good rule of thumb is to always
correct your data at the source – not the flat file.
3. Is the ESE certifying vendors for SIF?
Yes, SIF agents are being certified.
4. Will SIF be used to complete the School Safety and Discipline Report?
SIMS, EPIMS, and SCS will be tackled first with the SSDR addressed sometime in
the future.
5. How closely does the ESE coordinate with the vendors in determining costs for
purchasing a SIF agent?
The ESE is working closely with all the vendors to bring down the price of the SIF
agent to a reasonable amount. The price will also be part of the compliance process
for vendors moving forward. The cost of development is also an allowable expense
under Race to the Top.
6. Does SIF work with HR systems as well as a SIS?
Yes, however this may present a complex problem. A district’s HR system may be
associated with the town and not just the school system. We are presently collecting
data on this issue.
7. Is SIF available to districts without a SIS or with a system developed in-house?
Yes, the ESE will work with all districts in the state with the SIF implementation
regardless of what system they use.
8. When will the Race to the Top SIF funds be released?
When districts actually receive funding depends on the round of grants in which they
are participating.
9. How many years will it take to convert the all districts in the state to SIF?
The ESE is expecting 271 districts to be converted by 2013-14. However, we would
like to convert as many possible as quickly as possible since we would like to
minimize the time we must run both the legacy system and the SIF system during the
transition.
10. Currently, a district can use the SIF architecture for the SIMS report only. But
when thinking to the future, how will EPIMS be collected through SIF? That
report is far more complicated and there seems to be no way to address all the
possible coding scenarios in just our SIS. Our HR system is also involved in
exporting fields for the EPIMS report as well.
The ESE is currently trying to determine how involved districts’ HR systems are in
reporting EPIMS. We will use this data to determine how best to adapt EPIMS so
that it may be collected through the SIF architecture.
11. Does the SIF system return the same error messages as legacy SIMS?
The error message are functionally the same, but may be worded differently.
12. How should districts address questions about SIF?
Please contact your District Support Specialist.
13. Is there a timeline for RTTT districts to be fully SIF compliant?
All participating districts should be compliant by 2013-2014.
14. How many districts are currently using SIF?
There are approximately 60 districts participating in the October Pilot.