Click here to view and download the official letter and set of instructions (in PDF) to the superintendents, assistant superintendents, principals and data managers.

Local data managers need to ensure staff in your district and schools have appropriate access to this new data application (Review of NECAP Demographic Files) through eRIDE.  Call or email Melissa Cabral (222-8491, melissa.cabral@ride.ri.gov) or local data manager if application has not been delivered to your portal by Monday December 5th, 2005.

1. Open Internet Explorer (version 6.0 or later), login to eRIDE portal (http://www.eride.ri.gov/); contact eRIDE administrator or your local data manager if you need a secure eRIDE account.
2. You only need to update the information for students in grades 3-8 who took the NECAP tests in the fall of 2005.
3. There are three sets of demographic file - one for grades 3-4, one for grades 5-6 and one for grades 7-8, each has to be reviewed, updated and signed off separately.
4. You are not allowed to add or delete a student; batch upload is also not allowed.
5. Please do not start the work until December 5th.  All work however needs to be completed and signed off by December 26th.
6. To update the student information:
   1. Click on "Review of NECAP Demographic File" application.
   2. Click on an available set to review: 'Grades 3 &4' or 'Grades 5 & 6' or 'Grades 7 & 8'.
   3. Locate the students by school and grade.  Click on the school code/name to view/signoff a school/grade summary report; click on the school grade or # of students in that grade to review/update student demographic information.
   4. To print a student listing, set your Web page to Landscape (click File/Page Setup), and then print (click File/Print).
   5. To update student demographic and program information, click 'Update' next to the student record, make all necessary changes, click on 'Submit' to save the changes.  If you have READONLY access, you will not be able to update information.  Contact your LEA data manager for any questions on access rights.
   6. Pay special attention to records and fields highlighted in yellow which indicate information is extracted from hand-bubbled test booklets.
   7. Key student, test IDs and student name fields are not editable.
7. To update the student counts to reflect all of the changes, on the main schools page, click on 'Update Student Counts'.
8. To sign off the student demographics, on the schools main page, click on the school code or the school name, print a hardcopy of the summary signoff form/report, sign and fax a copy to the Assessment Office at RIDE;
9. To electronically signoff and lock the student information for any particular school by subject, click on 'signoff' next to the school.  Once the the student information is electronically signed off, you will not be able to edit the records.  To unlock a school, call the Assessment Office at 222-8491. 
10. To sort the list of students by last name, click on 'Student Name'; to sort by SASID, click on 'SASID'; likewise for other 'sortable' fields.
11. Because the final updated demographic and program information will be used to disaggregate the test results by sub-groups and programs, it is absolutely critical that all of the indicated student demographic and program information be completely filled and updated by December 26th; Missing data or inaccurately reported information will result in mis-classification of your school and district.

Critcial Timelines:

The data will be sent to you according to the following schedule:

In anticipation of this review period, please determine a process for you, your data manager, and principals to review the data for accuracy. Please keep in mind that the files should reflect your October 1, 2005 enrollment submission to RIDE. Changes in students’ status after October 1st should not be reflected in this review process.

This timeline cannot be extended. All data files must be completed in order to prepare materials for standard setting on January 5, 2006. This is an important opportunity for you to ensure that your schools’ data are accurate for accountability purposes. Please make every effort to clean your data files in the allotted time.

Step #1: Reviewing students who were part of your October 1st enrollment membership with/without testing information

All students who took the test have a Test ID located in the second column. Students who are on your October 1, 2005 Enrollment Membership but who did not take the test have a blank in the Test ID column.

If the TEST ID is blank and the student is no longer in your school, please mark the WITHDRAW field (last column) with the letter Y and we will delete the student from your school records.
If the TEST ID is not blank and the student is no longer in your school, please mark the NOTESTR column with a 3 if student withdrew from your school before October 1, 2005 or with a 4 if student enrolled after October 1, 2005.

Step 2: Reviewing remaining data elements that impact school accountability

Listed below are other data elements that will impact your school classification next year. Please review the data for each student on the file and provide the correct information where necessary.

1. RACE: Please check the primary race/ethnicity based on the following codes.
   A= Native American/Alaskan Native
   B=Asian/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
   C=Black (non-Hispanic)
   D=Hispanic
   E=White (non-Hispanic
   
2. LEP: Please check the LEP status based on the following codes. (For Monitored LEP students, see LEPMON1 and LEPMON2. below.) Student's LEP and Monitoring statuses were extracted from the most up-todate LEP Census for October 1st (except for Central Falls).
   Y=Student receives LEP Services currently
   N or BLANK=Student does not receive LEP Services
   
3. LEPMON1: Please check the LEP Monitored Year 1 status based on the following codes.
   Y=Student is in LEP Monitored Status for the first year.
   N or BLANK=Student is not in LEP Monitored Status for the first year.
   
4. LEPMON2: Please check the LEP Monitored Year 2status based on the following codes.
   Y=Student is in LEP Monitored Status for the second year.
   N or BLANK=Student is not in LEP Monitored Status for the second year.
   
5. IEP: Please check the IEP status based on the following codes. Student's IEP status was extracted from the most up-todate IEP Census for October 1st (except for Foster, Glocester, Little Compton, Middletown, Porsmouth, Scituate, Tiverton, Davies, Foster-Glocester, Kingston Hill).
   Y=Student has an IEP
   N or BLANK=Student does not have an IEP
   
6. LUNCH: Please check the Lunch status based on the following codes.
   Y=Student receives Free or Reduced Lunch
   N or BLANK=Student does receive Free or Reduced
   Lunch
   
7. NOTESTR: Please check the reason why student was not tested or an incomplete test booklet was returned based on the following codes.
   1=Student completed Alternate Assessment for 2004-2005
   2=Student is LEP and new to the US after October 1, 2004 (Reading and Writing Only)
   3=Student Withdrew after October 1, 2005.
   4=Student Enrolled after October 1, 2005
   5=State Approved Special Consideration such as medical exemption
   6=Other unapproved reason
   
8. WITHDRAW: Please place a “Y” in this field if the student was mistakenly put on your October 1, 2005 Membership. The TEST ID column should be blank for these students.
   
9. SCH1YR: RIDE calculated whether the student was continuously enrolled in the school since October 1, 2004, based on districts’ data submissions on June 30 and October 1, 2005. Where grade span is not contiguous from last year’s grade, student should have been continuously enrolled in last year’s school from October 1, 2004 to June 30, 2005. If you have questions about the coding of this field for particular students, please call.
   
10. DIST1YR: RIDE calculated whether the student was continuously enrolled in the district since October 1, 2004, based on districts’ data submissions on June 30 and October 1, 2005. If you have questions about the coding of this field for particular students, please call.
    
11. READINVALID: If this is coded “Y”, part or all of the Reading Test was invalidated due to the use of an unapproved accommodation during testing. Please call Mary Ann Snider at (401) 222-8492 if you have questions about these students.
    
12. MATHINVALID: If this is coded “Y”, part or all of the Math Test was invalidated due to the use of unapproved accommodation during testing. Please call Mary Ann Snider at (401) 222-8492 if you have questions about these students.
    
13. WRITEINVALID: If this is coded “Y”, part or all of the Writing Test was invalidated due to the use of unapproved accommodation during testing. Please call Mary Ann Snider at (401) 222-8492 if you have questions about these students
    
14. MATHCALINVALID: If this is coded “Y”, part or all of the Math Test was invalidated due to the use of a calculator in a non-calculator session. Please call Mary Ann Snider at (401) 222-8492 if you have questions about these students.

While you will not be able to change the prior four fields, we will work with you to correctly identify students who were given unapproved accommodations.

Common questions and answers: