GoIDEA State Reporting (Wisconsin Only)
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) collects individual student and aggregated data to meet the required school, district, state, and federal reporting mandates. The data collected is used to inform educational research and data analysis. The information also helps determine funding allocations.
The Wisconsin DPI provides a dashboard and reporting tools where teachers, administrators, parents, DPI staff, and researchers are able to view data to help improve the education of Wisconsin students. The Wisconsin DPI also uses the data to create accurate school and district report cards, which are required by state law. At the local level, this data can be used to improve future planning.
The Wisconsin DPI will assign each student a WISEid. The WISEid is also referred to as the State Student ID. This is a unique, permanent, and unduplicated way to identify a student. This 10-digit numeric field is required for all reported students and for educators.
GoIDEA is certified by the Wisconsin DPI to transfer Special Education and Initial Evaluation related data to WISEdata on a nightly basis. The record types submitted to DPI are called sSEPA and sSEPEA records.
- sSEPA = student Special Education Program Association (Special Education Record)
- sSEPEA = student Special Education Program Eligibility Association (Initial Evaluation Record)
sSEPEA – Initial Evaluation Record
If a student is referred to be evaluated for special education, the LEA needs to submit an sSEPEA record to the Wisconsin DPI. This data collection is for Timely Initial Evaluations also referred to as Indicator 11. The State of Wisconsin requires an LEA to report students who were evaluated within 60 days of receiving parental consent for an initial evaluation. Generally, a referral will be made to a student’s district of residence. Private schools would not be reporting the Initial Evaluation data since the private school does not complete the evaluation. A referral could be made for a child below compulsory school age, currently enrolled in a public school, parentally placed in a private school, or receiving home-based education.
LEAs are required by law to perform a student evaluation within 60 days after a parent gives consent. If the LEA does not perform the evaluation within the timeframe, this would be a case of noncompliance. For evaluations that occur past the 60 day timeline, there may be some exceptions. Some students will be found eligible for special education services, some will not be found eligible, and some the eligibility is not determined. All these student cases are reported for Indicator 11.
Here are some of the data elements that are included and specific to the sSEPEA record.
- Consent Received Date
- Evaluation Type
- Determination Date
- Evaluation Completed Status
- Evaluation Delay Reason
- Evaluation Late Reason
- IDEA Indicator
sSEPA – Special Education Record
If a student is found to be IDEA eligible, an sSEPA record must be submitted to the Wisconsin DPI. IDEA Eligibility is an indicator that the student is eligible to receive special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
An “IDEA-Eligible” student must meet ALL of the following requirements:
- Be a child age 3-21 years of age who has not graduated with a diploma from high school,
- Be a child with an impairment(s), who because of that impairment(s) needs special education and related services as determined by a current evaluation and a current individualized education program (IEP) or a services plan for parentally-placed private school children,
- The student is attending and receiving all of the services specified in the IEP/service plan, and
- The student is receiving a free appropriate public education (FAPE) or is a parentally-placed private school student receiving special education or related services that meet state standards under a service plan (34 CFR 300.452–300.462).
Here are some of the data elements that are included and specific to the sSEPA record.
- IEP Begin Date
- IEP End Date
- FAPE School
- Educational Environment Code
- Primary Disability
- Secondary Disabilities
- Last Evaluation Date
- Exit Date and Reason
GoIDEA Process
Each week night a process runs in GoIDEA to check for changes in Special Education or Initial Evaluation data. If a change is found, then a new record is added or modified in WISEdata. For example, if a student is exited from special education, the exit date and reason is updated on the sSEPA record in WISEdata.
The district’s Student Information System vendor is still responsible for the upload of the sSA enrollment record and data related to the Third Friday Count. Additionally, SIS vendors will have the ability to download sSEPA information from WISEdata that GoIDEA has uploaded. Skyward, PowerSchool, and Infinite Campus currently have this functionality. The ability to download sSEPA information from WISEdata will eliminate the need for double entry into a district’s Student Information System.
GoIDEA has monthly meetings with DPI on the 4th Tuesday of each month to cover topics about WISEdata and Wisconsin DPI special education updates. DPI hosts these meetings, and they take and post the meeting notes.
This service is an add on module with an Open Enrollment period of July 1st – August 15th, for the upcoming school year. The first step is to sign an agreement with GoIDEA. Next, the district will need to give GoIDEA permission to sync with WISEdata. Then, the GoIDEA Development Team will set up the networking. Training will be set up with the district to explain how to enter the data into GoIDEA and how to correct WISEdata errors within the software. Reach out to our sales team to receive a quote for this service
