Lock data for previous year after last snapshot is taken
Lock data for the previous year after the last snapshot is taken.
We did this with ISES and it worked well.
I see no reason to go back into the previous year to fix new validation errors which popped up because another school district decided to fiddle with their database.
Anonymous
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As of now policy is that data can flow for 3 years to accommodate dropout scenarios, etc. We have heard some in the pro-lock data camp and other that appreciate it stays open. For now it will remain open.
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I agree this method worked well in ISES for schools that had good data management practices in place, did not change systems from one year to the next, has consistently applied student data policies, and had experienced staff completing the state reporting process.
Where the openness of the new WISEdata system really shines, is in the cases where data submission does not go perfectly. ISES afforded schools zero opportunity to correct data once the system had been locked. And this is very much the same with the data captured in our Snapshots; however if you are a school that discovers that your data has issues (and there is always a handful every collection) after it is too late, the WISEdata system allows you to send corrections using the same method/system integration as the original collection.
If we were to shut down the school year API as soon as the final snapshot is taken it would be harder to:
Correct publicly reported data presented in WISEdash Public
Complete Data Inquiries with the DPI office of Accountability for the Accountability Report Cards
Use the WISEdash tools to assist in the generation of Data Errata letters.These tasks would be more difficult because some other system would be needed to collect these corrections. And I would guarantee that this second system would not work as well as WISEdata. DPI also would have the added expense of maintaining this likely awkward backup process.
OR as you may be suggesting, if there is no opportunity to make these corrections in state-reported data, consider how fiercely you and your administration/school board would fight for correcting a significantly incorrect graduation or dropout rate should that have happened.
If (really when) you find that data is incorrectly reported for one or more of your schools, I think you would expect that DPI provides a method to set the record straight, and keeping the API open is an elegant and efficient way to do exactly that.
Thank you for everything that you do for our students. Statewide reporting by its nature means that we are all in this together, and it has been amazing to see how the schools in Wisconsin work collaboratively to fix an issue that may be impacting just one of us.
Jeff Post
