Tuesday, June 17, 2025
June 2025: Looking at Data Through Sunglasses!
Spotlight on Strong Data: New District Administrators
DPI has a webpage and a bi-weekly email – just for you!
The New District Administrator webpage features a series of data topics and deadlines important to your role.
The most current version of the bi-weekly EdLeaders Dispatch email is available from the left-side menu, and there is also a chronological archive of occasionally sent high priority or time sensitive emails from State Superintendent Jill Underly or Deputy State Superintendent for your reference.
Data Quality Tips for New District Administrators
The District Security Administrator, or DSA, is an important role with a number of keystone responsibilities. The person in this role should have detailed knowledge of school/district security, of data functions throughout the local education agency, and of DPI’s WISE applications.
DPI recommends the DSA role be limited to one or two DSAs per agency.
If desired, the DSA can delegate role assignments and revocations to an Application Administrator. Application Administrator roles are app specific and optional. Depending on the district or school workflow, it may be helpful to assign an Application Administrator to some apps and not others. WISEsecure was designed to allow for flexibility.
The District Administrator or Choice Administrator has several responsibilities regarding student data privacy and confidentiality. To start, the District Administrator, Choice Administrator, or their designee, will be set up as the District Security Administrator (DSA). The DSA is responsible for:
- reviewing which personnel have access to DPI applications,
- assigning Application Administrators if desired,
- conscientious offboarding to ensure staff who have left have their access removed, and
- is responsible for the agency's data privacy policies required under §118.125(2).
If you are new to this role, please visit the WISEsecure Tasks for District Security Administrators webpage, made especially for you! You can also visit the WISEhome and WISEsecure Login Information webpage for other, more general, yet very useful information.
App Feature: WISELearn
With the students on vacation, summer is a great time for school leadership to reflect on the previous year and prepare for the upcoming year. If you want to locate some new resources, consider checking into WISELearn!
Although it is not an application, the WISELearn Resources Library is a repository of high-quality, standards-aligned educational resources and professional learning materials representing the diversity of our global community. The repository is jointly maintained by the DPI Division of Libraries and Technology along with the Division for Academic Excellence.
Many of the resources are authored, recommended, or submitted by Wisconsin teachers, administrators, librarians, and DPI consultants. Discover these resources and share your own.
We know that materials matter. Mounting evidence suggests that providing teachers with access to high-quality, standards-aligned instructional and professional learning materials is a continuous improvement strategy showing promise.
WISEdash Featured Dashboard: Review Year End Data in WISEdash
WISEdash: Use Snapshot Dashboards to Review Year End Data
You can review year end data using the WISEdash for Districts Snapshot Dashboards landing page and specific pages. Snapshot dashboards allow LEAs to make sure the data is reporting correctly. The WISEdash for Districts, About the Data: “Topics” dashboards are helpful for year-over-year review and trending review.
Attendance Data
Attendance is a part of the enrollment record. Be sure to include actual days and possible days of attendance.
Attendance is a required data element that is part of a student's enrollment record. It has two parts:
- Possible Days of Attendance
- Actual Days of Attendance
Visit the WISEdash for Districts: Snapshot Attendance/Absenteeism Dashboard webpage for information on how to review this year end data to prepare for the December Student Snapshot.
Discipline Data
Discipline incidents are associated with the student’s enrollment record if/when they occur. Discipline data elements will only appear for students involved in discipline incidents. If your school/district reports zero discipline incidents in a school year, you will receive validation warning 6751. If there were, in fact, zero discipline incidents, you may acknowledge the warning.
Visit the Discipline: Info, Help and FAQ webpage for a full list of data elements and other information.
Visit the WISEdash for Districts: Snapshot Discipline Dashboard webpage for information on how to review this year end data to prepare for the December Student Snapshot.
Year End Completion Data
Year end completion data is about closing enrollment records from the previous school year and annotating completers/graduates from the previous school year. Enrollment records include:
- Enrollment records: Enrollment records contain a vast array of data elements. During year end rollover, it is important to enter an exit type, a term completion indicator, and an end date for the enrollment record. When you look at a specific Student Detail screen in WISEdata Portal, you are viewing their enrollment record data.
- Graduation records (Graduation data for public schools) (Graduation data for Choice schools)
- Program records: You will also need to provide end dates for various program records associated with an enrollment record, such as a special education/sSEPA record.
- Roster
Visit the Annual Tasks Checklist webpage for more details on these data collections.
Visit the WISEdash for Districts: Snapshot Year End Completion Dashboard webpage for information and the WISEdash for Districts: Snapshot Special Education Year End Completion Dashboard webpage for information on how to review this year end data to prepare for the December Student Snapshot.
Perkins and Career Ed Data
The Career and Technical Education (CTE) data reporting is required by law for the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006. CPA V requires that CTE Concentrators and CTE Participants are submitted to DPI for each reporting year, including work-based learning (WBL) and industry recognized credentials (IRC).
It is critical that districts report all enrollment information requested by CTE data in a way that is timely, concise, complete, and accurate. Failure to report in such a manner can and will jeopardize the district’s financial grant for the reporting year.
Visit (and bookmark) the CTE Data Resources webpage and use the top two links on that page to access the: CTE and Career Education Snapshot Preparation Guide and CTE and Career Education Data WISE Guide for CTE data reporting. Then, bookmark that webpage so you’ll have easy access to those two files as they get updated.
Both resources provide guidance on how to use the WISEdash for Districts: Snapshot Career Ed and Coursework Dashboard webpage and the WISEdash for Districts: Perkins Dashboard webpage to review this year end data and prepare for the December Student Snapshot
Upcoming Events
Back to School Training:
- WISE Back to School, New User Day Training: Tuesday, August 19, 2025; 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
- WISE Back to School Kickoff Training: Thursday, August 21, 2025; 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Recurring Training:
- Summer WISE User Group Call: 2nd Tuesday of the Month, 1:30 – 2:30 p.m.
- First Wednesday of the Month: WISEdata New User Training, 1:30 – 3:00 p.m.
Upcoming WISEdata Events
3/10/26
3/10/26
Return to WISE Insights Landing page
Data Milestones
School Year Close-Out Tasks
- DPI recommends completing school year close-out tasks before collecting data for the new school year.
- Review the Annual Tasks Checklist webpage, School Year Close-Out section for greater detail.
School Year Calendar End Date
- DPI closes each annual school year on June 30. July 1, 2025, will be the first day of the 2025-26 school year.