SIS 2000+ Special Ed History, Sec. 4, Assign Designations

SIS 2000+ Special Education History

Last update: 08/26/2000 jmm

Sec. 4, Assign Designations

Entries in Special Education History are entered as soon as the first referral is confirmed for a student. However, only after a student is assessed and deemed eligible for Special Education do they officially become a special education student. After they have been deemed eligible they are given a Primary Designation and sometimes Secondary Designations. A "designation" refers to a handicapping condition that is affecting the student. The Primary Designation is the main handicapping condition. Secondary Designations are secondary handicapping conditions that may be used to more specifically describe a student's situation. The Special Education History application will track both types of designations.

4.1 Find a student
See Step 1.3

4.2 Select a Program
In order for a student to receive a Primary Designation, at least one Special Education program must have been entered in the student's Special Education History records. Select the most current Program from the summary list on the main screen by clicking on the entry line until a small, black pointer appears in the leftmost column (Fig. 34). For students new to Special Education, there will most likely only be one entry in the summary list.

Fig. 34

Primary and Secondary Designations refer to the selected student only; they are not linked in the database to any particular Special Education program. They can be viewed within the 'General' screen of any special education program entry using the edit mode.

4.3 Activate the edit mode

While a program is selected, click on the Edit command button to activate the edit mode. The view will advance to the 'General' information screen (Fig. 35). For new students who have yet to be assigned a Primary Designation, a default designation code (also called "service code") will appear in the Handicap field, such as "Regular Ed". Every student will be assigned a default service code by the Student Editor application when they are enrolled in a track. The as of date will default to the Entry date for the current track.

Fig. 35

4.4 Assign a Primary Designation to a new Special Education student

4.4.1 Initiate

Click on the Change Primary command button to open the 'Change Primary Handicap' dialog screen (Fig. 36). In the upper portion of the screen is an area for displaying student status records. These status records are similar to student status records in the Student Editor application; with the exception that they show the Handicap code - which is hidden in the Student Editor status records for reasons of confidentiality. There will be at least on status record displayed in the list representing the student's initial enrollment in the current track.

Fig. 36

4.4.2 Enter data

Effective on -

cannot be earlier that the Entry date of the current track for this student.

Handicap should be -

Entry/Exit Code -

4.4.3 Save data

Change

Fig. 37

4.4.4 View new status record
A new status record will appear beneath the last status record in the list (Fig. 38). The status record that reflects the current status of a student will have no Exit Date or Exit Code, indicating that it is "open". (There may be more than one open status record if the student in enrolled in more than one track simultaneously.)

Fig. 38

4.4.5 Exit the 'Change Primary Handicap' dialog
Click on the Cancel command to exit the 'Change Primary Designation' dialog and return to the 'General' tab. The new designation will be displayed in the Handicap and as of fields (Fig. 39).

Fig. 39

4.4.6 Exit the 'General' tab
Click on the Undo command button in the 'General' tab to return to the main screen of the selected student record or continue to Secondary Designations by clicking on the Secondary command button.

4.5 Assign Secondary Designations to a new Special Education Student
The selected student may have secondary handicapping conditions in addition to their primary handicapping condition. These secondary conditions may be added and tracked as "Secondary Handicaps", each with its own Entry and Exit Date. More than one secondary designation is allowed as long as the date ranges of like codes do not overlap.

4.5.1 Initiate

From the 'General' tab of the selected student, click on the Secondary command button to open the 'Secondary Handicaps' screen (Fig. 40). If no secondary designations have been assigned the history area on the left side will be empty.

Fig. 40 - initial view, read-only mode

4.5.2 Enter data
Click on the Add command button to activate the entry mode. Three data fields will appear on the right side (Fig. 41). Enter the handicap code in the Secondary Handicaps field and the effective date of the handicap in the Entry Date field. The Exit Date does not apply until the secondary handicap is no longer effective (See Step 4.7, Maintain/Edit Secondary Designations).

Fig. 41 - entry mode

4.5.3 Save
Click on the Save command button to save the designation. This action will cause an entry line to appear in the history area on the left of the dialog screen and the data fields to disappear from the right side of the screen (Fig. 42).

Fig. 42 - new entry, read-only mode

4.5.4 Repeat
Repeat Steps 4.5.2 and 4.5.3 to add more secondary designations, if required. Do not overlap date ranges using the same code.

4.5.5 Exit 'Secondary Handicaps' dialog
Click on the Done command button to exit the dialog and return to the 'General' tab.

4.5.6 Exit the 'General' tab
Click on the Undo command bottom in the 'General' tab to return to the main screen of the selected student record.

4.6 Change Primary Designation
Data should be maintained whenever a student needs to have their Primary Designation changed. Designation changes may be made retroactively according to certain rules. Remember that any changes made to a student's primary designation will be reflected in the student status records, both in this application and in the Student Editor. Conversely, the editing of status records in the Student Editor will be reflected in the Special Education History application.

4.6.1 Initiate
Select any program from the summary list on the main screen of the target student record until it is selected by a small, black pointer in the left (Fig. 34). Then click on the Edit command button to open the 'General' screen (Fig. 35).
4.6.2 Open the 'Change Primary Handicap' dialog
From the 'General' screen, click on the Change Primary command button to open the 'Change Primary Handicap' dialog screen (Fig. 43).

Fig. 43 - 'Change Primary handicap' dialog screen in Special Education History.
The illustration above (Fig. 43) is a sample of what the screen might look like for a student who has changed primary designations frequently (although this scenario is unlikely - it is created here for demonstration purposes only). Notice that the history of each designation change is clearly recorded by the entries in the list at the top. The illustration of Fig. 44 shows the corresponding student status records in the Student Editor application. Notice that all data is the same except that the handicap code is not shown in the Student Editor records.

Fig. 44 - student status records in the Student Editor application
4.6.3 Enter New Data
To change a primary designation, enter the new data directly in the Effective On, Handicap should be, and Entry/Exit Code fields (Fig. 45). In the sample fields below, the primary designation will be changed to "Autistic", effective on 02/15/99.

Fig. 45
4.6.4 Save data
Click on the Change command button to save the new data. In the dialog box that appears (Fig. 46) answer "OK" to confirm the new status record or "Cancel" to abort.

Fig. 46
The new data will affect the status records according to the following rules:

If the new effective date is earlier than the earliest student status entry date then no changes will be made.

If the new effective date matches an existing student status entry date then the service code for that record and all records with a later entry date are changed to the new designation.

If the new effective date is after the latest student status entry dates (not counting future records) then close out the last record with an exit date of one day less than the effective date and insert a new record with the entry date of the effective date.

If the new effective date falls between all existing entry and exit dates (a date when the student was not enrolled) then no changes will be made.

If the new effective date is within the entry/exit date range of an existing student status record then a new student status record is created with an entry date of the effective date and an exit date of the original exit date and the original student status record has the exit date updated to one day before the new effective date. All service (handicap code) fields for the new record and all records with later entry dates are updated with the new service (handicap) code.

4.6.5 View Status Records
After the change has been successfully executed the status records will be modified in the Special Education History application and the Student Editor according to the conditions outlined above. The comparison of the sample status records of Fig. 43 and Fig. 47 shows the effect in Special Education History when a new primary designation of "Autistic" was assigned on 02/15/99: the old status record of "Severely Emotionally Disturbed" was automatically closed on 02/14/99 - one day before a new status record for "Autistic" was created.

Fig. 47

4.7 Edit / Maintain Secondary Designations
A student's secondary designations are likely to change from time to time. Keep a record of changes by maintaining the data, such as adding new designations, closing expired designations, deleting entries, changing dates, etc. Unlike primary designations, secondary designations are not linked to student status records. Therefore, the editing methods differ somewhat. For example, secondary designation entries can be edited individually without affecting or being affected by other entries. Also, secondary designation status records can be deleted in this application whereas primary designation status records cannot.

4.7.1 Initiate
Select any program from the summary list on the main screen of the target student record until it is selected by a small, black pointer in the left (Fig. 34). Then click on the Edit command button to open the 'General' screen (Fig. 35)
4.7.2 Open the 'Secondary Handicaps' dialog
From the 'General' screen, click on the Secondary command button to open the 'Secondary Handicaps' dialog screen (Fig. 48).

Fig. 48
The sample illustration above shows a record of secondary handicaps assigned over a period of several months. Two designations are still "open", i.e., they are still in effect because no Exit Date has been entered. The other two entries are "closed", i.e. no longer in effect because an Exit Date has been entered.
4.7.3 Add/Edit/Delete

To add a secondary designation, follow Steps 4.5.2 - 4.5.6.

To edit an existing secondary designation, click on the entry in the list until it is highlighted in blue (Fig. 49)

Fig. 49
Then click on the Edit command button to activate the entry mode. Modify data as needed in the three data fields on the right hand side of the screen (Fig. 50).

Fig. 50 - entry mode. Exit Date was entered to close out this record
Click on the Save command to save the changes. The view will revert to the default 'Secondary Handicaps' screen. The changes made will be reflected in the entry list.

To delete a secondary designation, click on the entry in the list until it is highlighted in blue (Fig. 49). Then click on the Delete command button. In the 'Just checking' dialog that appears (Fig. 51), answer "Yes" to confirm the deletion or "No" to abort.

Fig. 51
If "Yes", the view will revert to the 'Secondary Handicaps' screen in the read-only mode. The deleted entry will be removed from the list.
4.7.4 Exit the 'Secondary Handicaps' dialog
Click on the Done command button to exit the dialog and return to the 'General' screen. To exit the 'General' screen and return to the main screen, click on the Undo command button.

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