At Risk Setup for Determining Section 31a At-Risk Students

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eSchoolPlus includes the MI At Risk Calculation option which lets you determine student eligibility for at-risk (31a) funding based on test score, attendance, enrollment, program-tracking, and district-defined field data.

Many of the at-risk identification characteristics defined in Section 31a of the State School Aid Act are pulled directly from corresponding fields in the student's record.  For example, the MI At Risk Calculation uses the Meal Status program (state code equivalent MIMEAL) tracked on the Student Personal page to determine if a student is at risk based on meal eligibility.

For several of the at-risk characteristics, you can use At Risk Factors to link to at-risk reasons calculated through the base eSchoolPlus At Risk functionality.  This applies to the testing, report card, and attendance-based characteristics.

The sections that follow give you a quick-reference guide showing how the MI At Risk Calculation determines whether a student meets each at-risk characteristic defined in Section 31a.  They also explain setup of the At Risk factors and the at risk criteria for test scores, report cards, and attendance.

MI At Risk Characteristic Quick Reference

The following chart lists each at-risk characteristic defined for determining Section 31a eligibility.  For each characteristic, we show whether the MI At Risk Calculation draws directly from a single eSchoolPlus field or if it references At Risk Factor setup.  We also list manual overrides available for any characteristics that are calculated.

The MI At Risk Calculation assesses these characteristics based on the rules defined in the Section 31a legislation and determines each student's Overall MI At Risk status. If the Overall MI At Risk status is Yes, the student gets a 3060 code in the Program Participation component.

• If a student meets any one of the Section 31a at-risk characteristics, that student is calculated with an Overall MI At Risk status of Yes.
• You can override the MI At Risk Calculation for an individual student using the MI At Risk Override on Registration > Entry & Reports > Student District Defined > MI SDS. If you override to use a Yes value, the SDS Download will give the student a 3060 code in the Program Participation component.
• The student's Overall MI At Risk status reported in the Program Participation file is not the same as the base eSchoolPlus Overall At Risk status displayed on the student's At Risk Detail page.

Setting up for Section 31a At Risk

This procedure provides an overview for how to set up at risk for Michigan. Additional details for each setup follow the procedure.

1. Set up at-risk Reasons List Setup to use for the Section 31a at-risk characteristics you will calculate from test scores, report card marks, and attendance day totals. (Administration > General Setup > District > Validation Tables > select Registration > select Reasons)
2. Configure the At Risk Factor Setup so they are correctly associated with at-risk Reasons codes. (Administration > Interventions Setup > At Risk > At Risk Factors)
3. Set up the at risk criteria for test scores to use for calculating state assessment at-risk status. If you are basing local assessment at-risk on Test History records for high school, middle school, or elementary school, set up the appropriate Testing Criteria records for this purpose as well. (Administration > Interventions Setup > At Risk > Test Scores At Risk Setup)
4. If you are basing local assessment at-risk on report card marks for high school, middle school, or elementary school, add building-level Report Card At Risk Setup. (Administration > Interventions Setup > At Risk > Report Card At Risk Setup)
5. Add building-level attendance criteria to use for calculating the attendance-based at-risk characteristic. (Administration > Interventions Setup > At Risk > Attendance At Risk Setup)

Reasons List Setup

Administration > General Setup > District > Validation Tables > select Registration > select Reasons

Use this table to set up At Risk Reason codes which you will associate with the attendance, test score, and mark reporting setups telling eSchoolPlus how to determine calculated at-risk characteristics.  You also assign the appropriate Reason codes to the At Risk Factors that are part of the MI At Risk Calculation.

Specifically, make sure you have a record for the following At Risk Reasons:

• Add a record for the attendance-based at-risk characteristic.
• Add reasons for the local assessment at-risk characteristics based on whether you are handling local assessments through report cards or test scores, or both places.  Refer to the next sub-section for guidelines.
• Add a separate record for each of the state assessments considered in the state assessment characteristic: ELA, math, science, and social studies.  So you will have four Reasons related to state assessments.

Follow these guidelines in your setup:

• You can define the Codes and Descriptions at your discretion.
• Make sure the following boxes are checked for these Reasons records:  Use At Risk and Active.

Setting Up At Risk Reasons for Local Assessments

Section 31a legislation defines a separate local assessment characteristic for high school, middle school, and elementary-level students.  eSchoolPlus assesses this characteristic as three At Risk Factors.  Your At Risk Reason setup depends on whether you plan on basing local assessment at-risk status solely either on report card marks or test history records for all three levels, or if you use a combination of these methods.

Follow these guidelines:

• If you are basing all three local assessment factors on report card marks, then you only need one local assessment reason code.
• If you are using test scores to determine local assessment at-risk status, set up a unique Reasons record for each test involved, in the same way you set up a separate reason for each state assessment.  Do this for each type of student whose at risk status you'll calculate based on test scores. If you are handling middle school and elementary local assessments based on test scores, create separate sets of Reasons records.
• If you are using both report card marks and test history for local assessments, set up one Reasons record for report card-based at-risk purposes, and set up the Testing Criteria reasons as described in the second bulleted item.

Caution: For a given local assessment At Risk Factor (high school, middle school, or elementary), do not mix methods for determining at-risk status.  Choose either report card marks or test scores.

At Risk Factor Setup

Administration > Interventions Setup > At Risk > At Risk Factors

PowerSchool loads the following At Risk Factor Codes and Labels for you:

Set up these At Risk Factors as follows:

1. Set Type to Calculated and select the Active checkbox.
2. For the MISTASSESS factor, set Calculations – Number of Needed Reasons to 2, and in the Associated Reasons field choose the at-risk reasons codes you created for state assessments.
3. For the MILOCALHS, MILOCALMS, and MILOCALES factors, define the at risk factor as follows based on whether you are calculating the at-risk status for the factor on report card marks or test records.  For each factor, set up as follows:
   • If the factor is based on report card marks, set Calculations – Number of Needed Reasons to 1, and use the Associated Reasons field to choose the at-risk reasons code you created for local assessments calculated through report card marks.
   • If the factor is based on test records, set Calculations – Number of Needed Reasons to 2, and use the Associated Reasons field to choose the at-risk reasons codes you created for the assessment level (high school, middle school, or elementary school).
4. For the MIABS10 factor, set Calculations – Number of Needed Reasons to 1, and use the Associated Reasons field to choose the at-risk reasons code you created for attendance.
5. Select the checkbox at the top of the page to synchronize students and factors.
6. Click Save. Your updates are synchronized with students' At Risk Detail pages so the appropriate labels show.

Test Score At Risk Setup

Administration > Interventions Setup > At Risk > Test Scores At Risk Setup

Use this setup to define the processing criteria for the state assessment at-risk factor (MISTASSESS).  You will add a separate record for each state assessment involved in the Section 31a at-risk determination, so you will need a record for the ELA, math, science, and social studies state tests.

You can also set up records for local assessments if you are handling any of the local assessment levels (MILOCALHS, MILOCALMS, or MILOCALES) by analyzing student test scores records through At-Risk Tests Calculation.

Add records as follows:

1. Use the Qualification and Description fields to identify the record.
   • You could use the code and description to identify the at-risk factor related to the record and the subject matter or name of the assessment.
   • You will need a separate record for each state assessment.  If you are handling local assessments through testing criteria, create a separate set of records for each level (high school, middle school, or elementary) you plan on calculating this way.
2. Select the Qualification Reason associated with this record.  For example, add a record for each of the state assessment reasons you set up.
3. On the Entrance Criteria panel, choose to have Entrance Criteria based on Most Recent score.
4. You may define a Start Date to End Date range to apply to a given row of testing criteria, though this is optional.
5. Select the Test, Level, Form, and Subtest associated with this record.
6. Select the Score field to use when determining if the student falls below proficiency.
7. In the Condition field, select < (Less than).
8. Choose the score Value indicating proficiency.  Any score below this value will be recognized as an at-risk condition.
9. If the scoring rules change based on a date range, add further criteria rows as needed.
10. Save each record.

Report Card At Risk Setup

Administration > Interventions Setup > At Risk > Report Card At Risk Setup

Use this setup if you want to determine local assessment at-risk status based on report card marks for any of the following At-Risk Factors:  MILOCALHS, MILOCALMS, and MILOCALES.  This method will work wherever you can get the student's local assessment grades from a report card mark type, like an End-of-Course exam.

This is a building-level setup.  Following are guidelines for creating records for MI at risk processing.

1. Select the Building that applies.
2. Enter the record's identifying information:  At Risk Type, Description, and At Risk Group.
3. Make the At Risk Group unique from other Report Card At Risk setups you already defined for this building.
4. Review the Student Grades defaults and change as needed.
5. Keep the Active and Include as Default boxes checked.
6. On the Mark Types tab, enter an Order of 1, then select the Mark Type the Report Card At-Risk Calculation will use to determine the at-risk status for any associated At Risk Factor.
7. On the Marks panel, fill out the Students are At Risk section as follows:
   • In the first drop-down, select 1.
   • Enter a range of grades, from low value to high value, indicating an unsatisfactory score.  You can use the same value in both fields.
   • In the next drop-down, select Any.
8. On the At Risk Status for Students Below Threshold panel, select the At Risk Reason you set up for local assessments handled through report card marks.
9. Save, then add the setups for remaining buildings of the type associated with the At Risk Factor you are calculating through report card marks (high school, middle school, or elementary).

Attendance Notification Criteria

Administration > Interventions Setup > At Risk > Attendance At Risk Setup

Use this option to set up processing criteria for the Section 31a attendance-based at-risk characteristic.  You will need an at-risk record for each building your district serves.

Following are guidelines for setting up attendance criteria for MI At Risk Calculation:

1. Select the Building you want to define.
2. Identify the record with the Attendance Notification Criteria code and description.
3. Define an At-Risk Notification Group separate from the groupings you use for any of the other building notification criteria records.
4. Clear the Send Communications checkbox.
5. On the Calculations panel, choose to calculate based on A – Attendance Codes from D – Day Totals.
6. Select the attendance codes to count as absences.
7. Select the Attendance View Type to use for the calculation.  Use the building's Daily view type.
8. In the Occurence Criteria section, select Absences Anywhere and define the criteria as follows:
   • Minimum Count: 10
   • Maximum Type: V - Day View Value
   • Maximum Count: 999
   • Maximum Type: V - Day Value
9. On the At Risk panel, make sure the At Risk box is checked.
10. Select the At Risk Reason you set up for the attendance-based At-Risk Factor.
11. For Duration of Status, select School Days.  For Number of Days, enter 180.
12. Save, then add the at-risk attendance notification criteria records for your remaining buildings.