School Leaders Plagued by Faulty Data System
School Administrators continue to be maddened by the Special Education Student Information System (SESIS), an online database created by the DOE in 2007 to improve data collection for students with disabilities. Complaints continue to pour in about glitches and SESIS’ failure to align with other data systems. CSA received scores of questions, and forwarded them to the DOE. Below are the responses – some not very satisfactory; content has been edited for space reasons.
QUESTION: SESIS, Child Assistant Program (CAP), Automate the Schools (ATS) and the Special Education Component (SEC) information is inconsistent across these systems and cannot be fixed at the school level. Schools cannot access CAP to fix inconsistent, incorrect student information. Also, the IEP in SESIS remains out of compliance because it cannot be finalized. What will be done?
ANSWER: One of the major issues is the integration of SESIS into CAP. The two data systems are not compatible, which in turn, affects SEC data. SEC data originates from CAP data (ATS data pre-populates certain data fields in SESIS; we have not been notified of any issues between ATS and SESIS). The result is inconsistencies across systems, a problem that a technical team is devoted to solving. Schools do not have access to CAP; entering data into two source systems does not resolve discrepancies and can create even more. Once an IEP is finalized in SESIS, it is the legally binding document that represents the IEP conference and identifies the services that the student is to receive. Data in CAP does not render it in or out of compliance, although admittedly, it is distressing when the reports are inaccurate. The SESIS project team works with the Office of Compliance and other regulators to keep them advised of data issues and to inform their reports around
compliance.
Q: Only one person at a time can work on a single record. Multiple people serve the same child; therefore, entering evaluation data can take up to four hours. Can you address this?
A: Multiple staff members can access the same document but not the same section. Staff members can simultaneously create goals in the Measurable Annual Goals section of the IEP document.
Q: Wait time for the SESIS helpdesk can exceed an hour, and often no one can help once the
phone is answered. Ticket numbers are issued for problems that may take several weeks to resolve and meanwhile, the case goes out of compliance.
A: Calling was a frustrating experience last spring when caller volume was high. Since then, we added personnel and expanded our informational channels. The helpdesk reports a wait time less than eight minutes since September and a shorter turnaround on open tickets. Workarounds are published on the SESIS website, communicated in Principal’s
Weekly and School Support Weekly.
Q: The document cannot be checked from beginning to end with a single click. Each document
window must be opened, worked on, saved and spell-checked separately; windows are saved and closed before continuing to the next screen. The extensive wait time to complete this often results in being “timed out.” How can you help?
A: Please call the helpdesk with timeout issues, so that we can objectively identify and
address the problem.
Q: Run time errors mean we cannot finalize documents, IEPs and out-of-compliance IEPs.
A: These issues could be a problem with the user’s local connection, individual computer,
etc. Users are advised to call the helpdesk if they cannot finalize documents.
Q: Supervisors cannot access daily attendance of related service providers to check for entry. Group size changes based on daily attendance. The daily process of entering attendance information can take 45 minutes.
A: This is an issue we are working on; supervisors will gain access. Group size may change
based on daily attendance. Thus, time entering attendance varies day to day.
Q: Alternate Placement Paraprofessional field is omitted and does not appear on the IEP.
A: This is a known issue and subject to a request to fix.
Q: Why is there not a field to enter time of service for Transportation Paraprofessionals?
A: This is a known issue and subject to a request to fix.
Q: Paraprofessionals offer a direct service. Goals/objectives are required if entered in the system as a direct service. Paraprofessionals are not assigned clerical time, therefore, they are entered as an indirect service. Besides lunch, Paraprofessionals are not free during the day.
A: This is a known issue and subject to a request to fix. We are working to remove the
constraints that require paras to record anything other than attendance, and will clarify
in communication and training documents.
Q: Placement Recommendation, which is a required field, lives in the drop-down menu under Special Education Transportation.
A: Actually, the heading is Special Education Transportation/Placement Recommendation –
imperfect but not unlabeled.
Q: If the document is saved without completing that field, the IEP will not go to CAP.
A: That isn’t the case, but we will review.
Q: The report for a related service initially records the provider’s name. When someone else accesses the report, the provider’s name is changed to the name of the person who is viewing the report, which is what will be reflected when the report is printed. Can you explain?
A: This should only be true if that “viewer” is also in the system as a provider; if that is not the case, again, please have the user call the Helpdesk to report as an issue.
Q: During the interval between entering information and finalizing the IEP, the information in transportation and group size can spontaneously change. Why does this happen?
A: Because of state-mandated changes to the IEP, we had to re-organize the form over the summer. Things “moved” because the state required them to. The “changes” will not amount to a change in service but in descriptive terminology or categorization of service.
Thanks to all CSA members who sent in their comments and questions. This article has been edited for space reasons. It can be found in its entirety on the CSA website, www.csanyc.org under “Press” in the menu bar, and “CSA News” in the drop-down menu.
