Implementation of the Wisconsin Student Number Locator System

Date:	April 19, 2004
To:	District Administrators Non-district Charter School Administrators
From:	Richard Grobschmidt, Assistant State Superintendent, Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning
Subject:	Implementation of the Wisconsin Student Number Locator System

Over the past year and a half, the Department of Public Instruction has sent letters, bulletins, and other documents regarding the extensive additional data collection and reporting required by the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. To meet reporting requirements under NCLB, Wisconsin is implementing a Wisconsin Student Number Locator System (WSLS). The purpose of the system is to assign permanent, unique, and unduplicated Wisconsin Student Numbers (WSNs) to each student. The WSN will be the student's sole identifier throughout the PK-12 experience.

All districts and non-district charter schools are required to provide a limited amount of student directory data beginning in mid-May through June 2004 so WSNs can be assigned to your 2003-04 school year students. These numbers will be used in lieu of names to collect the federally required data through the Individual Student Enrollment System (ISES) beginning in October 2004. WSLS and ISES will immediately replace the PI-1290 Fall 2004 Enrollment Collection and portions of the 2003-04 Wisconsin School Performance Report data collection. Further consolidation of DPI collections will occur after initial implementation of the WSLS and ISES.

Districts are strongly urged to prepare for WSLS implementation in May by taking the following steps within the next two weeks:

1. Review the status of district WSLS implementation plans. The document "Preparing Your School District for the WSLS," disseminated to district administrators last fall, has been updated.
2. Determine the preferred timing of your district's initial WSLS data submission. Because WSLS data will be needed for portions of the 2003-04 Wisconsin School Performance Report, WSLS data need to be captured and WSNs assigned between mid-May and the end of June. If the district staff normally working with student data will not be available in June, then you may prefer to submit your data in May. In this case, send email to dpistats@dpi.wi.gov no later than May 3 so your district can be given priority for training and support during May.
3. Appoint a district WSLS/ISES Administrator. This person will be the main point of contact with DPI regarding local implementation and maintenance of the WSLS and ISES. This person will also be responsible for ensuring that authorized district WSLS users are identified. Authorization must be consistent with school board determinations under state and federal privacy laws.
4. In early May, communicate your choice of district WSLS/ISES Administrator to DPI by following these steps.
5. Ensure that your district WSLS/ISES Administrator provides WSLS access to authorized district staff. A DPI Web application to facilitate this process will be available by early May at.
6. Prepare to submit your WSLS data. Wisconsin Student Number Locator System (WSLS) offers districts two options for submitting these data: file upload or on-line data entry. Most districts with student information systems are expected to choose the file upload option.
   • If your district contracts with one or more student information systems vendor (s), then encourage your vendor(s) to participate in the vendor certification process prior to WSLS implementation in mid-May. Vendor certification will save districts time during the implementation process. A list of certified vendors is available.
   • If your district has a self-maintained student information system, then your district may also want to participate in the certification process. There is more information available.
   • If your district would like to enter your data on-line, WSLS screens can be used for this purpose. Districts are not required to have student information systems to enter WSLS data.

Training in the use of the WSLS to submit student directory data and to keep the data current will be available beginning in mid-May. On-site training sessions will be scheduled in several locations and will be supplemented by on-line Web-based training and on-demand training tools. More information about training will be provided in late April.

If you have questions about this process, email dpistats@dpi.wi.gov. There is also more information about WSLS.

cc:	SPR Coordinators
	PI-1290 Coordinators
	State Superintendent's Education Data Advisory Committee
	CESA School Improvement Services Directors
	DPI list of vendors with active district technology contracts

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Submit questions, comments, and suggestions about the WSLS or ISES to dpistats@dpi.wi.gov or call 1-800-507-5744.

Submit questions regarding the ESEA Report Card Requirements to dpieseadata@dpi.wi.gov.

For help with this page contact the DPI Helpdesk Expert

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Last updated on 2/28/2008 7:56:00 AM