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Introduction, Statewide Student Identifier System (SSID), 2005 Clearinghouse and USOE Warehouse -John Brandt, Computer Services
Introduction and description of the goals of the meeting.
Increasingly, decisions about public education are depending on quality data. Political pressures for joining of more student level data sets and the requirements for longitudinal data studies, in particular as they relate to U-PASS, have made an SSID imperative. Along with the USOE Clearinghouse, Warehouse and data extracts coupled with decision support tools such as Cognos, a core set of key components for ensuring quality data and useful information are evolving. Goals: mandate for SSID, including board rule and Utah Code 53A-1-301(e), SSID processes, tools, schedule.
Some other states have very recently implemented statewide student IDs. The design we are implementing is based, in part, on work done by other state such as Colorado and Oregon. The Statewide Student ID system should be operational in the fall of 2005. Districts should be ready to submit data to the USOE with SSID by Jan 1, 2006.
Even this new SSID system will depend on the matching of student characteristics or attributes. The difference is that now we are going to do this proactively by identifying problems before critical data submissions are made such as year-end Clearinghouse and CRT pre-prints. Currently such problems only present themselves in July when it is too late to correct errors.
Districts and charter schools will need to do a number of things to implementation SSID.
- 1. A ten character field must be added to the local SIS master student record to store the SSID at the LEA level.
- 2. Batch Request or "Match" files must be able to be submitted by LEAs on an as needed basis.
- 3. LEAs must be able to update local SISs with the SSID for each student record in the submitted Request file that was given a status of "Match" or "No Match". Either the student attributes or the LEA student ID can be used as criteria for this update. These records will be returned to the LEAs in Response or "Matched" files.
- 4. "Possible" matches must be reconciled either with a state provided online interface(s) to the state master SSID database, or by repeated Request/Response file submissions and retrievals.
Even if a student provides their SSID as they move to a new district either via transcript or other means they must still be matched via an online interface or a batch Request file submission.
Although it will be especially critical that all students achieve a Match or No Match before SSIDs are submitted with Clearinghouse files, testing pre-prints or all-student files, districts will be encouraged to submit all students, new or old, in each Request file. This will help guard against two students with identical attributes getting the same SSID and a student having multiple SSIDs because attributes were not reported consistently. Algorithm based on matching attributes (name, DOB, gender) and other attributes such as grade level, district, time stamps, and history records will help alert districts and state of such errors.
The original deadline for SSIDs to be operational in all LEA's SISs was for the Spring 2006 CRT pre-print files and the following 2006 Spring Clearinghouse submission. Due to changes in U-PASS the USOE is now asking that all LEAs be ready have SSID assigned to all their students and be ready to submit student level files for the February 2006 UBSCT administration.
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