where excellence is the only option!

Where Excellence is the Only Option!

Clinton Public School District MSIS / PowerSchool Training

Phillip G. Burchfield, Ed.D. Superintendent

Clinton Public School District


•How is student level data used by the state?

•Does it REALLY matter if I break my neck to make sure this information is entered correctly?

•What are the consequences of making mistakes in PowerSchool or MSIS?

•It’s never fair… I seem to always take time to do my job well, while other people seem to just go hurriedly through theirs – will it matter?

•I’d like to help, if I knew how… but I’ve been told before that it’s too much trouble to teach me.

Points to Ponder…



MSISPowerSchool



PowerSchool is a Student Administrative Package (SAP) that allows school districts to manage nearly every aspect of their daily routine including New Student Enrollment, Student Attendance, Grading, Scheduling, Discipline Referrals, Special Education Data, and State Reporting Information.

The purpose of an SAP is to create an electronic version of the traditional student cumulative record and transcript – plus additional information. By storing this data electronically, school districts are able to report data to state and federal agencies more easily. Also, data is safe and recoverable in the event of an electronic or natural disaster.

What is PowerSchool?



MSIS – the Mississippi Student Information System – is a web-based interface through which data is submitted to MDE on a daily and/or monthly basis. MSIS offers a centrally located data warehouse for the state of Mississippi.

The collection of data centrally allows all divisions at the Mississippi Department of Education to access information from all districts to better determine program needs, provide appropriate funding, determine training needs, and provide a wealth of information in one database.

What is MSIS?



What is the Difference?

Sam

Innovak

STI

Edgear-JPAMS

Oscar

Rediker

MS Dept. of Education

Licensure

Accreditation

Special Education

Finance

Student Assessment

Innovative Support

Vocational

Legislature

& Others



FUNDING – Every public school in MS receives funding through the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP) based on student enrollment and student attendance figures. Every student who is absent costs our district approximately $25 per day.

ACCREDITATION – Multiple districts throughout MS have received accreditation violations for mistakes made in MSIS. If mistakes are not corrected or continue, the district will lose its accredited status.

SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY RATINGS – Star District’s Appeal Process

Why Student Data Matters



•Designated MSIS users at the School Level

•Attendance Officers

•Department Directors and Administrators at District Level

•Designated MSIS users at IHL

•MIS Staff at the Mississippi Department of Education

•Other departments at MDE: Special Education, Gifted, Vocational, Safe and Orderly Schools, Innovative Support, Student Assessment, etc.

•Designated MSIS users at the State Auditor’s Office

Who Has Access to MSIS?



MSIS Illustration

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uztA6JCKB4s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uztA6JCKB4s



Life is like a box of Chocolates

1. Data Entry 2. Data Inspection and Approval 3. Data Usage



Monthly Process

School enters data into PowerSchool

Data is submitted monthly to MSIS

Submission Data is formatted

correctly Data is formatted

incorrectly

Successful file is sent to holding area

User runs reports to verify accuracy of submitted data

Accuracy Data is inaccurate

Data is accurate

IT Department approves school

IT Department approves district after all schools are correct

Correct error



Data Submission/Collection Process

1. Data is collected using PowerSchool and entered by school personnel:

• New student enrollment

• Student schedules

• Grades

• Attendance

• Discipline

• Emergency/Health Information




2. Data is submitted to MSIS monthly in the form of XML files.

• MDT – Monthly Days Taught

• MSD – Monthly Student Data

• DSD – Daily Student Data (for Special Education Dept)



An XML file (the type of file name) is created in PowerSchool and saved to the computer desktop. A specific name is used when saving the file.

Processing Files

The user goes into MSIS to upload the XML file to await processing.

Files from all over MS are processed in “batches” every 20 minutes.

MSIS will compare the data in the XML files with data already received at the state level. Once files are processed, a report is

generated from MSIS showing that the data sent was a SUCCESS or FAILURE.

A.

B.

C.

D.




Create MDT Submit to MSIS SUCCESS!

Create MSD Submit to MSISView Error

ReportsCorrect

Errors

Create New MSD Submit to MSIS

View Error Reports

Correct Errors

Repeat until SUCCESSFUL

STEP1

STEP2



Don’t worry.

Be happy!

We are all in this together…and we will help you.




3. Data is verified for accuracy.

MSIS Report PowerSchool Reports

Pre-Approved ADA Monthly Attendance Summary by Grade

Holding Area Student Entries and Withdrawals

Students Gains / Loss

Holding Area Student Roster ADA / ADM

Holding Area Student Absences Attendance Frequency Report

Holding Area Student Incidents and Dispositions

Student Supports Detail and Log Entries




4. Data is approved.

• The District’s Primary Contact will approve each school as the school becomes successful.

• The District’s Primary Contact can only approve the entire school district after every school has been marked successful and has been approved.

• Once a district is marked as “completed” for the current month, no data can be changed at the local level.

• It is critical that data is verified for accuracy BEFORE the district is signed off for the current month.



Hands-On MSIS Training



Locating MSIS Online

• Go to www.mde.k12.ms.us

• Scroll down until you see “MDE Applications” on the right side

• Click on MSIS

• On the next screen, click on “Access MSIS”

• This is where you will login in every time you want to access MSIS.

http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/



Logging into MSIS

• Type Username – assigned by MDE and know that it is case sensitive

•Type Password – temporarily assigned by MDE and is the same as your Username. You will be prompted to change your password when logging in for the first time.

•Be SURE to remember your password. If you forget it, we will have to contact MDE to have it reset.

•Type Database - msis



Navigating in MSIS

• MSIS works best by using the mouse and arrow keys on your keyboard (depending on the task), so don’t think MSIS is not working because the mouse won’t click.

•This is an OLD program… developed in 1994 - more than 17 years ago!

•The more you use MSIS, the “friendlier” it will be!



MSIS Reminders

•When searching, viewing data, printing reports, etc. – close each screen when you are finished.

•If too many screens are opened in MSIS, your computer will eventually lock up, which will mean that you have to restart your computer.

•If you are inactive after several minutes, MSIS will automatically log you off.



Special Characters and Icons

% - used to search when spellings or full names are not known.

Flashlight – used to search

Eraser – used to clear fields

Green Light – used to open reports for viewing and printing



Commonly Used Screens

Modules• Student

• Personnel

• District/School

• Special Education

• Vocational

• Personnel Snap Shot

Reports• Student Data

• Personnel Data

• Monthly Attendance

• Special Education Data

• Vocational Data

• Free Lunch Eligibility

• District



To Search for a Student

Modules:

• STUDENT

• Search Student

• Type the student’s last name and/or first name, or SSN, or District/School, or MSIS Number

• Click on the Flashlight to search

• Results include statewide data

• BE SPECIFIC as possible when searching to reduce the number of matches



To View Student Data

Modules:

• STUDENT

• View Student Data

• Search by using LN and FN, SSN, or MSIS Number

• Use Wildcard (%) if spelling is in question.

• Click on Flashlight to search.

• Click through the Tabs (Enrollment, Discipline, Transport, Schedule, Vocational, Attendance, Testing, etc.) on the Student Data screen to view data.

• Click on Flashlight to query for a different student.



To View Student Ownership

Modules:

• STUDENT

• View Student Ownership

• You must search by MSIS number.

• Click on Flashlight to search

• View Ownership record of student. (This screen will show current ownership in addition to all previous ownerships by other districts, statewide).

• Click on Flashlight to query for a different student.



To Print a Student Transcript

Reports:

• Student Data

• Student Transcript

• Choose School Name

• Enter MSIS ID# (you must have number to continue)

• Click on Green Light to generate report.



Reports

Available reports in MSIS are pre-defined by the MIS Department at MDE and are continuously being updated to meet districts’ needs.

Future Plans:

•Reports to identify errors in student data that list all types of errors at one time, not individually.

•Student absences reported each month before District is approved.

•Reports for all departments querying specific data.



To Print Reports

Reports:

• Select desired report

• Select one school or click Cancel to select all schools.

• Choose reporting period (If available).

• Click on the Green Light.

• Be patient! These are Adobe Acrobat .pdf files and take a bit longer to open.

• Go to File and select Print or go to File, Save As to save the selected report.



To Change User Password

Security:

• Change User Password

• Type Old Password, New Password, then Re-enter New Password.

• Click on OK.

• BE SURE TO REMEMBER YOUR NEW PASSWORD.

• If 3 unsuccessful attempts are made to login to MSIS, the account will be locked.

• To unlock your account, please contact the IT Department / Data Management Division (Julie and Sharon).



Information Technology Department Data Management Division

Kameron Ball, Ph.D.

Director of Technology

[email protected]

Julie Roberts Sharon Tompkins

Data Management Specialist Data Management Specialist

[email protected] [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]



where excellence is the only option!

Documents

school districts

student level data

student attendance figures

collection of data

new student enrollment

state of mississippi

special education data

located data warehouse