MARSS Reporting Using Student Plans A Brief Overview of MARSS Reporting at Anoka-Hennepin Bill Underwood Anoka-Hennepin Special Education Technology Facilitator Presented at 2008 User Conference

Why did we need to change our reporting methods?  In the past, a system of midpoints was used.  It was discovered, that this system did not accurately reflect the costs of educating some specific groups of students.  New requirements were put in place to make sure districts were getting a more appropriate compensation.

So What’s the New Requirements?  For some students, you need to calculate all the hours for some services that student received.  New Field XXXX.X (implied decimal)  Hours should include direct and indirect minutes.

Which Students Does This Affect?  Early Childhood  Handicapped Kindergarten  Shared Time students  Care & Treatment students  Sites with Identified Teaching Models –Multidisciplinary –Inclusive –Program Cooperative Teaching

Who do we report on? Select Special Education Students Including  Early Childhood  Handicapped Kindergarten  Shared Time students (SAC = 16, 17, 18, 19) –Shared resident or non resident (aid to resident dist) –Shared non resident (aid to serving dist) –Shared nonresident - (parent pays tuition) –Tuition agreement/district placement

Who else? Students enrolled in on of the following sites:  Multidisciplinary Teaching Model  Inclusive Program  Students grade participating in a transition program  Program Cooperative Teaching Model site

And?  Students with homebound flag = “Y”  Students whose membership is based on credits earned or a combination of seat based time and credits earned and receiving special education services. This includes –Independent Study –Project Based –Online Learning

So… What Can Student Plans (Student Plans) Do For Me? Student Plans allows you to import your MARSS B file in Student Plans then exports an updated MARSS B file that automatically calculates hours.

Anatomy of a MARSS B Number When you receive the MARSS B file, each student will have an entry that looks something like this… BE N0000N401N NM NNN001101NN Farkell,Douglas,B

Anatomy of a MARSS B Number In the picture below, spaces have been added to show the different groupings of numbers. This is NOT how your data should look.

Running The Export Process Start with a clean MARSS B file of just the students you’re concerned with

Running The Export Process  Go to MARSS IEP Service Hours report in Student Plans  Browse for your MARSS B file  Select what type of output you’d like (they’ll need a “B” File)  Click on Submit

Running The Export Process Every time you’ll get a PDF of the information. If you selected “B”, you’ll also get a.txt file.

Tips and Tricks How to ensure your MARSS reporting is accurate

First Tip Are students missing grades?

Grades in Student Plans  The MARSS B file is trying to match up with the State Grade Code.

Second Tip! Are student records missing school Numbers?

School Numbers in Student Plans  It is very important that your school numbers match between the “MARSS B” file and the school numbers in Student Plans.  Not having correct numbers will cause the program to error out.

Third Tip! Are calendars incorrect or Missing?

Calendars in Student Plans  Make sure that each calendar has the correct school days marked  Make sure to mark ESY days differently  Make sure you select all the grades that could be attending that school.

Fourth Tip! Missing Bill-It Codes (doesn’t matter what the codes are, you just need to have them)

Bill-It Codes in Student Plans  You add the Bill-It code as you are defining your services in Student Plans.  Here it is also important to define if the service is ESY or not.

Fifth Tip! Are the frequency codes correct in the service table?

Frequency of Service in Student Plans  Student Plans administrator defines the options staff have to choose for Frequency of Service.  Staff need to understand how to mark the student’s frequency of service. Correct!

Sixth Tip! Are there inappropriate number of hours of service on IEP/IIIP?

Service Minutes in Student Plans  Teachers may misunderstand or miscalculate the hours.  Check any kids with over 3,000 hours.  If the hours reach more than the program will error out. INCORRECT!

Seventh Tip! Is student missing a MARSS ID number in Student Plans?

MARSS Numbers in Student Plans  The MARSS number should pull in directly from your Student Information System  You can check on the student information page to see if they have a MARSS ID Number in SP.

Eighth Tip! Have staff made significant changes to OLD IEPs without copying the IEP?

Staff Input Errors  Archiving students before the reporting is done  Staff input the service or IEP dates wrong in Student Plans  Staff mark ESY services as regular services

Ninth Tip! Export File is in a Format Different From What Student Plans is Expecting

B File Format  It should be a.txt document  There have been problems when created on a Mac  Plain text record

Tenth Tip! Report Process Times Out - Too Much Data  Make sure to get a B File that only has Special Ed Students  Make sure only the students you need to report on are in the B File  You may need to do it by school or by grade

Eleventh (and Final) Tip! Student Enrollment Date in Student Information System does not match up with an IEP for that student