Archive Release Notes for WISEid and WISEstaff

WISEid/WISEstaff Updates

WISEid: Message Center/Alerts Screen

The Message Center, Alerts screen now shows student-specific alerts when viewing in WISEid and staff-specific alerts when viewing in WISEstaff.

• NOTE: There is an additional change coming later in November to remove outdated alerts.

WISEstaff: Various Updates

• We released several fixes related to reports and data validations.
• We fixed the error that was throwing when generating Hiring Agency Staff or Aggregate Staff reports.
• We cleared validation errors and warnings 4055, 4430, 5700 that were falsely triggered.
• We restored LEA’s ability to select PK grade and retain PK grade when completing preliminary certification.
• We restored LEA’s ability to upload aggregate assignment FTE file when leading zeroes were not included in the column values for:
  • Hiring LEA code
  • Working LEA code
  • Assignment area code
• We removed the error that displayed when completing preliminary certification.

WISEid/WISEstaff Updates

WISEid: Relaxed Date Formatting

We relaxed the date format requirements on the Person Search, Edit Person, and Add Person features. WISEid will now recognize MMDDYYYY without slashes (MM/DD/YYYY).

WISEid and WISEstaff: Notification Inbox is now "Alerts"

We changed the name of a screen within WISEid and WISEstaff from Notification Inbox to Alerts.

• The Alerts screen will show each instance of an alert only once with most recent occurrence date.
• Alerts are listed with the most recent on top, so the order of the notification titles may not be the same from day to day if one type has a newer occurrence than another.
• Each time a user refreshes the “Alerts” screen, they can now verify that they have resolved alerts and see which alerts are still open.

WISEid and WISEstaff: One Less Click

We removed an extra step when deleting email opt-in records to make the system run smoother with less clicks.

WISEstaff: Staff Assignments

We enabled the selection of PK as a “grade” for eligible assignments and schools on Staff Assignments.

WISEstaff: Count Tiles Added to DQ Dashboard

We added contract and assignment count tiles to show Working Agency data, in addition to existing Hiring Agency data on the DQ Dashboard.

WISEstaff: Improved File Uploads

We improved the performance of the contract and assignment file uploads for large districts so that WISEstaff runs smoother with less glitches for large files.

WISEid/WISEstaff Updates

WISEstaff: Opening of Annual Data Collection

The WISEstaff data collection for the 2024-25 school year officially opened on September 27.

WISEstaff: Annual Changes Based on Feedback

Continued efforts have been made to implement the annual WISEstaff 2024-25 changes. The changes were prioritized based on user feedback and advisory group insights.

• We have added counts for working agency contracts and assignments. This will make it easier for LEAs to enter staff data.
• We have redesigned the display of notifications and alerts within the system. This new design will improve user engagement and ensure important messages are easily accessible.

WISEid/WISEstaff Special Production Release Updates: Changes Completed Since Last Year

WISEid Match Review

• To reduce clicks,  we removed the final confirmation screen (that appeared after accepting a match).

• We moved the “Other Names” section into the person data grid to make it a more visible and helpful aspect of the match review process.

• To view more results before scrolling, Additional Information sections on the resolve potential matches screen were collapsed.
• We also added the ability to sort matches by birthdate.

Staff Collection Checklist

• We added a task within Step One of the Staff Collection Checklist, reminding LEAs to review last year’s final licensing audit results.
  • LEAs need to ensure any staff continuing in the current school year have submitted their license applications.
• We also added the previous year’s contract and assignment counts for comparison.
• We fixed an error that was occurring when completing the Final Certification task.

File Uploads

• We enabled a selection of file type while the staff collection is closed. This will allow users to view assignment-to-license mapping documents before or after the yearly collection is open.
• We disabled K3 as a valid grade for all assignment types; users will now receive an error message if an assignment is uploaded, or manually entered, with K3 as a selected grade.
• We changed the display of View Upload Results to make errors more visible.
• We revised the display of the assignment file upload errors to mirror contract upload errors; file details show in a grid format and errors are highlighted.
• We added a link from the contract error review screen to the Edit Staff screen.

Validate Staff Data

• We revised the list of acceptable reasons why a staff person with a licensed assignment does not have an Entity ID when acknowledging the validation warning.
• We improved the processing time for a number of contract-related validations to ensure they complete for larger districts.

Data Quality Dashboard

• We added a tile to show Licensed Assignment FTE Sum for the current year and two previous years; this is in addition to the existing Licensed Assignment FTE Count tile on the dashboard.
• We added a ‘Schools with no Teachers’ widget to show the number of schools that are missing teacher assignments.

Reports

• We separated the All Staff Report by working agency and hiring agency to allow each report to apply selected filters more efficiently.
• We added a School Year filter to the Staff List Report, allowing LEAs to view their staff list for previous school years.
• We added assignment position and/or area filters to the following reports:
  • Salary Fringe/Variance Report
  • FTE Summary Report
  • Salary Report
  • Staff List

Work In Progress, for Release After the Opening of WISEstaff

WISEstaff Documentation and Guidance

• We created an Uncommon Staff Situations document similar to WISEdata’s Uncommon Situations webpages. This document gives guidance on how to report staff in rare situations.
• We updated the Decision Tree Diagram to improve guidance on which staff should be reported and by whom (e.g., hiring agency, working agency, etc.).

Notifications

• The duplicate notifications history is now automatically removed so only the most recent notification for a type of problem displays. Notifications that are no longer valid are automatically removed.

Reports

• We are finalizing fixes to the new Audit Reports format, allowing LEAs to filter results to meet their needs.

Data Quality Dashboard

• We added a filter for Working Agency. This filter allows users to view contract and assignment counts by working agency instead of hiring agency.
• We will continue to add additional metrics and alerts, notifying LEAs when their staff data may need further review.

WISEid/WISEstaff Updates

WISEid: Potential Matches Update

Added ability to sort records by birth date on the Review Potential Matches page

WISEstaff:  WISEstaff Training on WISE Events Calendar

Two new training opportunities are available on the WISE Events Calendar, as of October:

• WISEstaff User Group:
  • Starting October 1, and continuing weekly through March of 2025, this training is held each Tuesday from 11 a.m. to Noon.  A new agenda is available for the 2024-25 school year as a Microsoft Word doc. This agenda is on each weekly calendar event and can also be located on the WISEstaff landing page in the Resource Links.
• WISEstaff, New User Training:
  • October 24, 2024, from 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. is the New User Training for WISEstaff. The goal of this introductory-level training is to teach new users how to navigate the WISEstaff application and what the requirements are for submitting staff data. Hope to see you there!

WISEstaff: Application Updates

The following updates were completed in WISEstaff:

• K3 was removed as a valid grade when adding staff assignments.

• Position and/or area code filters were added to the following reports:
  • Salary Variance Report
  • FTE Summary Report
  • Salary Report
  • Staff List

• A task was added to Step One of the Staff Collection, encouraging LEAs to review the previous year’s final audit results and identify staff who are missing Entity IDs.
• The link to Licensing Help within the WISEstaff Help menu was updated. This link takes you to the DPI 'Contact Us' page,  providing you with the right ink to use for the DPI Licensing team depending on if you have a question about your own license or questions about someone else’s license.
• A “Licensed Assignment FTE Sum” tile was added to the Data Quality Dashboard.
• A “Schools with No Teachers” widget was added to the Data Quality Dashboard.
• The previous school year’s contract and assignment counts were added to the Staff Collection Checklist to easily compare the current year’s counts to the previous year’s.

WISEid/WISEstaff Updates

WISEid: User Guide updates

The Advanced Search Feature within the WISEid User Guide has been published. New for the 2024-25 school year, users can now refine the results of the WISEid Person Search with an Advanced Search. You can only reach the Advanced Search tool by conducting a standard Person Search first.

The Match Review section of the WISEid User Guide has also been updated. Only records uploaded without a WISEid in a person file upload are put through a match review process. The match review process is done to try and find an existing, matching WISEid. The match review process has been refined for the 2024-25 school year to reduce the amount of scrolling and clicking, allowing you to see results much more clearly and quickly.

The WISEid Files and Templates webpage has also been updated for the 2024-25 school year.

WISEstaff: Data Collection Reporting Information Webpage Updated for 2024-25 SY

The WISEstaff Data Collection webpage is now fully updated for the 2024-25 school year, with the following items, located in the Technical Documentation section:

• 2024-25 Assignment Code list
• 2024-25Summary of Assignment Code Changes

The WISEstaff Files and Templates webpage has also been updated for the 2024-25 school year.

WISEid/WISEstaff Updates

WISEid: NEW! Advanced Search Feature

After completing a regular search on the Person Search/Edit screen, below the results, there is now a new Advanced Search tool. This tool is to help users further filter the results of an initial search to find the person you are looking for. 

• The Advanced Search tool allows for partial name matching and the ability to search as long as you fill in 2 of the 3 fields:
• First Name (contains),
• Last Name (contains), or
• Birth Year. 
• For first and last name (contains), these fields allow you to enter partial spellings of a person’s name, such as “Wil” if you want to find results including both Will and William.
• Additionally, you can limit your Advanced Searches to those matches with Local Person IDs within a selected agency.

WISEid: Student Emails

We removed student email addresses but will continue to collect them for staff.

WISEstaff: Various Updates

• We fixed the Validate Staff Data page filters to work correctly. All filters can now be used with expected results to display accurately.
• We created blocks so that Aggregate Assignments Uploads will no longer allow duplicate aggregate assignments. This lack of duplicity will make upload results much clearer and eliminates the need for users to remove duplicate assignments.
• We fixed an issue for district users where the Final Certification was resulting in a bad gateway error, even though the certification had successfully been saved. Everything is now displaying accurately.
• We created a new nightly job for vendors who support WISEid creations using the Ed-Fi Identity Integration for staff to also update staff Local Person ID information. This nightly refresh will help ensure accuracy for LEAs that are taking advantage of the Ed-Fi API Identity Integration for both staff and students.
• We added a toggle to hide the new Audit Results screen, as they will not be ready until 24-25 due to backend issues. This reminds users that these filters are a work in progress, while also eliminating the confusion of displaying the filter buttons when they’re not fully operational.
• We fixed the Staff Collection Checklist, Step 4a to display a green indicator when the final audit reports are published. This provides a visual signal for users to know when the final audit reports are published.

WISEid

WISEid: Student and Staff Identity Integration Content Updated

All webpages pertaining to the Staff Identity Integration feature, new for the 2024-25 school year, have been updated. You can find this content on the following WISEid webpages:

• The WISEid User Guide webpage, Staff and Student Identity Integration section, under Manage Person Data
• Student and Staff Identity Integration webpage

WISEid: NEW! Files and Templates Webpage

The Files and Templates webpage has been split into two separate webpages, each with a new URL. Please visit the WISEid: Files and Templates webpage for all files and templates needed to assist with person uploads and downloads.

WISEstaff

WISEstaff: Data Collection Reporting Information Webpage, Updated for 2024-25 School Year

The WISEstaff Data Collection: Reporting Information webpage has been updated for the 2024-25 school year. You can view the updated Staff Collection timeline, and many other useful items.

WISEstaff: NEW! Files and Templates Webpage

The Files and Templates webpage has been split into two separate webpages, each with a new URL. Please visit the WISEstaff: Files and Templates webpage for all files and templates needed to assist with assignment codes, area codes, position codes, person uploads and downloads.