Deleting TB record

Q: I have submitted a file for my school and need to delete one student. I do not see the red X to delete a student.

A: The central office user must login, go to Data Transfer>Input Forms>Textbook Reimbursement> then select 0000 Central office. The records for the corp will be listed. Filter for the STN number you want to delete.

Textbook Reimbursement

State statue states in order to be eligible for textbook reimbursement a school must submit a claim before November 1. The signoff period will last only 1 day, October 31, data transfer, reports, and electronic signoff remain open. Nov 1 at 12:01 AM starts the SIGNOFF ONLY period. Data transfer will not be available after MIDNIGHT Oct 31. No exceptions!

Scoreboard Issue - DOE-ME

If you have printed the report summary for the DOE-ME, you do not have any of the issues stated in the previous alert (grade 12 or dual enrolled students) and your scoreboard states that you have not printed the Summary Report, please click the Print Summary Button again to reset the scoreboard to green. Thank you for you patience.

2007-2008 DOE-ME Membership

Corporations that have already returned the signed report that have dual enrolled students or reported grade 13 students will need to reprint and resign the printable report. Grade 13 was to be added to grade 12 and the calculation was not correct for dual enrolled students. We apologize for this inconvenience.

Charter Schools Signoff

Charter schools have reported problems locating the signoff and signature line on reports. Charter schools are treated like a school corporation in the Application Center, they have a "Corp" login (0000) and a school login (school number). Some of the functions, for instance, signoff and reports with signatures, are only accessible with the corp login. Other functions, such as transfer to my school button are only accessible using the school login. The majority of the signoff function for collections are performed under Message Center>Collection Management where a corp user or a school user can signoff on a collection. Please verify the school number of the login you have been assigned when performing these tasks.

Q: If our school does not receive textbook assistance from the State, and we have not previously filed this report, do I need to submit anything to the State?  Perhaps there is a place on your website that I go to at least acknowledge that we do not participate.

A: From the Application Center go to Data Transfer, Input 'forms, select Textbook Reimbursement Input, and then check the box marked "check here to report NO TEXTBOOK REIMBURSEMENTS. This collection has not been moved to collection management.

DOE-GR Graduates

To minimize the disruption of the 06-07 graduate collection (DOE-GR) we are changing the error condition to warnings on graduate types 1, 2, 3, and 9 to allow your files to continue processing. Errors were generated when no match on stn was found on the ISTEP fall and ISTEP spring tests by stn number. At the end of the collection you will be provided with a tool in the application center for error correction. Evidence of error (i.e. documentation) of the student passing the istep test will be required. If you have received an error on you DOE-GR, please resubmit. More information will follow at the end of the collection.

DOE-SE

Q: Is there an official "Count day" to be used for the SE collection?  Number one under Counting students infers there is, yet there is no mention that I found on a specific count day in the data layout.

A: Yes, the Count Day for the DOE-SE (Special Education) collection is October 1, 2007.

Direct Verification

A new data layout has been posted on the STN Home page for Direct Verification. Users must have Direct Certification privileges to submit data for Direct Verification. Please review all documentation on the home page.

AT Conflicts

We have discovered and error on the DOE-AT conflicts.  Please review and correct the attendance conflicts again as you may have more conflicts listed now. Even though you have signed off on this collection, conflicts will un-sign the signoff and change the scoreboard to red. The signoff period has been extended until October 12. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused.

DOE-CE/CP

A data layout with changes has been posted for DOE-CE and DOE-CP. Spreadsheets with instructions for combining the CE/CP are also available on the Certified Employee and the Certified Positions pages on the STN Home page. On the DOE-CE, we have removed codes 2, 3, and 4. These will be accepted and will not cause your file to fail, but those codes will not be used. DOE-CP has two fields added. The codebook for DOE-CE/CP has been revised, review the history for changes. Remember the DOE-CE/CP files are ready to download (data aged from 06-07 becomes 07-08 data) and the user must have Employee Administration privileges.

Q: Our school nurse forwarded me House Enrollment Act No. 1116  Section 8 (to follow) – Is there a report somewhere STN or DOE that pertains to the highlighted area?

 SECTION 8. [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2007] (a) As used in this SECTION, "ADM" refers to a school corporation's average daily membership determined under IC 20-43-4-2.
    (b) As used in this SECTION, "school corporation" means a public school corporation established by Indiana law. The term includes a:
        (1) school city;
        (2) school town;
        (3) school township;
        (4) consolidated school corporation;
        (5) metropolitan school district;
        (6) township school corporation;
        (7) county school corporation;
        (8) united school corporation; or
        (9) community school corporation.
    (c) On the date a school corporation reports the school corporation's ADM for the 2007-2008 school year, the school corporation shall also report:
        (1) the number of students in the school corporation who have a chronic disease, by disease category; and
        (2) the number of school nurses.

Chronic disease includes asthma, diabetes, and any other disease the department of education determines is significant for the school corporation to report.

    (d) The department of education shall provide the information required to be reported in subsection (c) to the health finance commission established by IC 2-5-23-3 not later than sixty (60) days after the department of education receives the reported information.

    (e) This SECTION expires June 30, 2008.

A: This will be an aggregated total number of students) that will be collected on DOE-Online. The count date will be December 3, 2007. More information will come via mail to Superintendents and on the STN Home Page.

Just a few reminders….

• The deadline to make electronic Barcode label corrections is tomorrow—that’s Tuesday, September 25 at 8:00 a.m.   Corrections may also be made by bubbling the student’s data grid and SIQ (Student Information Questionnaire) on the ISTEP+ test booklet.
• After the Barcode label correction window closes tomorrow morning, corrections can be made at two other times:
  • during the STN clean-up, which will occur in mid-November (more information coming soon!)
  • during the RES (Recording Editing System) Window, which will occur December 3 through 9.
• Federal Flexibility for LEP regarding the ELA portion of ISTEP+ includes students who have been enrolled in U.S. schools less than one year (enrolled after October 1, 2006)
  • Note:  All prior schooling in the U.S. contributes toward the “less than one year” calculation (this includes all U.S. states and territories with one exception:  Puerto Rico)
  • School corporations are required to submit an electronic list of all “less than one year” students receiving the flexibility (by STN and corresponding student name) using the LEP/ISTEP+ data collection in the STN Application Center.  The layout is posted at http://www.doe.in.gov/stn/welcome.html and must be submitted by October 12, 2007.

LEP/ISTEP

Q: I have a LEP student that is in her first year of enrollment. We have given her the math portion of the ISTEP but we are opting for the LAS Links English in Spring of 2008. My question is: how do we code the test booklet and the blank English tests? The answers are blank due to the fact that she is not taking those tests and we do not want the tests to be counted as invalid.

A: Leave any portion of the test not taken – blank. Make sure that your school corporation reports this student as meeting the <1 year criteria. (This is separate reporting via STN LEP/ISTEP+).

Dropouts

We would like to bring to your attention, although stated briefly in the change history on the data layout, additional information is needed for code 26 "Missing not located, reported to State Attendance Officer". On the input form and data transfer you will be prompted to enter the parent or guardian name for any student reported as code 26. This data along with the DM data for the student will be reviewed by the State Attendance Officer. No further action is necessary for "reporting" to the State Attendance Officer.

DOE-CE/CP: Opening October 1

The DOE-CE (Certified Employees) and DOE-CP (Certified Positions) data collections will both be opening on October 1. (Remember that DOE-CE data must be submitted before DOE-CP data, however.)

Please note that the Data Layouts have changed. Consequently, the preformatted Excel worksheet that we provided last year will not work for this year's collection. We will post an updated worksheet before the collection opens. The CP Codebook is also currently being updated.

For more information on the DOE-CE:
            http://www.doe.in.gov/stn/Sections/CE/CE.html

For more information on the DOE-CP:
            http://www.doe.in.gov/stn/Sections/CP/CP.html

DOE-ME: Things to Know

1. The DOE-ME (Membership) collection opened this morning. Today (09/14/07) is the Count Day for ADM.
   
2. The DOE-ME is only required for Public and Charter Schools serving K-12 students.
   
3. If you have questions regarding the data submission process, please feel free to contact STN Support (stn_support@doe.in.gov).
   If you have questions about content or ADM definitions, please contact the Office of Financial Management, Analysis, and Reporting, 317/232-0840.
   
4. We have moved the "No Records [to report]" option and "Signoff" (available during the Signoff period beginning on October 1) to the new "Collection Management" window (found under Message Center on the blue menu bar). You will also find a useful new utility there: a red X to delete ALL your data by school if you find it necessary to start over. (FYI, this window will be available for most collections from now on.)
   
5. Finally, the STN Support Team has been working on some of the DOE-ME Reports; some may occasionally be unavailable over the next couple business days.

DOE-CE/CP Certified Employee/Certified Positions

The aged data (data reported from the previous year) for Certified Employees and Certified Positions is now available for download under Administration > Audit Student Data. Select 2007-2008 Academic Year. Please note that additional fields have been added to this collection. The codebook for subjects and levels for the Certified Positions has been posted with changes to Special Education. Spreadsheets for CE and CP will be posted as soon as possible.

DOE-TI: Non-Corp Schools on my List to Report

Q: Why are nonpublic schools and/or neglected institutions (those with four-character IDs beginning with "N") showing up under my public school corporation and preventing me from signing off on my corporation's DOE-TI (Title I) student data submission?

A: These are schools/facilities that have received Title I services or funding from your corporation and your corporation is responsible for submitting Title I student data for students eligible for and/or served by Title I at those institutions and schools. They are expected to cooperate with you in compiling the required data.

A list of Neglected Institutions has been posted under "References" on the DOE-TI information page (http://www.doe.in.gov/stn/docs/neglected_institutions_06-07.txt)
or get the list directly at this link: http://www.doe.in.gov/stn/docs/neglected_institutions_06-07.txt.

ISTEP+ Update - 4 Hour Window

Q: Would this also apply to those who sent incorrect data?

A: No, only new records. Corrections can be made now http://www.doe.in.gov/stn/Sections/ISTEP-C/ISTEP-C.html but only to certain fields. Incorrect grade levels are not necessarily a concern because the student will be given the appropriate grade level text.

Barcode Information

• Labels were delivered today as a result of Barcode Label files submitted by 8:00 a.m. on August 27. 

• Labels will be delivered on September 14 for Barcode Label files submitted by 8:00 a.m. on September 5.

• The STN Application Center clearly communicated the dates AND the time—8:00 a.m.—that the files were due. 

IF YOU WERE NOT AWARE OF THE 8:00 A.M. DEADLINE, PLEASE BE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND THIS FOR THE FUTURE!!

To assist those of you who did not understand the 8:00 deadline, we are opening a four-hour window to submit barcode label files from 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. ONLY on Tuesday, September 11. 

Note:  Barcode labels submitted during this special 4-hour window will be delivered on or before September 28.

Access Important Info on the Web

Important Fall 2007 ISTEP+ information is posted on the Test Coordinator’s Corner.  Just a reminder, you can access the Test Coordinator’s Corner on the ISTEP+ InfoCenter web page by using the following:

                        User name:       istepcor
                        Password:        educator1987

Note:  You will need your Corporation login and password to access pilot status, calibration status, and test materials pick-up information.

TMA (Test Materials Adjustment—a.k.a. “Short/Adds”)

TMA is open until September 12.  Be sure to go online to report shortages and order additional materials (including additional Pilot materials, if needed) by September 12. 

To request additional materials after September 12, call the CTB/ISTEP+ HelpDesk at 800-282-1132 and be prepared to pay extra for overnight or two-day shipping charges.

Book II – Pilot

Just a reminder…the pilot (Book II) is a required part of ISTEP+ administration for selected schools.  Be sure to follow the instructions in the Examiner’s Manual to distribute Book II documents.  Each class of students will use a variety of Book II forms, with the exception of Grade 3—where all students in one class will use the same form.

The Order of Subtests

ISTEP+ subtests MUST be given in order.  For example, when administering the English/language arts subtests in grade 4, Test 1 must be administered first, followed by Test 2, then Test 3, followed by Test 4.  For math, Test 5 must be administered first, followed by Test 6, then Test 7, followed by Test 8. 

It is NOT acceptable, for example, to administer Test 1, skip to Test 3, then administer Test 2, followed by Test 4.

Practice Tests

It IS acceptable to administer practice tests on the Thursday and/or Friday prior to the test window (September 13 and 14 this year).  This is true for the Practice Test in grades 3 and 4, as well as the Gridded Response Practice Test in grades 7 – 10. 

DOE-TB: Textbook data download now available

The DOE-TB (Textbook Reimbursement) collection begins September 14. The aged TB data is now be available for corporations to download.  It can be found in the same place as last year: Administration > Retrieve Student data.

To get this year’s aged data, you will need to select the 2007-2008 Academic Year.

(In this "aged" data, all students in last year's submission have been advanced one grade. The data must be modified to add new students, eliminate students no longer eligible for textbook reimbursement, and modified for students who were not promoted at the end of the last school year.)

Race Codes

Q:  I have a message that one of the career centers was asked to change the race codes to include Hawaiian as code 7. Do you know about this?

A: The implementation of the proposed race/ethnicity changes is being tackled by the Forum on Education Statistics.  There is a workgroup that is developing best practice guidance for implementing the USED’s new standards for maintaining, collecting, and reporting data on race and ethnicity. The proposed changes have not yet been approved.  Once and if they are we will have 3 years to implement. Further the OMB Federal Register posting shows these as the proposed codes, so having Hawaiian reported as 7 will be a problem.

STN Enhancement

Another STN enhancement has been added to the Application Center under the Message Center > Collection Management. We have received many requests to delete the data for users during a collection period so that the data can be submitted accurately. This enhancement will allow the user with data transfer privileges to delete all data that has been submitted and processed in the Application Center for any given collection. This feature will only be available while the collection is “open”. This will include the trial period, collection period, and signoff period when data transfer is one of the options. Select from the drop down menu the File Type of the collection to be deleted. Click the delete box for each school to delete all records. Another window will be shown with the message: This deletes all records totaling XXX submitted and processed from the state database. Press ok to delete all data transferred by file or entered on an input form. The user can cancel this transaction without having records deleted. Take caution: any unprocessed file could write records to the database after the delete function has been processed. Check the File Transfer page for unprocessed files.

ISTEP Retakes

Q: Do we need to submit the 11th and 12th grade retakes for ISTEP+ bar code labels for students retesting in the fall?  Directions do not mention.

A: Yes. For 11th and 12th graders, please include in your data submission only those who are re-testing for GQE. (If you you did not do this during the first ISTEPBAR window/period, you will have another opportunity during the second window/period)

DOE-ISTEPBAR: Schedule Review

This is a review of previously posted information. Remember that there are two windows (or periods) for submitting Student Test Number (STN) data for the ISTEP+ barcode labels.

Data for the first (current) period can be submitted until August 27 at 8:00 a.m. EDT. If you submit data during this period, labels will be delivered on September 7.

A second collection period will be available August 28 through September 5, 2007, at 8:00 a.m. EDT. This collection period will be for additional STNs only. (No updates will be allowed.) Labels from data submitted during this second period will be delivered on September 14.

A third period, Period C, will be available for corrections only from September 6 at 9:00 a.m. EDT until September 25 at 8:00 a.m. EDT. Information regarding this correction period, including a list of updatable fields, can be found on the DOE-ISTEP-C Data Layout.

New STN Home Page

Today we have released a new STN Home page. The home page was approved by the STN Advisory council. We are still preparing and waiting approval of a document on "How and Where are the Data Used" for each collection . This will be posted as soon as it is available. We hope this improved version provides you with all the necessary information needed for new STN users as well as experienced STN users.  Thank you.

Karla Carr
Manager, Data Collection and Reporting

STN Enhancements

>>I wish there was a way we could delete our mistakes from the scoreboard.

Take a look under Message Center>Collection Management. This may be just what you need. We are also working on a way for you to remove all the data submitted for a collection. More enhancements to come!

EX/SU Alert

We have discovered a problem caused by the value 'NO' being reported in Independent Hearing Officer (field 11) that was incorrectly allowed. This created a problem with the reports and database not including the special education participant. Please review your reports for the correct count of special education participants if you submitted incorrect data in field 11. You will need to resubmit data for all students reported on the EX/SU. Sorry for the inconvenience.

A slightly revised version of the Data Layout for the DOE-ISTEPBAR collection has been posted. The new version (08.16.07) updates the end of the Signoff period to match the end of the collection and corrects the collection end-times to reflect the fact that we are now operating under Daylight Savings Time. All times are Eastern Daylight Time (EDT, local time for Indianapolis and most of Indiana) rather than Eastern Standard Time (EST).

Remember that there are two windows (or periods) for submitting Student Test Number (STN) data for the ISTEP+ barcode labels.

PERIOD 1
Data for the first (current) period can be submitted until August 27 at 8:00 a.m. EDT. If you submit data during this period, labels will be delivered on September 7.
SCOREBOARD CLARIFICATION: The "Days till due" gives the number of days until the ISTEPBAR collection changes from a regular collection period to the Signoff period (on August 20); however, you will be able to submit ISTEPBAR data for Period 1 until the morning of August 27 (8:00 a.m. EDT).

PERIOD 2
A second collection period will be available August 28 through September 5, 2007, at 8:00 a.m. EDT. This collection period will be for additional STNs only. (No updates will be allowed.) Labels from data submitted during this second period will be delivered on September 14.

(A third period, Period C, will be available for corrections only from September 6 at 9:00 a.m. EDT until September 25 at 8:00 a.m. EDT. Information regarding this correction period, including a list of updatable fields, can be found on the DOE-ISTEP-C Data Layout.)

DOE-ISTEPBAR: Issues related to Language Minority Status

The final field in the DOE-ISTEPBAR data layout is Language Minority Status (field 17). Please take note of the following issues related to this field:

Issue 1
Please review the Data Layout instructions for this field carefully. The options listed are (1) Fluent/FEP, (2) Limited/LEP, or (3) Native English Speaker (a new code for immigrant students only). Note that these apply only to students who have been identified as Language Minority (codes 1 and 2) or Immigrant (code 3) students. For most students (i.e., students who are neither Language Minority nor Immigrant students), this field will be blank.

Issue 2 (only if you are preparing your DOE-ISTEPBAR file in Excel)
Because the Language Minority field is the final item in each record and in most instances will be left intentionally blank, there is a high likelihood of problems in converting your Excel file to the comma-delimited (CSV) file format. Excel often experiences difficulty knowing how many commas to put in each row when the cell at the end is empty. This can result in the error message, “File line [#] does not contain the correct number of data elements.” (A “data element” is the same as an active cell in a spreadsheet.)

The simplest solution to this problem is to put an apostrophe (') - also know as a single quotation mark - in any cell in the last column (the "LM" column) that is intentionally left blank. (Tip: If the records with blank LM fields are all grouped together, you can put one apostrophe in the first row and copy it down.) This will tell Excel to fill in the comma to indicate a blank item at the end. (Note that you will not be able to see the apostrophe in the worksheet but if you go to the cell, you can see it in the formula editing bar.)

STN Support can provide additional assistance if you intend to prepare your data file in Excel.

Alert - STN Missing or Invalid

In reviewing the data being submitted for the US Department of Education, (EDEN) Education Data Exchange Network we have about 1,000 records from the fall ISTEP results and spring LAS-Links results that have not been corrected. The majority for 2006-2007 have been resolved earlier, however, there are several from the 2005-2006 school year still incorrect and need your immediate attention.

You will have until August 31, 2007 to make the corrections in the Application Center. Go to Data Transfer>Input Forms>ISTEP/LAS Correction. Correct the STN for each student listed for the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 school year.  The information shown comes from the results of the tests being bubbled and may contain multiple errors; however, the only correction that can be made is to the STN. Date of birth, grade and names are represented to help identify the correct STN and cannot be corrected.

This collection will not be reflected on the scoreboard, you will be contacted if STN's remain listed for your corporation. or school.

If you have questions, please contact the Division of Educational Information Systems Help desk at 317-234-5276 or 800-527-4931.

STN Enhancements

A new feature has been added to the Application Center, Collection Management. This feature will allow users to signoff, report "no records to report" and view the last file transferred for any school(s) selected from the dropdown list. The dropdown list will contain all schools in the corporation for corporation users and only the school for the school user that has Data Transfer privileges.

More STN enhancements will be made to this page to manage all the upcoming collections quickly and effectively.

Alert: STN Enhancements

One of many STN enhancements coming will start this Friday July 27, 2007. All users will be prompted to change their password upon entry to the Application Center. Your new password must be at least 8 characters in length and must contain an upper case [A-Z] and lowercase [a-z]. Numbers [0-9] and special characters are allowed [!@#$%^&*{?}].

Parent/Teacher Conference - DOE-CL

Please be advised:

A letter was sent to Superintendents and Principals on 6/13/2007 regarding the School Calendar which can be found at:  http://www.doe.in.gov/stn/memo_calendar.html. Instructions for completing this form can be found at: http://www.doe.in.gov/htmls/doecl.html. There is confusion over the Parent/Teacher Conference Days and we want to apologize for the confusion and set forth the facts.

When completing the 2007-2008 School Calendar (DOE-CL) do not enter Parent Teacher/Conference days at this time. Complete the calendar following the instructions. Complete the 2007-2008 Student Release for Program and Professional Development (DOE-SRPD) as instructed. After July 15th, the DOE-CL and the DOE-SRPD will be combined to provide you with the calculation of the amount of time available for professional development and parent/teacher conferences. In July you will be able to designate which days you intend to use and adjust the 2007-2008 School Calendar if necessary. The School Calendar will remain open throughout the year so that adjustments can be submitted.

Reminder: STN Site WILL be down

The STN Application Center will be down from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM today, Tuesday June 12.

ALERT - STN SITE DOWN

The STN Application Center will not be available on Tuesday from 5 P:M to 9 P:M for scheduled maintenance changes.

DOE-EXSU

The DOE-EXSU has not opened at this time. It will be delayed until further notice.

DOE-AT and DOE-CID

A data layout for DOE-AT will be posted today regarding the collection of the DOE-CID, Certification of Instructional Days. This form will be submitted on the DOE-Online website, it will allow an update of the 06-07 calendar for days waived, dismissed early or canceled. This information must be completed before submitting the DOE-AT during the COLLECTION PERIOD which starts June 1. We apologize for the delay on this report, it will, however, meet the needs as requested of the users that submit this data.

DOE-RR

The deadline for submittal of this form to the Division of Accreditation, Assistance, and Awards is June 30, 2007. If you have any questions concerning the submittal of the DOE-RR form, you may contact our division staff at: doerr@doe.in.gov or call 317-232-9060 or 800-894-4044.

DOE-ME Signoff

The DOE-ME Period 3 is in the signoff period. We are correcting the report to reflect May 1, 2007 for this collection. We are also checking the conflict resolution page for accuracy. Please wait until further notice before signing and returning the summary report. You will have until May 31 to send this report. Thank you.

DOE-ME: Now in Sign-Off Phase

The Sign-off period for the DOE-ME Period 3 has begun and will continue until May 31. However, if you have conflicts, please resolve them as soon as possible. STN Support will be following up with telephone contacts to assure that these are completed in a timely manner.

Membership Report

The DOE-ME Membership for period 3 is now open. The Summary Report that requires a signature from the Superintendent should not be completed until this collection enters the signoff period. The Signoff Period will start May 21 and last until May 31. Data from the entire state must be collected and all conflicts resolved before the end of the day on May 20.  

DOE-SE: System problems

There is currently a problem with the DOE-SE (Special Ed) sign-off, so please wait to sign off until we have this corrected. There are also some problems with the Summary Report and the Scoreboard related to the SE collection. We will let you know when these issues have been resolved. Thank you in advance for your patience.

DOE-AT

As you are aware, the Attendance data collection occurs at the end of the school year and access to staff that can assist with the accuracy of the data may not be available,  To assist with resolving this issue, a trial period will occur May 1 – 31, 2007.  In previous years, the required collection period started in June and would remain open until school resumed in the fall, primarily because of conflict resolution (See conflict resolution below), one of the busiest times of the year. The DOE-AT collection resulted in a six (6) month window of collection which is neither efficient nor acceptable by all stakeholders. It is imperative that all public schools, accredited nonpublic schools, charter schools, and freeway schools participate during this trial period. This period will increase the contact time for resolving conflicts between one or more schools. To minimize issues during the trial period some of the features found in the Application Center will not be available during this period; such as the Attendance report with the calculation of attendance rate and data transfer warnings or errors on days between beginning and ending dates. Field values of BOS and EOS for Beginning Date and Ending Date, fields 3 and 4, will be taken from the 06-07 calendar submitted in May/June of 2006 instead of the “actual” school calendar as it occurred at the end of 06-07 which each corporation will update along with the Certification of Instructional Days. Conflict resolution will function as described on the data layout however; the data must be corrected locally before submission during the required collection period. All data submitted during this trial period will be deleted at the end of the day May 31, 2007.  The attendance data is of critical importance as it is used in determining Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).

DOE-LM: Clean-Up and Sign-Off Period

There is one business day left after today to clean up and sign off on your DOE-LM data.

As some have noted, for a while we had some errors in the summary table calculations in the File Transfer Results. These problems have been addressed but this will not retroactively correct the Transfer Results tables. (Because the File Transfer Results represent only one file, they generally should not be expected to reflect the entirety of your data anyway.)

The final, accurate, summary of your DOE-LM data submission can be found here:
            Message Center > Reports > Language Minority

Note that two new reports have been created this year for your reference and convenience.

DOE-LM: Clean-Up and Sign-Off Period

We are in the Clean-Up and Sign-Off Period for the DOE-LM (Language Minority and Immigrant student) collection. This period will continue until midnight on Monday, March 26.

Clean up: At this time, you may submit correct/corrected data. Existing records may be edited in the LM Input window (Data Transfer > Input Forms > Language Minority Input). Click on the blue "pen & paper" icon at the end of the record that is to be edited.

Sign off: The LM collection sign-off window is now available, so you can sign off on this collection. Summary Reports should be reviewed by knowledgeable and responsible persons able to assert that the data are correct prior to signing off on your submission.

To sign off: Message Center > Collection Signoff
Select Collection: Language Minority
Select Collection Year: 2007

Two Recent Problems using the Application Center

Recently there have been two types of problems reported that are preventing use of the Application Center.

Problem: The blue menu bar will not function.
Probable Cause: The Application Center is designed to work with Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer. Because of recent upgrades in the Application Center, it will not work on the Safari web browser common to Mac users.
Solution: Download information for Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer is available at http://www.doe.in.gov/asap/utilities.html.

Problem: White screen after login.
Probable Cause: The shift to Daylight Savings Time has affected some computers.
Solution: In order to access the Application Center, the clock on your computer should be set to the correct time with DST selected.
(Note: This problem can also be caused by other factors such as changes in your firewall or the addition of a virus scanner that also scans web content, but this week, DST has been the problem.)

Attention: Application Center Enhancements

The first of many application center enhancements was put into place on 3/7/7. The scoreboard enhancements are as follows:

(1) Appearance of scoreboard has changed and includes unique STN counts.

(2) The user can sort on the columns "Collection", "Status" and "Due Date" by clicking on the column header to sort the scoreboard by the selected column.

(3) Enhanced summary report for DOE-LM and a DOE-LM summary report by programs.

We will keep you updated as we continue to improve the scoreboard, reports and functionality of the application center. Thank you.

Missing or Invalid STNs

There are still over 2,000 uncorrected STN numbers that schools and corporations have still failed to correct. If these are not corrected by noon on Monday (Feb 26), we may have to include the ISTEP+ scores of these students in the AYP determinations of what ever school tested them. Without STN numbers we cannot link to attendance/enrollment and will have to assume that all the students were served for a full academic year at that school.

You can only access and correct the data through the STN system

To make correction you must visit the STN Application Center and follow the path;

Data Transfer
Input Forms
ISTEP/LAS STN Correction

You will find a secure online tool that will allow you to enter the correct STN for each listed student. There is even a quick validation check that allows you to compare the name and birth date listed on the test to the one for the “corrected” STN.

Please call the STN Help Line - 800-527-4931 with any questions about how to use the correction tool or the STN Application Center. If you have questions about Ayp or the importance of making these corrections call Wes Bruce (317-232-9050).

OVERDUE: ISTEP/LAS Label STN Correction

There are still many uncorrected STNs associated with last spring's LAS-Links results and the Fall ISTEP results. The deadline for correcting these was Noon on Monday, February 19th but - at least for the moment - the ISTEP/LAS Label STN Correction screen is still open. Both Indiana law and NCLB require that every child be included in accountability; without valid STNs, these students cannot be included in AYP or 221 determinations.

Please review the list at http://www.doe.in.gov/stn/docs/2006_stn_errors.xls - if your corporation is on this list and you have not yet made corrections, please do so immediately.

To make corrections, go to the Correction form in the Application Center: Data Transfer > Input Forms > ISTEP/LAS STN Correction.

• The label information shown comes from what was bubbled in. Therefore, information displayed may have multiple errors.
• Note that you cannot edit any fields except for the STN. Names, DOBs, and grades are presented only to help identify the correct STN.
• The initial view will be the ISTEP labels; to view the LAS Links list, click "LAS" next to Label Type and then click the "Filter" button.
• Because the LAS Links assessments were done last spring, the grade reported for those labels will be the grade the student was in last year.

See http://www.doe.in.gov/stn/memo_stn_cleanup.html for further information.

ALERT - ISTEP/LAS STN Correction

Before noon today we will be opening the ISTEP/LAS STN Corrections. This online tool in the Application Center is under Data Transfer>Input Forms>ISTEP/LAS STN Correction. Instructions and  a spreadsheet listing the corporations that have invalid STN numbers will be posted under Letters and Memorandums on the STN Home Page.

File Processing Problem

Please include DOE-LM - Language Minority and Immigrant

The file processing error has been repaired. If you were using the VPN and submitting data files you will need to resubmit the file for proper processing results. This would be for the following collections:

DOE-AD Additional Information
DOE-AL Alternative Education
DOE-ISTEPBAR - ISTEP Barcode labels for restest takers
DOE-HB Homebound

2006-2007 Remaining data collections

Please review the Superintendent Mail found on the DOE Home page for a summary of the remaining collections of the 2006-2007 school year.

DOE-ISTEPBAR and Language Minority Status

The final field in the DOE-ISTEPBAR data layout is Language Minority Status (field 17). Please take note of the following issues related to this field:

Issue 1
Please review the Data Layout instructions for this field carefully. The options listed are (1) Fluent/FEP and (2) Limited/LEP; note, however, that these apply only to students who have been identified as Language Minority (LM) students. For most students (i.e., non-LM students), this field will be blank.

Issue 2 (only if you are preparing your DOE-ISTEPBAR file in Excel)
Because the Language Minority field is the final item in each record and in most instances will be left intentionally blank, there is a high likelihood of problems in converting your Excel file to the comma-delimited (CSV) file format. Excel often experiences difficulty knowing how many commas to put in each row when the cell at the end is empty. This can result in the error message, “File line [#] does not contain the correct number of data elements.” (A “data element” is the same as an active cell in a spreadsheet.)

The simplest solution to this problem is to put an apostrophe (') - also know as a single quotation mark - in any cell in the last column (the "LM" column) that is intentionally left blank. (Tip: If the records with blank LM fields are all grouped together, you can put one apostrophe in the first row and copy it down.) This will tell Excel to fill in the comma to indicate a blank item at the end. (Note that you will not be able to see the apostrophe in the worksheet but if you go to the cell, you can see it in the formula editing bar.) STN Support can provide additional assistance if you intend to prepare your data file in Excel.

Clarification re: Preliminary AYP Determinations

Question: After reading this email, I went to the application center to download the data for our school corporation.  The only place that I can see to download data for AYP is under: LOOKUP AYP Student List 2005-06

Answer: The data for AYP is based upon the 2005-2006 students that attended school 162 days or more during the school year. The title is correct. The data is 2006-2007 ISTEP test data, remember the scores from the fall 2006 go back to the school where the student received 162 days of instruction during the 2005-2006 school year.

Problems Accessing the Application Center

Please remember that the Application Center will only support Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer. Recent upgrades to the software used in the Application Center may be preventing this application to function properly.

ISTEPTC - ISTEP+ Enrollment for Spring Retest

Only 30 hours remain to submit your enrollment numbers for the Spring 2007 Retest!

As of 5:00 PM December 19th the following corporations/schools have not completed the process.

You must go online at www.ctb.com to submit your numbers.

Graduation Rate Update

We had tremendous response to our message about final graduation rates.  Some schools have noticed that changes that should have been made do not show up on the website.  We are double-checking all links and verifying the manual changes that were made.  At this point there is no need to report discrepancies.  We will notify you when the verification process is complete.

DOE-HB

Homebound data for December 2, 2005 through December 1, 2006 will continue to be collected and reported by CODA. Please check the status of your data with your special education director. This is not a collection specific to special education students.

Homebound data for December 2, 2006 through December 1, 2007 will be collected in the application center the entire year. Data can be submitted at any time throughout the year. The collection will be available to you before the end of the year.

Please remember DOE-HB is a collection of students injured or ill during this period of time, it is not a collection of homebound placement of special education students.