Final ISES Data Due Monday at 4 PM

PLEASE DISTRIBUTE THIS MESSAGE TO ALL DISTRICT STAFF WORKING IN WSLS or ISES

Reminder: The ISES Review and Revision Period ends on March 13. Your final ISES data are due at 4 pm on the 13th (rather than 8 am). Between today through Monday at 4 pm, your district will continue to have an opportunity to review and revise your ISES data on-line. Below are some suggested steps:

1. Verify that your district is locked. If your district is locked, then the date your district was locked will be listed on the Summary of Schools screen and the LOCK icon will not be displayed. If your district is locked and you believe your data are complete and accurate, then no further action is required.
2. Check error/info/warning reports. Correct errors, review info, and acknowledge new warning messages. See checklist. Begin with #4 on this checklist. The vast majority of districts have 0 to 10 error messages remaining. If your district has many errors (about 30 districts have over 100 errors each) then read on for some possible consequences of common errors.
   • Missing ISES Count Date records or missing Count Date Status codes (e.g. E97 and E19a). These errors are serious in that they will result in enrollment counts that are lower than actual counts. Enrollment counts are used for public reporting, calculating a wide range of rates and ratios, some grants, and more.
   • Missing/invalid Exit Types, missing Expected Transfer Districts, or missing Expected Transfer Response (e.g. E45, E41, E109. E50, E51, W44). In most cases missing/invalid data will be interpreted as evidence of dropout status possibly resulting in very high dropout rates and/or very low high school completion rates for your district. These errors and warnings, unless addressed by your district, will affect AYP and public reporting.
   • Missing Promotion indicator (e.g. E80). Unless this error is addressed, affected students will not appear in the denominator in calculating Retention Rates on the ISES Retention Report so will tend to increase retention rates for your district. (ISES calculates this field based on other ISES data only if specific criteria are met. Otherwise districts must provide data for this field, or they will get the error message.)
   • Illogical/invalid Completed School Term indicators (e.g. W116, E114). If your district submitted Ns that should be Ys, then these mistakes are likely to result in higher dropout and retention rates for your district.
   • Missing/invalid Grade Level Placement (e.g. E19d, E22). This field is key because it is not only used for disaggregated reporting but also to calculate various fields (promotion/retention), to include records in various reports (dropout, truancy, retention) and files (WSAS roster), and more.
   • Missing/illogical Attendance data (e.g. E19g, E19f, E60, W63, W64, W66). Of particular concern is that in many cases the attendance days far exceed the number of days in the school term. The attendance of affected students will have a disportionately large effect on the attendance rates for your district. Excessive attendance days appear to be associated with more mobile students who tend to have lower attendance rates so this means not only bad data for your schools but lower attendance rates.
   • Missing data required for NCLB disaggregation(e.g. E19b, E19c, E19e). We are particularly concerned about missing English Language Proficiency, Economically Disadvantaged Status, and Primary Disability codes. Wisconsin is required to report these disaggregated data in exchange for receipt of NCLB funding (a few hundred million dollars annually for WI school districts), but can't comply without complete data from all districts.
3. Check progress and summary reports. Do not skip this step because ISES errors and warnings will not detect all data problems. If data are incomplete or if edits are required, then make changes in WSLS and/or ISES as necessary so that your district data reflect reality. See checklist. If your district is locked and you want to unlock your data to make changes, then send email to dpistats@dpi.wi.gov. In the "Subject" line include the words "ISES - Unlock District."
4. If your district is unlocked after the completion of Steps 2 and 3, then lock and submit your district data to DPI. See checklist.

Complete and accurate ISES data are critical to making reliable accountability decisions. Graduation and attendance rates for all students are evaluated at the school and district levels, and used to determine whether or not schools and districts are meeting the state defined criteria as part of adequate yearly progress (AYP). Please take the time to check ISES data to avoid being identified for improvement based on incomplete or inaccurate data. For more information about AYP and the graduation and attendance requirements see: http://dpi.wi.gov/oea/acct_sch.html#annualreview

Final ISES data will also be used for 2004-05 School Performance Report (attendance, retention, dropout, graduation rates), 2005-06 3rd Friday September enrollment reporting, and other public reporting and monitoring purposes. More detailed information about the uses of each ISES data element is available on the Web pages describing each data element.

If your district does not correct errors, then DPI may estimate certain data using data available from other collections or other records in order to move the ISES collection process towards completion. The process used will be similar to the one used last summer. Estimated data may not reflect reality and may result in very high district dropout and retention rates, very low district graduation rates, or low or high enrollment or attendance data so estimation is not the preferred solution to filling data gaps. Data that are high quality and reflect reality are critical to effective use of data as a tool for improving teaching and learning in your district and statewide. WSLS and ISES are expected to be key sources of these data.

Your continued cooperation is appreciated. We recognize the difficulty of this task. Please contact the WSLS/ISES helpdesk if you have questions or concerns, 800-507-5744 or dpistats@dpi.wi.gov.

cc:	DPI list of vendors with active district technology contracts
	State Superintendent's Education Data Advisory Committee
	CESA School Improvement Services Directors

Submit questions, comments, and suggestions about the WSLS or ISES to dpistats@dpi.wi.gov or call 1-800-507-5744.

Submit questions regarding the ESEA Report Card Requirements to dpieseadata@dpi.wi.gov.

For help with this page contact the DPI Helpdesk Expert

Last updated on 2/28/2008 7:55:58 AM