Snapshot Preparation: Graduation for Public & Choice Schools
Snapshot Preparation: Graduation for Public and Choice Schools
Overview
This page includes an overview of WISEdata snapshot preparation tasks for public school districts and for Choice schools to ensure data quality for graduation data. Differences are indicated by use of mentioning (Choice) or (Public). When no reference is made to distinguish a difference, the procedures and steps are the same for both Choice and public schools. Please notice, there are more commonalities and similarities then there are differences.
Graduation Plan is submitted through WISEdata. More info available on the Graduation Plan Type data element page and the DPI Graduation Requirements webpage.
Click the links below to navigate to different sections of this page:
- Graduation data in WISEdata Portal
- Graduation data elements
- Reviewing WISEdata Portal Validation Messages
- How to Verify Data Flow for Graduation Data
- Impact of sSEPA Record Dates (Public Only)
- Impact of Cohort Data (Choice and Public)
- Notes for WISEdata Reporting
- Notes for WISEdash Reporting (Public Only)
- Reviewing WISEdash for Districts for Graduation Data (Public Only)
- Reviewing WISEdash Extracts for Graduation Data (for Choice Schools)
- Impact of Graduation Data on Report Cards
- Getting Help
Graduation Data in WISEdata Portal
Find graduation data on WISEdata Portal using the following steps:
WISEdata Portal > Agency tab > Student Search > (enter required details) > Specific Student Detail Screen, opened as a new tab in your browser > Enrollments (3rd header) > Exit sub-header within Enrollments section.
Make sure you have the correct school year selected.
The Specific Student Detail screen has the student’s name, WISEid, date of birth and Local Person ID in a green banner across the top of the screen.
Once you’ve entered the student’s enrollment information in your SIS and that data has been pushed to WISEdata, provided that all the data is accurate and correct, you can view graduation data within the enrollment record in WISEdata Portal.
WISEdata Portal uses 'expander tools'. They are triangle- or caret-shaped icons that typically appear at the far-left or far-right side of a header. If the "triangle" is pointing downward, the tool is displaying expanded information.
- Click the white expander arrow on the far-right end of the gray header to view basic enrollment details.
- Click the small blue triangle to show additional reported values within the enrollment record, such as attendance, record created and modified dates, enrollment exit information, and effective dates.
Graduation data is collected based on two values, High School Completion exit type on the enrollment record and the Academic Credential/Diploma record.
Common missing values that impact Graduation Rates are missing Term Completion Indicator and missing Credential Type.
Graduation Data Elements
To find a complete list of data elements that could potentially be associated with a student's enrollment record, apply the "Completion/Exit" filter, the "Dropout" filter, or the "Graduation Plan" filter. Click Apply on the WISE Data Elements page. Some key data elements that relate to graduation are:
Reviewing Validation Messages in WISEdata Portal
On the Validation Messages screen, you can use the options under the Filters section to filter for "Enrollments" validation messages.
- Use the High School Completion filter to review validation errors related to high school completion data.
- Use the High School Graduation filter to review validation errors related to high school graduation plan data.
- Use the Year End Exit filter to review validation errors related student exit data.
Click the expander tool (the small, blue triangle in the very first [far left] column) to show details on each validation message. Common validation messages on year end completion include:
Critical - Missing Diploma (Validation Rule 6493):
Student identified as a High School Completer, but either the credential is missing from the student Academic Record resource or the student Academic Record itself is missing. To fix the error, verify if the student has completed high school. If so, submit the credential/diploma on the student Academic Record. If not, change the Exit Type to something other than High School Completer (HSC). In WISEdata diploma type is submitted on /studentAcademicRecord resource for current school year SAR records.
Missing Exit Withdraw Date (Validation Rule 6606):
Exit Withdraw Date for the student's enrollment is required at the end of each school year, even for students continuing in the same school in the next school year. This rule runs once a school year has ended.
Special Education Record ends before enrollment (Validation Rule 7161):
This error appears when a student's special education record (sSEPA) has an end date before the student's enrollment end date. To fix the issue, refer to the student's Reason Exited Special Education to determine if the student is continuing in special education, exiting the district, or exiting special education for another reason.
Required field is missing: 'Exit Type'. (Validation Rule 7062):
Exit Type must be submitted for Primary Enrollment types if Exit Date is provided.
Term Completion Indicator is Yes In District (Validation Rule 6569):
Term Completion Indicator (a.k.a. Completed School Term) is 'Yes' in multiple enrollment records in your school or agency.
Term Completion Indicator is Missing (Validation Rule 6571):
Identification of whether a student completed the school term is required for every enrollment period with an exit date.
How to Verify Data Flow for Graduation Data
You can verify your student’s data by reviewing the High School Completion Export. Reviewing the export will allow you to see all of your students at once for review and spot checking.
Use the following steps:
WISEdata Portal > Agency tab > Exports screen > High School Completion Export > download > view columns O and P.
- Column O = Term Descriptor indicates when did the student complete their requirements.
- Column P = Diploma Type indicates the credential type student earned.
Review the High School Completion export to ensure all Diploma Types (Credential Type from prior slide) are reported. If this value is missing, the student will not push to WISEdash as a graduate.
Impact of sSEPA Records on Graduation Data (Public Only)
sSEPA Records: For Public School Districts Only
Make sure that sSEPA special education record end dates match your enrollment exit dates. This is very important for accurate special education reporting, because if you end the sSEPA record before the enrollment, the year-end completion status does not show that student as a special education student. They will instead be designated as a student without disabilities.
It's extremely important when you're looking at special education graduates, but it is important across the board for all year end categories. Error 7161 throws in a scenario like this: sSEPA ends before enrollment end date. It is necessary to repair this error to report the student as a special education graduate.
Impact of Graduation Cohorts on Graduation Data (Choice and Public)
A student is assigned to a graduation rate cohort based on two factors:
- School year of the student’s first high school enrollment period in Wisconsin.
- Student’s grade level placement at the time of first high school enrollment period.
To be counted as a graduate under the four-year adjusted cohort rate, a student must earn a regular diploma on or during the summer following their fourth year of high school. This includes early graduates.
- A graduate can be in the 4-year cohort if they graduate at any point prior to the first day of the following school year. This includes the summer after their typical graduation date. Essentially, they have the full summer to complete any graduation requirements to be counted as a 4-year grad.
For WISEdata reporting: (Choice and Public)
- Don't report the summer school enrollment.
- Do report the summer school diploma with the following date requirements:
- Report the awarded diploma in the same school year as the HSC enrollment. The exact date doesn't matter, so long as it is prior to the first day of the following school year. As a reminder, DPI ends each school year on June 30 and starts the new school year on July 1.
WISEdash reporting: (Public Only)
- WISEdash takes the HSC exit date and checks to see that there's a credential attached to it. If the credential is earned in the same school year as the HSC enrollment, then WISEdash puts the student in the cohort based on that date.
To be counted as a completer under the four-year adjusted cohort rate, a student must earn a regular diploma, high school equivalency diploma, or other high school completion credential on or during the summer following their fourth year of high school. This includes early completers.
It is also vital to ensure the accuracy of a student's placement within their cohort. Students are placed in a cohort upon their first year in high school, typically 9th grade, but transfer students may have their "first" year in your LEA's high school at a different grade. Once a student is placed within a cohort, this cannot be changed! Having students in the wrong cohort can affect your completion rates.
For more information about cohorts, visit the:
Reviewing WISEdash for Districts for Graduation Data (Public Only)
WISEdash for Districts allows you to see what graduation values are pushing through from WISEdata. Be aware that WISEdash shows the students for whom you are "accountable." This may differ from your "attending" students slightly depending on if you have students attending state schools, residential care centers, or have students under contract. For additional information on reporting expectations for these scenarios, review the Reporting Uncommon WISEdata Situations webpage for Students Receiving Off-Site Services.
Reference the Snapshot - Year End Completion dashboard's "Exit and Retentions Crosstab", and its "HS Completion Crosstab" for your 4-year cohort. The snapshot dashboard data only include the 4-year or less rate for that year’s graduating cohort. Students who graduate early remain within their 4-year cohort. There are no penalties for early graduation and there is no need to place this student within a separate cohort.
It should be specifically noted that the Year End Dashboards only include the 4-year cohort (the students graduating within the cohort for that year, within the 4-year or less threshold). Only students in the appropriate cohort are included in the WISEdash for Districts Data Quality Indicator on the Snapshot "YE Completion" dashboard.
Students who take (an) extra year(s) to graduate (e.g., five-, six-, or seven-year grads), are included in Topics > Graduation > HS Completion Rates dashboards. They are not in the snapshot YE Completion dashboards.
If, when reviewing data on WISEdash for Districts, you think your total number of completers vs. non-completers is incorrect, click on a metric to review the list of individual students. Then, check with your SIS to see if these students were submitted correctly.
Reviewing WISEdash Extracts for Graduation Data (Choice Only)
Please visit the WISEdash Extracts for Choice Schools webpage to learn more about this valuable tool set.
WISEdash extracts work similarly to other WISEdata Portal exports. They allow Choice schools to download reports that they can use to track graduation cohorts and calculate graduation rates, high school completion rates, dropout rates, and chronic absenteeism. WISEdata users at Choice schools can access WISEdash extracts in WISEdata Portal. To do so:
- Log in to WISEdata Portal through WISEhome.
- Under the Agency header, go to Exports.
- Download the “Graduation & HS Completion Rate” and “Graduate Future Cohorts” extracts under the WISEdash Extracts section.
Impact of Graduation Data on Report Cards
Graduation rates are heavily featured on report cards and are significant to many education shareholders within a community in evaluating the success of an LEA. Schools with low graduation rates may also be identified for Comprehensive Support and Improvement through Wisconsin's ESSA accountability system.
When viewing "On Track to Graduation" data on the report card, it is important to know that:
- Only students with the 'diploma type = regular' are included in the report card count of graduates.
- As with the WISEdash data quality indicator, only students in the appropriate cohort will be included in the graduation rate.
- Scoring is based on an average of 4-year or 7-year graduation rates.
- Students are included in rates for the district/school of accountability. This means that students in a detention center or jail or placed by their IEP outside the district (e.g., WCBVI or WSD) appear in graduation rates at their resident district/school.
More information about report cards is available on the Report Cards webpage.
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