This document memorializes the answers to questions posed by LEAs during the demographic and enrollment verification webinar. For additional information or clarification, please review the information in the Demographic and Enrollment Verification guidance or contact Katie Williams at [email protected]).
The bulleted links can be used to quickly navigate to questions related to each of the listed topic areas.
- Student Population and Source Data
- Enrollment/Exit Data Field Corrections
- LEA Summary Data
- Data Submission and OSSE Changes to the Data
- Other Data Corrections
Student Population
1. How current are the data in the data files?
The student enrollments are current as of May 3, 2016. The student demographic data were refreshed May 13, 2016.
2. If a student enrolled after May 3, 2016, should we add the student to the data?
Yes. Students who entered after May 3 and are not represented in the data should be added to the data file. Please complete all applicable data fields for these students.
3. Are LEAs responsible for verifying the demographic and enrollment information of students attending nonpublic schools?
Yes.
4. Does the data file only include individuals who were enrolled as of the 2015-16 Enrollment Audit (Oct. 5, 2015) or does it include students enrolled all year long?
The 2015-16 population includes any students who were enrolled at any point during the 2015-16 school year, not just the audited population.
5. What is the source of the PARCC data field?
The PARCC population was identified using the registration data input into Pearson Access Next as of the beginning of May 2016.
6. What if our school doesn’t administer PARCC and doesn’t have an ACGR population? Do we still need to verify all data fields?
Yes, please verify all data fields in the file that you are able to verify. The data verified will be used for other reporting purposes, such as Equity Report and the PMF.
7. If a student enrolls in two different schools throughout the course of a school year, will both schools be verifying the data for that student?
Yes, both schools will verify the data for the student. OSSE will check the data to ensure that LEAs don’t submit conflicting information. In the cases where conflicts exist, OSSE will resolve the discrepancy and inform the LEA whose data changed, what changed and why.
Enrollment/Exit Data Field Corrections
8. What do I do if there are students present in my file who pre-enrolled but did not show up?
Students who pre-enrolled but didn’t receive services from your school for the given school year could be included in your file for two reasons.
First, “students receiving special education services may not be identified as ‘No Shows’ once the student has completed a Stage 4 Enrollment.” Please read more about this on page 20 of OSSE’s Entry and Exit Guidance.
Second, if you did not properly enroll or exit the pre-enrollment then the pre-enrollment record could also be included. All pre-enrollment entries should be input with an entry code 1800. All pre-enrollments exits should be input as 1234 for students receiving special education services or 4321 for general education students.
Please ensure that your Student Information System (SIS) is updated to reflect the proper entry and exit codes for all pre-enrollments. For this demographic and enrollment verification, please also identify students who did not receive services from your LEA as No Shows by inputting Yes in the No Show Indicator field.
9. The entry date listed for my student is not the first day he/she started receiving services but rather the date on which he/she pre-enrolled. What should I do?
The entry date listed should be the first day that he/she started to receive services. Please update the Entry Date to the date on which he/she first received services at the school for the given school year.
LEA Summary Data
10. Is there a school-level summary tab?
No, however you are welcome to create school-level summaries to support your verification efforts. Please feel free to reach out to your designated Point of Contact for technical assistance in doing that, if desired.
Data Submission and OSSE Changes to the Data
10. If we upload a file prior to the deadline but then want to submit an updated version prior to the deadline, is that possible? Which file will OSSE use?
You can upload as many times as needed prior to the June 15th deadline. OSSE will use the latest version of the file. Please email Katie Williams at [email protected] to let OSSE know that you have replaced a previous submission.
11. What if a change that I made is not reflected in the data that comes out related to a project later on? For example, I change a student's race during this verification, but then during the PARCC verification, the incorrect race shows up. How should we handle that?
Using this example, the student’s final, approved race will be reflected in the file delivered to LEAs by June 27. This is the race value that should be used for reporting on all projects specified in the guidance. If, during the PARCC scores validation, you see that the student’s race does not reflect the final race value identified in the demographic and enrollment verification, you should definitely submit an appeal during the appeals window to have that fixed and it should be corrected.
With that said, there will be cases in which an LEA made a change to a student’s race during the verification that OSSE did not accept. Please read more about these scenarios and how they will be treated on page 2 of the Demographic and Enrollment Verification Guidance.
Other Data Corrections
13. If a student’s name changed in December, should I update the name to reflect the current name?
Yes. Please make this correction in your Student Information System as well as in the spreadsheet.
14. Why are some English Language Learner (ELL) cells blank or identified as No?
A blank means that we have no English Language Learner (ELL) information for that student during that school year. A No indicates we have data and have identified the student as Not ELL.
15. We are participating in the Community Eligibility Program (CEP). What should I mark as the Free and Reduced Meal Status (FARMS) for my students?
Please identify all students’ FARMS status as CEP.
16. If data are flagged but the current information listed is correct, do we need to change anything?
No. If the data are accurate then no changes need to be made.
17. If data are flagged, once data is verified or updated, should we remove the Yes from the Flag column?
No, that is not necessary. No changes need to be made to the flag fields.
18. Do we need to flag or highlight changes made in the spreadsheet?
No. Please just make the corrections to the data in the spreadsheet.
19. If I found an error in a student’s grade from the Enrollment Audit, can I update that here?
Yes, you may submit requests for corrections to demographic data verified at the time of the Enrollment Audit. OSSE will review the request and if the request meets all data expectations laid out in the Demographic and Enrollment Verification Guidance., the change will be accepted and reflected in the final data set. With that said, the data verified here will not be used to amend existing authoritative data files, such as the Enrollment Audit.
Related Content: Consolidated Demographic and Enrollment Verification
