News Article - Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Fall Statistical Reports - Superintendents

To:	Superintendents and Charter School Leaders
From:	Mitchell D. Chester, Ed.D. Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education
Date:	September 21, 2009

The following reports are required this fall:

Report	Level	Format	Due Date
1. SIMS Data Elements	Student	Data file via web	Oct. 28, 2009
2. EPIMS Data Elements	Educator	Data file via web	Dec. 16, 2009
3. School Safety and Discipline Report	Incident/Student	Electronic web form	July 30, 2010
4. Individual Non-Public School Report*	Non-Public School	Electronic web form or Paper	Nov.13, 2009

* Not applicable for charter schools and regional vocational schools.

Student Information Management System (SIMS)

This fall we will continue to collect the SIMS 52 data elements. This year there have been no changes to the list of data elements collected through this system. Several data element descriptions have been modified to provide clarification. Please refer to the SIMS website for additional information.

Education Personnel Information Management System (EPIMS)

This fall we will launch the third statewide collection of the EPIMS data elements. The listing of data elements and definitions has remained the same as last year. I would like to thank you in advance for your districts' efforts to once again complete this significant collection effort. Please refer to the EPIMS website for additional information.

School Safety and Discipline Report (SSDR)

The SSDR application will be available in early November and continue to be available throughout the year so that district staff can enter the information as the incidents occur. If your district has this information available in an electronic format, a second option for reporting is available. Instructions to send a School Safety and Discipline File can be found at: School Safety Discipline Report (SSDR).

Individual Non-Public School Report

This will be the second year a web-based form will be available to the non-public schools to complete this report. Paper copies will continue to be available for download from our website. Principals will receive a memo with detailed instructions regarding accessing the application that is located in the Department's security portal. The web-based form and paper reports are due in to the Department by November 13th, 2009. The complete data collection schedule, including documentation for the 2009-2010 school year, can be found at: Reporting Schedule and Documentation.

Directory Administration Functions Listing

The Directory Administration application database is the Department's primary source of contact information for districts and schools in the state. In order for Department staff to be able to communicate effectively with school district staff it is important that this information be up to date. Please review your district information in the District and School Profiles and update the information as needed in Directory Administration. Any district staff member who is a Directory Administrator can make the changes. In addition, if you have changes to grade levels or need to close or open a school, please notify us using the notification forms located on our website.

SIMS Expansion Project

One of the ESE Data Collection Initiatives, the SIMS Expansion Project will expand the current SIMS collection to include student schedule information. Eighty pilot districts were selected to participate in this project. This effort will include the following submittal of SIMS, EPIMS and the new SCS (Student Course Schedule). More information will be published on our website as it becomes available: Student Information Management System (SIMS).

SIMS Fall Training Sessions

Following is a list of training conferences offered by Data Collections. To sign up for a session, please see our website at:

Date	Time	Location
9/17/2009	9:00 - Noon	Worcester Technical High School, Worcester
9/22/2009	9:00 - Noon	King Phillip High School, Norfolk
9/23/2009	9:00 - Noon	JFK Middle School, Northampton
9/24/2009	9:00 - Noon	Lincoln School, Lincoln
9/29/2009	9:00 - Noon	Bourne High School, Bourne
9/30/2009	9:00 - Noon	Peabody Administration Building, Peabody

If you have any questions about the fall reports, please call 781-338-DATA (3282). Thank you for your cooperation.

Last Updated: September 21, 2009