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TEA Correspondence

A Microsoft Word version of this letter is available for download and PRINTING.

Date: January 22, 2008

To the Administrator Addressed:

Subject: Update for Senate Bill 1871 Electronic Submission of Kindergarten Data

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) Division of School Readiness and Partnerships is pleased to recognize the time, work and effort that kindergarten teachers and school district personnel statewide have given to fulfilling the SB 1871 mandate; your commitment to this endeavor is greatly appreciated.

The 80th Texas Legislature, under SB 1871, amended provisions relating to the School Readiness Certification System. A new provision requires the superintendent of each school district to electronically report each kindergarten student’s raw score on the kindergarten reading instrument beginning in the 2007-2008 school year. This law states that TEA “shall collect each student’s raw score results on the reading instrument administered under Section 28.006(d) and shall contract with the State Center for Early Childhood Development (SCECD) for purposes of this section.” The purpose of this letter is to provide an update of options districts may use to submit the required data. This applies only to districts using TPRI/Tejas LEE as their diagnostic reading instrument. Districts not using TPRI/Tejas LEE as the kindergarten student diagnostic will be provided with instructions regarding how to submit the required data at a later date.

Data Security
SB 1871 requires all use of confidential student information to comply with the requirements of the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). All individual student data is being provided to the SCECD and its contractor under a provision in the FERPA regulations that allows research to be conducted on behalf of state and local education agencies. That regulation requires that any student data be retained as confidential and be returned or destroyed upon completion of the research. OZ Systems has taken every precaution and has security measures in place that meet or exceed FERPA, HIPAA, and the European Data Protection Act.

The social security number (SSN) field in the system is optional and districts may input a student ID number or the SSN. After the initial entry of student IDs or SSNs into the system, an internally generated, globally unique number is attached to individual student data and the student ID number or SSN is not used for the research. The student ID number or SSN, as well as the student diagnostic assessment data, is required to be purged at the conclusion of the data analysis for the purposes of the project. No individual student records will be maintained at the State Center or OZ Systems after the conclusion of the research.

Procedures for Data Submission
In order to comply with the new law, school districts are being provided a secure reporting system at no charge to the district. The system is accessible under the official website www.TxKindergarten.com. School faculty or staff may log onto the application and identify/verify their region, ISD, school(s), and classrooms from drop-down menus and follow the application prompts. The SCECD contracted with OZ Systems to design an individual input system that will help the teacher organize data and have access to completing the electronic social screener.

An electronic import process has now been developed by OZ Systems for TPRI data and will be available in Microsoft Excel format for districts to electronically transfer locally developed database information. Campus administrators are encouraged to contact their central offices to determine whether the district plans to transfer the data electronically or whether campuses will submit the data themselves. School districts may use this option by following the step-by-step instructions in the attachment provided. It will be the district’s responsibility to align local data systems with the data transfer application provided and ensure that all data fields are complete and accurate. Although the information is optional, districts are encouraged to complete social screener information on all students for whom they have submitted data. For specific information on submitting Tejas LEE data electronically, contact OZ Systems. Help information for all data entry methods is available at 866-336-3025 or schoolhelp@oz-systems.com.

Deadline for Submission
The data collection system became available December 17, 2007. The deadline for the online submission has been extended from February 22, 2008 to March 7, 2008. Please share this information with all principals and kindergarten teachers.

For Information andAssistance
For questions or information regarding use of application for entering data, call the OZ Systems Helpdesk: 866-336-3025 option #2, Monday through Friday 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM CST. Application users may also email OZ Systems at schoolhelp@oz-systems.com.

For specific information about the School Readiness Certification System (SRCS), contact Layne Waxley at the SCECD at 713-500-3730 or at Thomas.L.Waxley@uth.tmc.edu or Gina Salazar at TEA at 512-463-9068 or at gina.salazar@tea.state.tx.us.

Sincerely,

Gina S. Day
Deputy Associate Commissioner
State Initiatives

Attachment: Instructions for TPRI Data Import Tools


Instructions for TPRI Data Import Tools
(Attachment 1)

To assist Texas school districts in complying with SB 1871, OZ Systems is providing two methods for submitting TPRI assessment results to the TEA. The first is for classroom teachers. The second is for district or campuses who wish to upload TPRI student level data electronically.
 
For classroom teacher submissions: Use the application found at www.txkindergarten.com to enter student data manually and to complete and enter the social screener for each student.

For district or campus submissions: Use the new import tool available at www.txkindergarten.com/importtools. Application users will be prompted to answer questions that will lead to the correct tool to match current district or campus data collection methods.

  1. Does your data include numeric score values for Screening 1 and Screening 2? By clicking yes, the appropriate import tool will open. By clicking no, the user will be directed to the next question.
  2. Does your data include D/SD results for Screening 1 and Screening 2? By clicking yes, the appropriate import tool will open. By clicking no, the user will be directed to the next question.
  3. Does your data include a single overall D/SD for the TPRI screening tool? By clicking yes, the appropriate import tool will open. By clicking no, the user will not be able to electronically submit data. In this case, teachers should be directed to enter data at www.kindergarten.com or districts may contact OZ Systems for assistance at 866-336-3025 or schoolhelp@oz-systems.com.

Each of these three spreadsheet options request the following demographic data fields for every student:

  • County/District Number (6 digit)
  • County/District/Campus Number (9 digit)
  • Teacher Name
  • Student Identification Number (9 digit)
  • Student Last Name
  • Student First Name
  • Student DOB
  • Gender (M or F)
  • TPRI Screening Data

Each spreadsheet has three tabs:

  • Tab 1 has instructions for completing the form and submitting the assessment data.
  • Tab 2 is a summary sheet showing total records in your file, the number of valid records, the number of invalid records, and the total number of students with no test information.
  • Tab 3 is the spreadsheet for student data collection.

Each spreadsheet will accommodate 9,999 student records. For districts with more than 9,999 kindergarten students, a second spreadsheet should be used. Help information for all methods of data entry is available at 866-336-3025 or schoolhelp@oz-systems.com.

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