Non-Traditional WISEdata Situations

International Students

REPORTING WISCONSIN STUDENTS STUDYING ABROAD

Definition - Wisconsin Students Studying Abroad:

Student who is a Wisconsin resident who attends classes at a school in a foreign country (outside the U.S. or Puerto Rico) for a specified period of time.

Data Element Information - Wisconsin Students Studying Abroad:

• DPI recommends schools use an Exit Type of TOS to exit a student that they know will be leaving the country to participate in an exchange program. Do not use INM Exit Type because the student is expected to return to Wisconsin.
  • We also suggest that courses taken while on exchange should be entered into the student's transcript when they return, but there would be no expectation to count or report the student while they are out of the country.
  • Using the TOS exit type will exclude the student from dropout calculations and remove them from the grad cohort.

Membership/Financial Implication - Wisconsin Students Studying Abroad:

Wisconsin students studying abroad should not be counted for pupil membership count report while they are out of Wisconsin/the country.

REPORTING FOREIGN STUDENTS STUDYING IN WISCONSIN

Definition - U.S. Foreign Exchange Students Studying in Wisconsin:

Student who comes from a foreign country (outside the U.S. or Puerto Rico) to attend classes in a U.S. school for a specified period of time.

Data Element Information - U.S. Foreign Exchange Students Studying in Wisconsin: 

• Data is reported to WISEdata by the LEA. Foreign exchange students attending school in your school district have enrollment and exit dates in WISEdata just like other students.
• There are very specific federal rules about how students with different visa types are categorized. Visa Type must be provided. Schools should ask to see the visa or for the visa type, but they cannot require to see the visa. If the visa type remains unknown, then an F-type visa must be reported. View the Visa Type data element page for more information on visas.
• Foreign exchange students with exit dates must also have Exit Types. The most common exit types used for exited foreign exchange students are: TOS, INM, HSC.
• Use HSC if the international student completed their high school credentials and graduated.
• To use TOS the district must have evidence that the student is continuing their education elsewhere, likely because they have completed their international 'foreign exchange' program and will be returning home to their country.
• If the LEA does not have evidence that the student is continuing their education elsewhere, then the LEA has to use INM. If INM is used, the district will not  be “dinged” for a dropout and/or non-completer.
• J-1 students do not receive high school diplomas from U.S. high schools, so they cannot have HSC Exit Types. If you have proof of transfer with a J-1 student, you can use TOS. If the J-1 student will not be continuing schooling back in his or her home country, use the INM exit code. A student with an F-1 Visa type may receive a diploma and would then need to have the HSC Exit Type.
• Most, if not all, foreign exchange students will meet the requirements for the Immigrant Title III data element.

Helpful Details/Use Cases - U.S. Foreign Exchange Students Studying in Wisconsin:

• Any such student participating in a foreign exchange program is treated the same as other students for WISEdata purposes. Visa type will be used to determine whether or not the student is eligible for removal from the graduation cohort. At the end of the four-year time frame, adjustments are made to remove any non-graduates from the cohort if the most recent school/district confirms in writing that the students transferred out, emigrated to another country, or are deceased prior to the end of the four-year time frame. See the DPI Graduation Extended Calculations page for more information on cohort calculation.
• DPI does not sponsor visas for foreign exchange students. Visas are obtained at a federal level after a school achieves sponsor status through a foreign exchange entity.

Student with an International High School Diploma Under Age 18: 

• If a student under age 18 (i.e., 17 or younger) moves to Wisconsin from another country, and this student is a recognized high school graduate (e.g., holds a high school diploma) from another country, that student's international diploma is recognized by Wisconsin. A student in this scenario would not need to attend a Wisconsin high school until age 18 - in fact, the student can attend post-secondary schooling in Wisconsin as a 17-year-old.
• This student can obtain a Wisconsin high school equivalency diploma known as a 5.08, based on the DPI's Administrative Code 5: High School Equivalency Certificates of General Educational Development. While there is no statutory requirement for such a student to have a U.S. high school diploma/HSED/GED to become enrolled in a technical college, most post-secondary programs do require a high school diploma or equivalent, such as the 5.08, to meet entry requirements. 
• International diplomas need to be translated into English and evaluated through an educational service.
• The student would need to contact the Mid-State Testing Center:
  • Phone: (715) 422-5443
  • Email: testingcenter@mstc.edu

Membership/Financial Implication - U.S. Foreign Exchange Students Studying in Wisconsin:

A school board may permit a foreign exchange student to attend school in the school district without payment of tuition pursuant to § 121.84(1)(c). The district of attendance, which may or may not be the district where the foreign exchange student temporarily resides, should also count the student on the PI-1563 pupil membership count report.

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Migrant Students

Definition:

Student who is, or whose parent/guardian is, a migratory fisher, dairy worker, or agricultural worker, AND who in the preceding 36 months has moved from one school district to another in order for the worker to obtain temporary or seasonal employment in agricultural or fishing work

Data Element Information:

Migrant Status is required for all WISEdata collection records for all grades. If the student has a confirmed migrant status, you should submit this information to WISEdata. Submitted migrant information will mark the student with a Yes value for Migrant Status in the Student Details of WISEdata. Elements are all stored at the student level and shared across districts. These will be the values as of the snapshot.

Helpful Details/Use Cases:

A Certificate of Eligibility (COE) must be on file in the district verifying the student's eligibility. To confirm migrant status or verify a Certificate of Eligibility (COE), please contact the Wisconsin Migrant Education Program staff at (608) 266-9629.

Membership/Financial Implication:

It is the responsibility of the school district to determine if a student is a resident of the school district. Each resident student who attends public school will be counted in the same manner, using the PI-1563 Pupil Count process.

Related Links:

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Immigrant Students Under Title III

Definition:

Immigrant (Title III) is an indication of whether or not a student qualifies as an immigrant. A student will qualify as an immigrant under the definition specified by ESSA:

• Aged 3-21 as of the Third Friday of September
• Not born in the U.S. or Puerto Rico
• In U.S. schools for less than three full academic years, whether consecutive or not.

Data Element Information:

If the student has a confirmed immigrant status, you should submit this information to WISEdata. Submitted immigrant information will mark the student with a Yes value for Immigrant (T3) Status in the Student Details of WISEdata. Elements are all stored at the student level and shared across districts. Native Language code will also be required for those marked with immigrant status (unless PPP, DOC, DHS).

Helpful Details/Use Cases:

Note that “State” is defined in Section 3201(13) of the ESEA to include the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Therefore, students born in Puerto Rico may not be included as “immigrant” students under Title III. Finally, note that the term “immigrant” as used in Title III is not related to an individual's legal status in the United States. It is also worth noting that not all immigrants may be English language learners.

Membership/Financial Implication: 

It is the responsibility of the school district to determine if a student is a resident of the school district. Each resident student who attends public school will be counted in the same manner, using the PI-1563 Pupil Count process.

Related Links:

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Home-based Private Education Program (Homeschooled) Students

Definition:

Student whose educational instruction is provided by the child's parent or guardian or by a person designated by the parent or guardian

Data Element Information:

If the student previously attended a public school, the public school should input an Exit date with an Exit Type of TNC.

Helpful Details/Use Cases:

The Wisconsin school district needs to verify that the child has registered in HOMER, the Home-based Private Education Program application, for a Home-based Private Education Program. Within the HOMER application is the PI-1206 Homeschool Report. This form includes a legal affirmation that the parent/guardian or person designated by the parent/guardian is in compliance with the Wisconsin Homeschooling law. Parents must register their child via this form in HOMER by October 15 each year, as indicated by Wis. Stat. § 115.30(3).

If a parent communicates to their resident district their intent to homeschool their student(s), a district should consider that sufficient notice up to the October 15 deadline to submit a PI-1206 form. Under Wis. Stat. § 115.30(3), a parent cannot be compelled to submit this form until October 15; however, based on the value of this voluntarily-provided notice to school districts, DPI does encourage the early submission of the form if a parent is otherwise comfortable and prepared to do so.

The Home-Based Private Educational Program PI-1206 form includes information about enrollment as of the 3rd Friday in September. DPI does not direct parents to wait until the third Friday to submit the form. No part of Wis. Stat. § 115.30(3) prohibits this early reporting, and the submission of the PI-1206 form assists school districts in their planning for the new school year. As such, DPI has made the PI-1206 form available to homeschool parents as of July 1 each year.

Scenario for a student who is/was enrolled in an LEA, changing status to be home-schooled by a parent:

If a student is enrolled in a school prior to October 15 and then makes a shift to homeschooling after enrolling in an LEA, the parent is still responsible for following the district attendance policies. Schools can record absences until the HOMER registration (PI-1206) is complete. Registration in HOMER verifies the change in enrollment from the LEA to homeschooling status. After October 15, if the student is not attending school and has not yet registered in HOMER, then the student may be marked truant.

Scenario for a student NOT enrolled in an LEA, intended to be home-schooled by a parent:

If the parent provides only verbal information to the school that the student will be home-schooled (but they have not indicated homeschooling status on HOMER through submission of the PI-1206 form), the school/district should not be counting attendance or threatening truancy actions for that student until after the October 15 deadline has passed.

Taking up to Two Classes in a Public School:

Home-based Private Education Program students may take up to two classes per semester in any public school, but they will not be submitted to WISEid/WISEdata. Allowing them to attend for one or two classes does not make your school/district accountable. Please refer to the Students Taking up to Two Classes Uncommon WISEdata Scenarios page for more details. NOTE: If you are a public LEA with homeschooling students taking up to two classes, please read the section below on Membership/Financial Implications.

Special Education Services: 

School districts are not required to provide special education and related services to children with disabilities enrolled in home-based private educational programs. However, since neither federal nor state law prohibits districts from providing special education services to homeschooled children, school districts may provide any special education and related services to these children that they deem appropriate. If a public school district chooses to provide these services, these services will not be reported in WISEdata as the costs are not aided by DPI under federal or state categorical aids.

Expelled Students Receiving Services

Definition:

Student who is no longer allowed to attend classes in a traditional classroom because of a school board-authorized expulsion but is still provided with educational services

Data Element Information:

If a student is expelled but still receiving district-supervised services off school grounds, then you must maintain attendance records for this student.

For students still receiving services, all expelled days generally still count as Possible Days of Attendance with known exceptions if the student moves to a new school or the school calendar’s Possible Days of Attendance changes. For Days of Actual Attendance, you would submit a zero (0) for all days the student is absent.

Helpful Details/Use Cases:

The general guidelines for WISEdata submissions are to include students who were expelled but who continue to receive educational services from your district, even if they are not in a school building. Just receiving homework does not mean receiving services.

If students were serving a period of temporary expulsion, but were not receiving educational services, you should exit them. You do not need to maintain enrollment for students who were expelled and who are NOT currently receiving educational services. You should exit these students from WISEdata.

Expelled Students with IEPs:

If the currently expelled student is a child with an IEP, the resident district continues to have FAPE responsibility. Under federal and state law, a student with an IEP must continue to receive a free, appropriate public education, even when expelled. This means that the student must continue to receive educational services so that the student can continue to make progress in the general education curriculum and toward their IEP goals. A school district cannot refuse an IEP team evaluation or refuse to provide a free appropriate public education to a child with an IEP who has been expelled from another school district. A student with an IEP receiving services after an expulsion would be counted in both the Third Friday of September Count and October 1 Child Count, providing all of the other criteria for inclusion are met.

It is not relevant that the services are provided outside a school building (off-site services), whether online or via teleconference, for example. However, the school board may provide the services to the child in a setting other than one of the district's schools, as determined by the IEP team. Dependent on a new placement decision, there could be a new IEP and new IEP start date.

This student should have a current enrollment in WISEdata associated with the district. The district may decide if a continuous enrollment will be reported or if the student will have an exit date the day prior to the expulsion and a new enrollment entered for the student to reflect the change to receiving these off-site services while expelled. The district is then responsible for all WISEdata reporting on this student.

Membership/Financial Implication:

A district may count a non-disabled expelled student for membership purposes if the district is providing educational services by a certified teacher/program. Increasing membership on the Third Friday in the September Pupil Count Report impacts state aids and revenue limits positively, which also increases the dollars which the district can use for educational programming. However, the district must have the pupil(s) in a program on or before the count date. Therefore, students served through a regular or alternate setting within the district, enrolled in another district through a tuition agreement, a Youth Options program, or through a contract under s. 118.15, Wis. Stats., may all be included in the Pupil Count Report, which uses the pupil count data for membership to calculate state aids and revenue limits.

Related Links:

Pupil Services-Discipline Suspension & Expulsion

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Homebound Students

Definition:

Student who is “temporarily not in proper physical or mental condition to attend a school program but who can be expected to return to a school program upon termination or abatement of the illness or condition.”

Data Element Information:

If a student is unable to receive educational services, then the district may decide if it will exit the student or maintain the enrollment and continue to mark the student as absent for the entirety of the homebound stay.

• If the student is homebound and not exited by the district, that student should have an enrollment record and should have data submitted just as for traditional students.

• If the student is homebound during the school year but fully intends to return the following school year, the district can choose to keep the student enrolled and use receiving services value of N, not receiving services, and 0 (zero) for attendance submission.

• If the district decides to exit the student rather than keep him or her enrolled as homebound, it should include an exit date and an Exit Type of ODO.

• If the student exits but then returns during the same school year, change the Exit Type to TC.

Helpful Details/Use Cases:

here is no law that specifically requires a school district to provide homebound instruction to a student who is unable to attend school. The district is required to consider the request and respond accordingly. According to state statute, the local school board must render its decision, in writing, within 90 days of the request. However, if the child has been evaluated for special education but was not found to be eligible for special education, then the school board must provide a written decision to the request within 30 days.

Homebound students cannot be found truant or habitually truant. The school may request a statement to this effect from a physician, dentist, chiropractor, optometrist, psychologist, or Christian Science practitioner as sufficient proof of the condition of the child. Homebound instruction, when it is provided, is provided by the school district of residence.

Reporting Elective Courses for Which Homebound Students Do Not Receive At-home Services: It is ultimately at the discretion of the district to come up with their own policy to address this situation within their schools.

A homebound stay is an option for a student with an IEP as determined by the IEP team.

Membership/Financial Implication:

A district may count a homebound student for membership purposes if the district is providing educational services by a certified teacher/program to homebound students. Increasing membership on the Third Friday of September Pupil Count Report impacts state aids and revenue limits positively, which provides additional dollars to the district for the use of educational programming. However, the district must have the pupils in a program on or before the count date. Therefore, each homebound student served through a regular or alternate setting within the district, enrolled in another district through a tuition agreement, a Youth Options program, or through a contract under s. 118.15, Wis. Stats., may all be included in the Pupil Count Report, which uses the pupil count data for membership to calculate state aids and revenue limits.

Related Links:

Special Education Topic: Homebound

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Out-of-State Students

Definition:

Student who lives in a state other than Wisconsin, such as a bordering state, like Minnesota, but who attends courses in a Wisconsin public school as determined by IEP placement.

Data Element Information:

Submit the District of Accountability as the school/district where the student attends. Resident District is based on where the student typically sleeps at night. If the resident district is not the district submitting to WISEdata for that student, then the submitting district will need to submit the code for the resident district.

Helpful Details/Use Cases:

Children who live in a state other than Wisconsin, such as one bordering Wisconsin, but who come to a Wisconsin school are not considered residents of the state; however, the Wisconsin school/district where the student attends will be reported as accountable for the student.

Virtual Charter Schools and Out-of-State Student Scenarios

Online learning takes many forms and has many names. There are online courses, programs, and schools, which may be called online, virtual, cyber, or blended education, to name a few. In Wisconsin, a virtual charter school is a specific form of online learning. It is the only form of online learning which allows an open enrolled pupil to participate remotely, that is, without having to physically attend school in the nonresident school district during all the days and hours that school is in session.

Definition:

A virtual charter school is defined in Wis. Stats. § 115.001 (16) as “a charter school under contract with a school board under §118.40 in which all or a portion of the instruction is provided through means of the Internet, and the pupils enrolled in and instructional staff employed by the school are geographically remote from each other.” One type of virtual charter school is a Rural Virtual Academy (RVA).

Funding: 

Virtual charter schools are publicly funded, nonsectarian schools that are exempt from many regulations that apply to traditional public schools and that offer some of their classes online. In addition, state statutes contain specific requirements that must be met by virtual charter schools. See Wis. Stats. § 118.40 (8).

Pupils typically attend from their homes and communicate with teachers by email, telephone, or in online discussions. It is important to note that some virtual charter schools operate under a blended learning model and require physical attendance; therefore, it is important to contact these schools and discuss expectations prior to enrollment.

Virtual Charter Schools - State reporting Scenarios:

1. May a WI resident temporarily living outside the state or country be enrolled in a virtual charter school? Any and all nonresident students may be admitted to virtual charter schools. A student is a resident of the place they currently live. If a Wisconsin student leaves Wisconsin to live somewhere else, they must be treated as a nonresident student for the period of time they are living elsewhere, i.e., can be admitted to a virtual school but must pay tuition.
2. Should a student who lives permanently out of state or out of the country and is attending a WI virtual charter school be included in state and federal reporting? Once admitted to the district, nonresident students are not differentiated from other students in any manner and must be assessed and reported on in the same manner as Wisconsin students. Reporting requirements include enrollment records (primary enrollment for membership for Pi-1563). These students, however, do not get included in Count Dates (Third Friday of September or Oct 1 Child Count). 
3. Should a student who lives permanently out of state or out of the country and is attending a WI virtual charter school be included in report cards? These students must be assessed and reported on in the same manner as Wisconsin resident students. This answer does not change if only the student's residence has changed.
4. Do reporting requirements change if only the student's residence has changed versus the residence of the entire family? No, reporting requirements do not change if the student enrolled has a residence that has changed from the residence of the family. If the student enrolled has a current residence outside of Wisconsin, whether within or outside of the United States, at the time of enrollment, the student must be assessed and reported on in the same manner as a Wisconsin resident student.
5. What if the student is participating in a foreign exchange program? A student is a resident of the place they currently live. If the student has a current residence outside of Wisconsin at the time of enrollment, whether within the United States or outside of the United States, and they are attending school in Wisconsin as a foreign exchange student then the student must be assessed and reported on in the same manner as Wisconsin resident students.
6. Must the district servicing an out-of-state student charge tuition? Nonresident students must be charged tuition pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 121.77(1)(b). If a Wisconsin student leaves Wisconsin to live somewhere else, they must be treated as a nonresident student for the period of time they are living elsewhere, i.e., can be admitted to a virtual school but must pay tuition. Students outside of Wisconsin that attend Wisconsin virtual charters must be reported in State Reporting and tuition must be charged.

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Students on Extended Leave

Definition:

Student who attends a WI school but leaves the school/district for an extended leave of absence

Data Element Information:

Determination of whether the student should remain enrolled or be exited is a local decision. When exiting the student, if you do not receive a records request from the new school in the new city, state, or country, you can use the Not Known to Be Continuing exit type. Once the student returns to your district, you will be able to validly use TC for the exit code.

Helpful Details/Use Cases:

Even if the student is still receiving homework, that doesn't mean the student is enrolled and attending. However, our data collections are flexible enough to allow a district, in many cases, to report required data and meet local requirements and constraints.

Regarding a student on extended leave, there is no single solution which will account for all scenarios. For example, if the extended leave is because the student is spending a semester abroad as a foreign exchange student or the student will be in a county detention facility for several weeks, then your district must comply with guidance from the Thayer ruling, https://dpi.wi.gov/open-enrollment/funding/tuition-waivers#residency.

For an extended leave, which is not defined by DPI, a district must use best judgment to determine what enrollment and attendance is reported. Such students are not likely to have coursework, discipline, or high school completion. Consider whether the leave should negatively impact the students attendance rate and whether the leave, if greater than 30 days, should reset the student as not FAY.

Excused absences count against a district with the school report card even if a student is on an extended absence due to vacation or return to their home country. DPI doesn't differentiate between excused and unexcused absences. This would lower the student’s attendance rate.

Membership/Financial Implication:

A student on an extended leave from a Wisconsin public school district is not entitled to a public education or to be included in the PI-1563 Pupil Count, for their educational services are at the cost of the state and local property tax levy and are not a current resident.

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Safe at Home Students

Definition:

Student participating in the Department of Justice's  Safe at Home Program.

The Safe at Home law says in 165.68(5)(b) No state or local agency or unit of government may refuse to use a program participant's assigned address for any official business, unless a specific statutory duty requires the agency or unit of government to use the participant's actual address. A state or local agency or unit of government may confirm with the department a person's status as a program participant.

A Safe at Home marker/value is not collected via WISEdata. Use of a Safe at Home assigned address will not impact any data collection done by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

Helpful Details/Use Cases: 

If you are informed that a student is participating in the Safe at Home Program, the number one goal is to protect the student's location. You must protect the student's specific address and broad whereabouts, such as resident school, city, and county. As for FERPA and privacy, parents are given the opportunity to “Opt out” of directory data disclosure.

If a student has left your district, make every attempt to protect the currently attending school district and school from disclosure. Staff should be trained and reminded frequently that student information available in the WISE system must not be disclosed in any way to third parties.

Related Links: 

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