Preparing Your School District for the WSLS

You will need the Wisconsin Student Numbers (WSNs) and other Wisconsin Student Number Locator System (WSLS) data to meet ongoing state and federal reporting requirements. Initial assignment of WSNs will occur in May and June of 2004. For school year 2004-05 and beyond, the WSLS will need to be kept current to reflect changes in school enrollment status and other WSLS-required directory data.

Step A: Review the "big picture."

During May/June 2004, submit the initial file of all your students to DPI so DPI can assign a WSN to every student in the state.
When the WSLS returns your file to you, store the WSNs in your student database.
For school year 2004-05 and beyond, require school registrars and staff enrolling students to keep the WSLS data current as part of their registration and exit procedure.

Step B: Develop a plan to submit the data to DPI for the initial assignment of the WSN.

Identify the directory data to be reported to the DPI. These data are used to uniquely identify each student in the state and will include but may not be limited to the following:
- District
- School - most recent school attended
  School changes after the date of the initial file will be retained by the WSN System for use by ISES.
- Student name - first, last, **middle, **suffix (e.g. Jr. or III)
  This would be the student's formal legal name, normally the name that appears on the birth certificate. Districts may wish to request documentation, but this is not required by WSLS. Middle name or initial will be optional. Former names, nicknames, and aliases will also be collected but will be optional.
- Parent(s)/Guardian(s) name(s)* - first, last, and **middle
  At least one parent/guardian name will be required after the initial load. Middle name or initial will remain optional. If no parent or guardian name is available or appropriate you can report the name of a long term significant other or emergency contact. WSLS displays this information only to help districts identify matches.
- Birth date
- Place of birth** - county, city, state
  This would normally be provided on the birth certificate. Country will not be collected.
- Gender
- Race/ethnicity
- School enrollment date*
- School exit date (not collected in initial file)
- Local student ID #1**
  (ID fields will help you match records when DPI returns the WSNs for your students.)
- Local student ID #2**
  (This could be a special education student ID, any other ID used in your student data files, or other locally-used data.)
*These data elements will be optional in the initial file (May/June 2004) but required beginning in school year 2004-05.
**These data elements will be optional indefinitely.
Districts are strongly encouraged to provide BOTH required and (if available) optional data. The more data that are available for WSN assignment purposes, the more efficiently the process will operate for your district and other districts. Data quality is particularly important for data used in the automated matching process. See also note below about optional "no-release indicator." For technical details about the transfer of data to the WSLS, see the interface specifications.
Identify the students who will be included in the initial file. All students who were enrolled in the district at any time between the third Friday in September 2003 and July 2004 should be included in this file unless the student transferred to another public school district, private school, or state- or district-approved educational program. This means that the initial file should include the following students:
- students enrolled at the end of the 2003-04 school term,
- students who completed high school anytime during the 2003-04 school term, and
- students who stopped attending school at any time during the 2003-04 school term but did not transfer.
Note that WSNs and ISES-required data for all students in the initial file who are no longer enrolled after the 2003-04 school year must be archived locally at the end of the 2003-04 school year and included with ISES 2003-04 high school completion and ISES 2003-04 exit/dropout data in the fall of 2004.
Identify the most recent school attended in the 2003-04 school year. This would typically be the school in which the student was enrolled at the end of the school term. For students receiving educational services from multiple schools simultaneously, indicate the district school that the directly supervises the primary educational services for this student. In determining the scope of the services supervised by a school, consider services provided by school employes and, when applicable, third parties.
Meet with staff responsible for the data, and identify the directory data in your local student information systems (SIS). Staff may include:
- those maintaining directory information about district students
- those working with your SIS software vendor
- technical staff
- your school software vendor
- registrars
Designate a WSLS/ISES Administrator for your district who will assign roles and authorize access to the WSLS by local staff. Authorized staff need access to the WSLS in order to submit the directory data required for initial assignment of WSNs to all district students and to keep the WSLS data base for your district's students current and private on an ongoing basis after that.
Submit initial file of all your students so the WSLS can assign every student a WSN in May and June of 2004. Required data may also be entered on-line.

Step C: In summer/early fall 2004, store the WSNs in your district's SIS.

Receive late spring/summer 2004 records back from the WSLS with WSNs added.
Match the returned records to records in your SIS.
Add the WSN to your SIS.
Retain/archive WSNs and ISES-required data for students included in the spring/summer 2004 records at least through fall 2004 even if students are no longer enrolled in 2004-05. These data will be needed for the collection of 2003-04 dropout and high school completion data as part of ISES in October 2004.

Step D: For school year 2004-05 and beyond, keep the WSLS current.

Use the WSLS data for Oct. 2004 ISES and December 2005 Child Count purposes. Uses will expand over time as consolidation of collections occur.
Store the WSN for new students.
Add student-school enrollment records to the WSLS as students enter or move between schools.
Promptly record exit dates so records may be released to new school or district and so enrollment dates can be verified for ISES attendance, full academic year, and acquisition of English proficiency reporting purposes.
Retain/archive WSNs and ISES-required data for all students who were enrolled at any time during the 2004-05 school year at least through fall 2005 even if students transfer out. These data will be needed for the collection of 2004-05 attendance, dropout, high school completion data and more as part of ISES in October 2005.

Questions for Consideration

Does your district collect and store directory data about students, such as student name, gender, race/ethnicity, date of birth, place of birth, parents' names? If not, how can you fill in the gaps so you are ready to submit that data by the summer of 2004?
Are the data required by the WSLS included in the categories of information designated as directory data by your district under 118.125 (2)(j), Stats.?
Does your district need to do additional data collection during the 2003-04 school year? Note that some data elements will be optional. How will you get the data entered into your database? Is there sufficient room in the database?
How will the district send a record for every student who was enrolled in the district at any time between the third Friday in September 2003 and July 2004, including 2003-04 high school completers and students who stopped attending school but did not transfer out? Will these data be available in late spring/summer 2004? If not, when will you be able to create the file? Do you need to speak with your vendor?
Can you add a data field to your SIS to store the WSN when the DPI returns it? If not, what can you do to be ready by late spring/summer 2004?
The file your district will send via the internet to the DPI and that the DPI will return to you will be in a comma-delimited format or XML. Can you prepare, process, and receive files in this format? If not, do you need to speak to a/your vendor?
Do you have the means to take the file the DPI returns to you and get the WSN off the file and into your database(s)? If not, how can you accomplish this? Do you need outside technology help?
How will your district retain/archive WSNs and ISES-required data for students included in the spring/summer 2004 records at least through fall 2004 for ISES data collection purposes even if students are no longer enrolled in 2004-05.

Note about optional no-release indicator: There will be a "no-release" indicator in the WSN data base if a parent/guardian has formally notified your district pursuant to s. 118.125 (2)(j), Stats., that directory data for the student may not be released. If "no-release" is indicated, then the student's directory data must still be submitted and included in the WSN data base, but these data would not be accessible to certain school personnel responsible for registering students. Directory data are generally not considered harmful or an invasion of privacy and are typically released in school publications and to outside organizations associated with school-related activities. Occasionally, parents/guardians may be concerned about sharing of this information so s. 118.125 (2)(j), Stats., gives them an opportunity to restrict access. [MORE]

Note about local use of WSNs as the student IDs: Districts may use the WSNs as local student IDs, but DPI strongly recommends that WSNs be treated as confidential. WSNs are the key to confidential data about students and as such should not be used on report cards, student ID cards, or student folder labels. Districts with existing local student IDs are encouraged to continue to use these local IDs as in the past.

Note about the term "enrolled in your district": A student is "enrolled in your district" if the student receives his/her primary educational services either (1) from district employes or (2) from a third party (not another district) under the direct supervision of your district. Services might be received in a school building, library, hospital, detention center, county jail, college, or any other location.

Note about students receiving educational services from third parties: Many districts/schools arrange and supervise services for certain enrolled students through agreements or contracts with third-parties. Third parties might include technical colleges, community-based organizations, nonprofit-nonsectarian agencies, universities, school to work program providers, private schools, residential care centers, etc. [MORE]

October 2003
Last Updated February 2005