ECDS Q&A 2018-2019

Question Answer

Support and Resources1. Who is the TEA ECDS Contacts at TEA? Ed Linden – ECDS Subject matter expert on

ECDSHoward Morrison – Policy Program

2. When is the TEA letter going to be sent? September 2018.3. When will Districts get trained for 2018-2019? See TSDS Training Calendar

http://www.esc1.net/Page/16914. So when is the BOY and EOY PK assessments taken

into consideration for determining KG readiness?

Also, is there a version of this report for PK Readiness?

As per Howard Morrison there is not a PK readiness report available yet. Only the KG readiness report.

Also, the KG readiness report only checks BOY KG against the cutoff points for KG. It doesn’t take into consideration the previous year’s BOY or EOY PK assessments.

5. Is there a PK TPR Report that shows PK readiness? There is one for KG.

Not yet. There will be one.

6. The KG readiness TPR report is only showing KG readiness based on the score on one of the KG subects correct?

Correct. It is not using PK BOY or EOY at all.

TEDS Section 107. Where is the list of the Commissioner’s List of

Assessments?TEDS > 2018-2019 TSDS Core Collection > 2018-19 Section 10 of TEDS

8. On page 6 of the Section 10 ECDS it gives the example of the assessment-title = ISIP ENGLISH.But when I go to page 8 it doesn’t show ISIP ENGLISH as one of the Assessment Identification Code.I see ISIP-E. Was that it?

For the 2017-18 KG assessment titles, “BOY KG ISIP English Overall” is the correct assessment title based on TEDS Section 4 for DC154. E1127 ASSESSMENT-TITLE on page 6 of TEDS SECTION 10, “ISIP English” , is an old example based on last year’s assessment titles.

High Quality PK Grant9. For this year is there such a thing as a HQ District? Or

are all Districts HQ and required to report the “Pk Teacher requirements, High Quality PK program, and Family Engagement Plan,”?

Yes, districts serving eligible 4 year old students would select the high-quality indicator as they are expected to meet the high quality components.(Before 573 Districts had received the grant, now it’s all districts serving PK eligible 4)

10. Can those sections where there is a combination of 4 and 3 year olds or eligible and ineligible be coded HQ?

If the teacher is meeting the additional teacher qualifications and there are eligible 4 year olds, yes.

11. 3 year old PK classes only are not coded with HQ indicator correct?

That’s correct.

1 Region One Education Service Center Updates: 05/08/2019

ECDS Q&A 2018-2019

12. Would there be districts this school year not on the High Quality Program?

Only school districts/charters that didn’t serve PK students or eligible 4-year-olds.

13. Will schools not administering a commissioner approved assessment PK, they will need to go to ECDS mailbox to be exempt from Howard Morison?

If PK is not administering a commissioner assessment just upload the PEIMS data & then go to ECDS and click Prepare. Fill out online survey. Still have to submit all other ECDS data.

14. I have a question on:

10050-0002 For this Course Section, if the Course is for SERVICE-ID "01010000", then the following fields must not be blank: PK-CURRICULA, and HIGH-QUALITY-PK-PROGRAM-INDICATOR, STUDENT-INSTRUCTION, and PK-SCHOOL-TYPE.

This is a Fatal Error, but what about those course sections where they are 3 year old Head Start PK classes. They get tested, and are being reported in PEIMS. But they are not 4 year olds therefore not running pk high quality. it will give them a fatal message when it shouldn’t.

EL: The HIGH-QUALITY-PK-PROGRAM-INDICATOR for a 3 year old in Head Start PK classes would be a ‘0’. So the rule won’t fire, there has to be a 1 or 0 value entered for HIGH-QUALITY-PK-PROGRAM-INDICATOR. Don’t code the PK-CURRICULA , STUDENT-INSTRUCTION, and PK-SCHOOL-TYPE either.

15. Regarding the new element to be reported for ECDS, PK Teacher Requirement, a District is asking where can they obtain this information from?

Each teacher in the HQ must meet the one of the options. The Early Childhood specialist or HR should be collecting and keeping this record.

16. District XYZ has morning classes on campus that instructs student that go to District XYZ in the AM (then these students go to a local HeadStart).Same District has afternoon classes on campus that instructs student that go to same District in the PM (in the morning these students were at a local HeadStart). Do these sessions get coded with 02 or 07 for PK-School-Type-Code?

07 because TEA needs to know that these students are being instructed at the Head Start too

17. A District needed to know how to handle a situation with a teacher at a Head Start PK program left in November then they assigned a Substitute to that classroom. I’m asking her if this substitute was a certified teacher and if they had the additional teacher requirement? If they don’t, then they should not report the class section with high quality indicator nor the teacher with any PK Teacher requirement. They should STILL report that class as part of the ECDS correct?

If there were eligible 4s and generating state funding, they would report the class. They would still indicate HQPK and leave the additional teacher qualification blank.

18. What if currently the PK teachers meet criteria: 03 Be employed as a prekindergarten teacher in a school district that has ensured specific prekindergartenprofessional development has been met. But by the end of this school year (late May) they will be meeting

It’s the districts choice which additional teacher qualification. They may choose to switch up until they submit the data. LEAs have the summer to complete necessary PD.

2 Region One Education Service Center Updates: 05/08/2019

ECDS Q&A 2018-2019

06 Documented completion of the Texas School Ready Training Program (TSR Comprehensive)

Kindergarten19. Regarding the HomeRoom Indicator- This is assigned

at the Course/Section level. Which course/section do the districts assign this homeroom indicator to? To a specific subject?

Assign this indicator to one subject. The E1440 HOME-ROOM-INDICATOR should be assigned to the Course/Section for which the kindergarten Commissioner-approved assessment was administered.

20. For KG what do you need to load? Only BOY KG21. If the KG assessment instrument used by the district is

not on the list, does this mean they do not submit through TSDS and just notify TEA or will this information also go in the spreadsheet and uploaded into the ECDS system?

Notify the type of assessment to the contact given in the To The Administrator Addressed Letter, Howard Morrison, ecds@tea.state.tx.us.   No submission is required in TSDS at this time if an LEA is not using one of the standard tests listed.Don’t have to click on “Prepare”. Don’t need to include the Homeroom Indicator. Still submit your regular PEIMS Summer data.

Assessments22. What if some student's never end up having a BOY,

EOY. Is that ok?Yes there will situations where that does happen. For example transfer students. Those that were not enrolled during the assessment window. That's fine. Verify report. it would be a student with no assessments.(So no need to put -999?)

23. If they missed the suggested window for BOY, they shouldn’t submit a score with -999.

Correct.

24. For KG/PK students that are NOT ASSESSED (ex: if they were present but not assessed, ARD exempt, or if they were absent on that day, opted out) enter -999 for Score Result

25. If PK3 is not assessed do you need to include in spreadsheet with -999?

No, they would just not be included in the spreadsheet.

26. A school District is not going to submit data for PK3 even though they serve them and test them with a local assessment.Is that OK?Their Early Start Coordinator said: “We do not need to comply with the Commissioner’s List, being that we are only servicing PreK4 through the grant.”

The statute out of HB 4 last session did not differentiate between three and four-year-old students. Therefore, the following prekindergarten program requirements would apply.“Sec. 29.1532. PREKINDERGARTEN PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS. A school district that offers prekindergarten classes, including a high quality prekindergarten program class under Subchapter E-1, shall include the following information in the district's Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) report: (5) if the district elects to administer an assessment instrument to students enrolled in district and campus prekindergarten program classes, a description and the results of each type of assessment instrument”

3 Region One Education Service Center Updates: 05/08/2019

ECDS Q&A 2018-2019

So if you administered the assessments (including 3 year old students) then you must report the assessments.

27. If a student was tested only English and not Spanish. Are there any implications on the District for not having tested in the Spanish?The student is coming out on the PK Missing Assessment Data’.But on the Submission report the student does come out for English Assessment.

A district has the discretion to submit either English or Spanish. There may be another reason why the student is coming out on the PK Missing Assessment Data report. More investigation needs to happen.

28. If a district uses AimsWeb Early Literacy, the district will report LNF, LSF, PSF and NWF data for each student on separate rows. Is this correct?

This is correct. Multiple rows per student are expected when an assessment instrument has multiple domains.

29. Would there ever be an instance when the kindergarten student was enrolled at the beginning of the year but NOT tested?

Yes, if the student is ARD exempt. The LEA should supply “-999” for the Score Result to show a Not Assessed result on the ECDS reports.

30. What should an LEA report for a student who could not pass the practice questions on any test?

An LEA should ensure an assessment date is indicated and supply "0" for the scale score.

31. If the PK or KG assessment displays the Academic Subject in the Assessment matrices, then the LEA should enter a score for that Academic Subject. If the assessment vendor does not provide a score result for an Academic Subject and Assessment that is listed in the PK or KG matrices, then the LEA would enter a -999 score result which would appear as ‘Not Assessed’ on the ECD0-000-004 and ECD0-000-006 reports.

32. Is there a problem with reporting students that may have been tested after the two-week window and were not previously tested?

Districts should adhere to the guidelines established by each assessment instrument vendor. The two-week window is recommended.A student who misses the BOY assessment window should be assessed to aid the teacher in effective instruction. If the date of that assessment is closer to BOY than to MOY then the student may be reported.

33. What if the assessment vendor does not provide the Composite Score

The composite score itself is not required. It is an option that was made available, should a vendor provide one.If they don’t provide one, don’t put -999 as the score.

34. Can you explain Assessment Id code more clearly, where does that come from?

The assessment identification code should identify the assessment instrument or can be the abbreviation of the assessment instrument plus the domain being tested.

35. So for this year, for BOY KG submission, they need to include all the assessments administered, not just reading?

EL: The KG Assessment Matrix, in TSDSKG-508 in TIMS, will indicate the Academic Subjects that are valid for each Assessment.EL: If the assessment vendor provides the assessment score information for an

4 Region One Education Service Center Updates: 05/08/2019

ECDS Q&A 2018-2019

associated academic subject, in the KG assessment matrix, the LEA should upload that information to ECDS.

36. If that is the case, what if they have different course/sections with different teachers that administered the assessment? Will they have to include the E1140 Home-Room-Indicator in all those different sections too?

EL: My understanding is that the KG assessment that will be administered at an LEA will include all academic subjects associated to that KG assessment. It will be the course section that is marked with the Homeroom Indicator. KG assessments should NOT be administered in different course sections.The selected kindergarten assessment must measure (1) emergent literacy-reading. A district may also measure (strongly encouraged) (2) mathematics, (3) emergent literacy-writing, (4) language and communication, and (5) health and wellnessdevelopment. If any of these are administered, they should be uploaded to ECDS.

37. As of October 2017 when I had asked via email, ECDS@tea.texas.gov had said that reading KG sections were still to be coded with the Indicator, but now that I am reviewing the Section 10 I just noticed that now different assessments not just reading are being allowed.

EL: Only one course section for the KG student needs to be marked with a Homeroom indicator.

38. I assume it doesn’t matter where each line of data for a student is put in the spreadsheet. In another words, a student’s 5 lines of test do not have to be listed together?

If all the identifying demographic and student information is there, it can be listed anywhere. If the demographic and student information is only listed once, the rest of the information needs to be sequential.

39. By when do vendors need to be xml compliant? For 17-18 School year vendors don’t need to be on xml compliant.

Districts should encourage vendors that by next school year, they need to be able to provide xml files

40. So we will report withdrawn students that were there during assessment time at the beginning of the school year? Are students that have withdrawn after the assessment date supposed to be included in the submission?

Yes. The LEA in which the student took the assessment should report that student, even if the student withdrew. If the student is assessed in two LEAs, then both LEAs may report the data.

41. What information do I provide in the “Student ID”field?

You will enter social security number or state ID number for each student

42. What information do I provide for the“Assessment Identification System” field?

You will enter the word “School” in this field.

43. “Do I need to report a student’s BOY data if heentered school after the BOY window closed butwas assessed for instructional purposes?”

No….if the student entered school after the BOY assessment window closed you do not report their data.

44. If vendor is not ready with an extract? Then you can't begin.45. Can non‐eligible four‐year‐olds be reported? Non‐eligible four‐year‐old prekindergarten

students can be reported with their assessment data.

5 Region One Education Service Center Updates: 05/08/2019

ECDS Q&A 2018-2019

46. What age should PK be given the monitoring instrument on the commissioner’s List

4 year-old students in PrKSource: letter to Administrator June 19, 2017 2017-20121 Commissioner’s List of Approved PreK and KG assessment instruments

47. Administration Date:  Would this be the date the assessment or inventory was administered to the student?

Yes

48. Are we to submit data on any KG student that was enrolled in our district at the time of assessment or all KG students, regardless of whether they are currently active or inactive?

Districts should report all students that they assessed who were 5-years-old at BOY regardless of whether the student is still enrolled.

49. What dates was the assessment window? The assessment windows are defined by each assessment. For example TPRI recommends, BOY: Kindergarten at six weeks from the start of the school year should be completed within a two week window with all students in the classroom.

50. If a student was not in membership at the time of assessment.

Don’t include in the spreadsheet

51. Assessment Reporting Method:  Would districts have to contact their assessment provider to find out how their score is reported…(Example…raw, scale, T‐ score)?

LEAs may need to contact their vendor to see how the scores are being reported.  

52. TPRI reports results as SD‐still developing, D‐developed, NI‐need intervention…would this be reported in this manner?

A raw score indicates the number of points a student earned on a test. For example, on a STAAR test each question is worth 1 point, so if a student correctly answered 30 questions out of 50, his or her raw score would be 30.

53. SD = Still Developing; D = Developing;  NI = Need Information ‐  This is how TPRI reports assessment results ‐ Would this be considered a raw score or a scale score?

No, a numeric score would be needed. Each Section of the TPRI has a raw score.  For example, 3 is the raw score for 3/5.  The D and SD is an interpretation based on the raw score.

54. Can you elaborate regarding what "Raw Score" means?

LEAs are required to submit a raw score per TEC 28.006 for each student from the BOY kindergarten reading assessment given. A raw score indicates the number of points a student earned on a test. For example, on a STAAR test each question is worth 1 point, so if a student correctly answered 30 questions out of 50, his or her raw score would be 30.

55. Assessment identification code & Assessment Title:  What is the difference between these two (2) fields?  Where do we get these codes? 

The identification code is the type of assessment. The title would be the sub‐domain.     The assessment title drop down is not associated with a code table but is being used for grouping the assessment in the reports.

56. Would there be a scenario where the KG might not be on the commissioner approved assessment? there was no slide on that?

Yes there would, fill out online survey to be exempt

57. Please put the version on the website so we can know what's the latest version. Also update the Release

A: they will take that into consideration

6 Region One Education Service Center Updates: 05/08/2019

ECDS Q&A 2018-2019

Date too.58. If districts uses more than 1 test, do they need to

report them both?Yes

59. Is there a list of assessments vendors that have xml files?

No

60. Can we force the template to add leading Zeroes for district-id when cut and paste into it?

Not needed, the template is already set-up for text formatting.

61. Will an older version of the spreadsheet convert to xml or do they have to be on the latest and greatest?

The most current version must be used.

62. Has TEDs been updated to accurately reflect the template?

Yes, the TEDS Section 10 documentation has been updated to accurately reflect the template.

63. Can the user sort the template by teacher to permit easier input of data scores?

No, the template is locked.

64. A district can only load one template with all campuses and not individual campuses--correct?

No, a district can upload the template by campus or with all campuses.

65. If the student is exempt from testing, do we include this student in the template?

If a student is exempt, they should be entered in the spreadsheet with a score of -999This is for Special Education students who do not take the assessment.

66. For IStation, will there be an Overall Score and the 4 subtest scores entered into the template?

Yes, a student assessed with iStation would have five rows in the template, one for each of the subtests and the overall score.

67. Some vendors have a Kinder demographics extract. In this case, is the template designed for an initial copy & paste of student demographics from the extract and then manual entry of the assessment data?

The demographic and assessment info can be copied and pasted into the template. Remember that if the rows for each student are not sequential then the demographic data for each student must be repeated on each row for that student.

68. Does the sample information on the templateneed to be removed from the template beforeentering the LEAs data?

Yes, clear template of all sample information andbegin with a clean template.

69. How do you paste into template? Make sure you use the Copy > Paste > Special > Paste Values to keep formatting

Validation Tool70. What is the latest validation number? Validation tool is now version 3.80

71. What does the Validation Tool validate? The Validation tool will validate the following for the DC154 ECDS Assessment titles that are defined by data element E1127 ASSESSMENT-TITLE: -If its mandatory in the .xml -That the length is 60 characters are less -That the data type is a string value -That the TSDS E1127 is a mandatory TSDS Element

7 Region One Education Service Center Updates: 05/08/2019

ECDS Q&A 2018-2019

The Validation tool will not validate if the code description matches (Ex: BOY KG TX-KEA English) because the E1127 ASSESSMENT-TITLE is also used by StudentGPS dashboards.

The eDM is able to process and validate the ECDS Assessment Titles for 2017-18 School Year against the DC154 Code table using the REPORT-ASSESSMENT-TYPE-CODE in DC123 (01 ECDS-KG, 02 ECDS-PK).

72. The Conversion Validation process -- Are there instances where the district may get an error/warning and may still be safe proceed to the eDM? Also, if an error occurs during xml creator process, will the process stop there or will the xml creator continue and attempt to create the other xml files?

No, if you receive an error using the Validation Tool, you will need to correct the issue. You will receive the same error in eDM.The Converter Tool will create the XML files and Validation Tool will validate the XML files.It will convert the xml files that don’t have errors.

ECDS Loading of Data73. For PK do you have to wait until you have EOY data

available, then load everything from that point, then prepare, upload, look at reports?

Yes. Wait until all EOY data is available to start loading EOY PK.

74. Can you complete the PK without EOY PK Assessments?

No

75. Which do you have to do upload first, PEIMS or Assessments?

It doesn’t matter..

76. Can you load BOY PK then go back and load EOY PK?

Yes.

77. So essentially there will be different sets of XML Files to load. One set for BOY PK, one set for BOY KG, and another set for EOY PK?

That is correct.

78. Is there an order of loading assessment files? Student Parent, Student Assessment, Student Metadata. It really shouldn’t matter.  The eDM will sort them when uploading a zipped version

79. What if you have fatals in summer peims about the elements

That's ok. ecds will have it's own set of ecds fatals. You don't have to complete peims summer before you can complete ecds.

80. When you say keeping the SIS up to date with unique ID, are you referring to the UID number, or are we also concerned with the school/district named in UID being accurate and match what is in the SIS?

We are concerned with the major demographics matching the TSDS Unique ID System. In the eDM, an exact match of the major demographics for students and staff is required.Student major demographics are Unique ID, first name, last name, and date of birth.Staff major demographics are Unique ID, first name, and last name.

ECDS Application81. What happens when you click Prepare button in

ECDS?Core Collection will pull from Summer Collection files the data it needs and all

8 Region One Education Service Center Updates: 05/08/2019

ECDS Q&A 2018-2019

Assessments data that was loaded. The ECDS PEIMS data is only needed for ECDS. ECDS data will not be promoted to PEIMS Data Mart.

82. Since you have to do both BOY and EOY PK, to you have to wait until EOY is administered?

Yes, wait until EOY is available to Complete (maybe end of April).

83. What kind of reports are available? Review why students are coming out on the “PK Missing Assessment Data”. If they were exempt special ed then go back to spreadsheet and put -999 for score.

84. What if you have any changes in the 2nd peims resubmission?

If you don't know if PEIMS pk/kg ecds students data changed then then reset data and begin ecds process in ECDS data application.

85. If you know data has changed for individual student/staff?

Delete individual staff and student using the different delete categories.

86. Just to confirm the information on the Knowledge Base 474 ECDS: Early Childhood Assessment Summary report ECD0-000-002.This doesn't compare the progress from last year's PK ECDS submission and see how well they progressed from PK to KG right?The Knowledge Base says Total % Students Kindergarten Ready Derived by totaling the number of Kindergarten students whose assessment scores reflect READY within ALL CAMPUS/PROGRAMS compared to the Total Student Enrollment for the LEA.So really it is comparing it to a Certain Ready Score (the score is in the KG Asessment Matrix). Correct?

The Early Childhood Assessment Summary report ECD0-000-002 report only displays the KG assessment readiness for the current school year.

The ECD0-000-003 Pre-K sources report displays those PK students that were promoted to KG in the following School Year and were administered a Commissioner approved KG assessment.(Ex: If you run the ECD0-000-003 Early Childhood Assessment PK Sources report for 2016-17, you would only see Student Enrollment counts at this time. Once the PK students from 2016-17 are promoted to KG students in 2017-18 School Year, and they take a Commissioner approved assessment, then the 2016-17 ECD0-000-003 report would display KG Readiness counts and percentages. The report sources back to PK students and matches their unique ID when they become KG students in the next school year.

87. Do we have to delete anything in the Delete Utility to redo the submission?

Just delete manually individual students.You can delete OdS for TSDS for one data or for all categories. If you are a dashboard user be careful in using TSDS Delete. Use the Delete Assesments category and reload assessment interchanges again.

88. Preparing taking over an hour to take ODS data to Core Data Mart.

Submit a TIMS ticket.

TIMS89. Are ECDS users going to be expected to use TIMS? Yes, there must be at least one user in each

LEA with the TIMS LEA Support role who can enter support incidents for ECDS users.

9 Region One Education Service Center Updates: 05/08/2019

ECDS Q&A 2018-2019

Private PKs90. For Private PK’s, how will they submit for Campus ID

number. They will submit a 1 to 2 pages filling out some fields. Submitted by the private school. They will have a Business Private Directory. District ID, Campus ID. Request org # from Business Partner Directory. Then request ECDS Approver, loader role, apply for unique IDs for students. -Then submit a PDF Template-Staff and Student need unique ids.

91. Can state id numbers for staff and student be 999?

92. Can you elaborate more on the Business Partner Directory? What is it and how will it be used?

The TEA has business relationships with organizations that are not included in the Organization database, such as private prekindergarten programs. The organizational data for these entities are included in the Business Partner Directory to centralize user authorization and allow the use of the TEA’s security software and web applications.

93. Is it through the end of the year? Yes.

94. What roles should they select? Campus Data Loader95. How do you assign unique ids for private PK KB article? Double check96. Benefits of participating -KG Readiness

-Identify where they are coming from-Integrated datasystem-public facing reports, -TPEIR page, will follow the 3rd grade-Will release KG report statewide, District, Campus Level Statewise-They can share these reports – will name the daycare/school by name-Maybe provide Certficate they could display on wall.

97. When will report be available? ABC Daycare will submit 16-17 SY data on Augus 17. Then in the next 17-18 window the report for daycares would be available ECD0-000-003

98. For Private Pk when will they be able to run the KG Readiness report? Next school year right? Do you have a sample?

you have to load 17-18, however those private pk don't have access to that information.

99. Does TEA know how many are participating? No.

For private PK's they don't understand the unique id process.

We will probably load that for them.

Do Private PK HAVE to submit socials for their staff and students? Can they submit State IDs numbers instead?

Staff id if they have a social, they prefer to use socials. but if they prefer not to provide it, then they can use a 9 digit number, just auto generate a staff id number. Just don't use all 9.

10 Region One Education Service Center Updates: 05/08/2019

ECDS Q&A 2018-2019

What if they create a staff id that already exists You will go through match resolution process.

Private PK has some columns about lep, economic disadvantage, and special education. How do those Private Pks fill this out if they don't have the same requirements as in PEIMS

the guidance is that they provide something, Just fill this out like this: not limited, 00, and none

What is their Organization number? Private PK designation is 960, so for example d101960 or 108960

Do ESC need some special form For Private PK Daycares, create sample release form so they can provide to us so we can work with their data.

If students don’t want to submit socials? if we need an S number for Private Pk, then submit a TIMS ticket for these students.

Can you request S numbers for Staff for Private Pk? No you can't. they have to submit there real social securities. For Students you can request S. Staff ID field is the social security. Use something else other than 999-99-9999. we can create a random number?

11 Region One Education Service Center Updates: 05/08/2019