IMS Data Entry Personnel and Technicians Notes – 1/8/08 10:00 A.M. – 11:15 A.M.

 

 

Agenda

 

1.        Introductions

2.        Process for Collecting, Maintaining and Reporting FTE

3.        Secondary and Tertiary Disabilities

4.        Passwords

5.        Overdue IFSP or IEPs

6.        Web IDEA System

7.        Networking and Sharing

 

Preview of Future Business

1.        Next meeting:  February 5, 2007; 10:00 – 12:00

The topics to be determined.

 

Announcements

1.         In-Person Meeting

2.         Nightly Procedure

3.         Mid-Day Procedure

4.         Changing Records

 

 

Introductions

 

The sites checked in.

 

 

Process for Collecting, Maintaining and Reporting FTE

 

On the special Education Enrollment Checklist, there is an item called “Personnel Reports on the Last Friday of October”.

 

·        Lorna from AEA 267 presented their AEA’s process for collecting, maintaining and reporting the FTE for the personnel report.

·        Their AEA enters the LEA personnel data.

·        Main Menu, Services, Location screen is where they do this.

·        They update their data in January for the federal report which is due 3/17/08.

·        They also update their data in the summer based on the upcoming changes for the next school year.

·        Lorna recommends running this report at count time.

·        A wish list item they have for capabilities in the new system is:

Ø        To be able to track aid names and their FTE. 

Ø        To have the system automatically calculate all the aid’s FTE into the AID FTE field.

 

Question:  How do you track a class room aid or a one-on-one for the parent?

Answer:  Usually the aid is under a teacher.  All aids are tracked.

 

Question:  How do you track special ed nurses or bus drivers etc.?

Answer:  If these staff are hired by the AEA, they would be entered as a staff person.  AEA 267 hires these types of employees.

 

Question:  What portion of the report does these staff appear:  AEA or LEA?

Answer:  Lorna does not handle these reports so she is not sure, but assumes they would appear on the AEA portion.

 

Question:  Have the personnel forms been sent yet to the AEAs?

Answer:  Yes, the forms are finished.  They were distributed to your Directors right after the first of December.

 

Question:  If your AEA can’t locate the new form, who should they contact?

Answer:  Check with your Director first, but if you still cannot locate the form, contact John Lee.

 

 

Secondary and Tertiary Disabilities

 

Michelle reviewed the Uniform Data Entry Procedures:  Disability (http://www.aeaims.k12.ia.us/udp.htm). 

·          The website has been updated with the most current version of the procedure dated July 2007.

·          The requests for data on low-incidence children and students from the Bureau are increasing.

·          Many IEPs will come to you with only one disability listed.

·          Some IEPs will come in with a secondary and tertiary disability listed.  These will be for students with low-incidence disabilities.

·          According to a memo that was CC: to the Directors in August

Ø       The primary disability for students with low-incidence disabilities will still be EI.

Ø       The secondary or tertiary disabilities may be Autism Spectrum, Deaf-blind, Hearing Impairment, Visual Impairment or others such as SP.

Ø       Key point:  Enter whatever is listed on the IEP. If you question the disabilities that are listed on an IEP, follow your AEA’s procedures on how to verify data.

·          The procedure for data entry of the secondary and tertiary disability isn’t much different than for the primary.  Chick on “New” to bring up a new record.  Then select secondary or tertiary in the status field.

·          There is no set sequence in regard to which disability goes into the secondary or tertiary disability field.

 

Question:  If the IEP lists EI/HI, should EI be listed as primary?

Answer:  Yes, and notify the IEP team to make them aware EI is primary.

 

 

Passwords

 

Michelle overviewed a “best practice” in regard to selecting passwords: When you choose a password, you want to make it as difficult as possible for anyone to make an educated guess about what you have chosen. 

·          For the 230 logins that exist for data entry, at least 80 (one third) have not been changed since the login was created.

·          In the next 72 business hours, please change your password using the recommendations below.

 

Recommendations

·          Do NOT use

Ø       your log in name in any form

Ø       your first or your last name

Ø       your spouse’s or child’s name

Ø       other information that may be easily obtained about you

o        license plate number, telephone number, social security number, make or model of car you own, name of the street you live on, your AEA name, etc.

Ø       all digits or the same letter

Ø       words contained in dictionaries or spelling lists

Ø       passwords shorter than 6 characters

·          DO use

Ø       include non-alpha characters

Ø       password that can be typed quickly

Ø       easy to remember

·          choose a line or two from a song or poem and use the first letter or the second letter or the last letter of each word

Ø       alternate between one consonant and two vowels

Ø       combine two short words with a punctuation character between the words

 

·           Link to Michelle’s Passwords presentation

 

 

Overdue IFSP or IEPs

 

Faye reviewed the capabilities of the Overdue IEP and IFSP report.  She also described how this report is incorporated into the Northwest AEA’s procedures for monitoring IEPs and IFSPs. 

·          Link to Faye’s presentation

 

Question:  Does this report pull off the web or IMS side?  We haven’t entered it into IEP yet.

Answer:  It is a web report on the IEP side, but is pulling IMS data.  Currently there is only one report in both the IEP and IMS system that pulls from the IEP data.

 

Question:  If I enter a plan on IMS and then go to the web report, is it real time or do I have to wait for the nightly download?

Answer:  It is real time, available right away.

 

 

Web IDEA System

 

Michelle gave insight into the status of the Web IDEA System 

·          Development has begun on Version 5 of the web IEP.

·          Information on the new system will be communicated as it becomes available.

·          Link to Michelle’s Web IDEA presentation

·          The goal is to make it seamless between IEP and count data and future IFSP.  This will improve all state data.

 

Question:  If an IEP comes in on paper, like those using “Clarity”, will we have to enter those?

Answer:  Yes.

 

Question:  If a child comes from out-of-state, who is on an IEP, then would we have to enter that?

Answer:  Would there have to be an evaluation if eligible to receive Iowa services?  If so would there be an amendment to the other state’s current IEP – till it needs to be renewed?

 

Question:  With regard to children moving into the state with another state’s IEP, there must be a current IEP existing to amend.

Answer:  Michelle will discuss with Kirby.  They currently are considering a “staging area” for the system, until the IEP comes in.  It would be similar to a consent form coming in before the IEP is entered.

 

Question:  Teachers enter IEPs, and we have the trust them.  However, we are seeing that they are not very good about maintaining re-evaluation dates.

Answer:  That is where AUDIT of IMS will come in.  Data entry personnel will continue to monitor IEP data.

 

 

 

Networking and Sharing / Announcements

John commented on the count:

·          It was beautiful.

·          It went smoothly and worked well with fewer re-certifications.

·          Thanks.

·          Count numbers down about 2 percent.

 

Michelle thanked everyone who completed the survey on the count.  She will be giving the results to the OGC and then posting them.

 

End of notes.