A link to SIRAS Support and Contact information is located on the bottom left of the Home page. SIRAS Support includes System Requirements, How to and Training videos, among other sources of support for users.

Clicking on Contact Us will open a window with information on how to contact Support by phone or email, as well as, how to directly contact Michael Brown, Steve Ormbrek and Brian Marcontell.

Navigating Through SIRAS

Note: There are two versions of SIRAS. The Training version may be used for practice and training. The Production version or Live version is where you will edit and save actual student data. PLEASE BE AWARE OF WHICH VERSION YOU ARE IN. The SIRAS training version is marked “Test Server - All changes will be overwritten” on all pages.

When you first log into SIRAS, navigate to Tools to My Account > Manage Users/My Account. In your User Account tab enter your email address and phone number you wish parents to use to contact you. Then click on Update User. This information will also print on various IEP forms.

The following is a quick guide to the features and their dedicated icons located in SIRAS. Some features will go into more detail later in the User Guide.

Home

Use the SIRAS Logo to navigate Home from any webpage.

Choose Student list

Located under the SIRAS logo in the upper left corner, select the ‘Choose Student’ button to list your caseload and view basic info about each student.

If you have ‘0’ records, contact your CASEMIS clerk and have your students assigned to you.

If you are in a “found set” is click the ‘Reset Search’ link to restore all your records/students.

Student Info.

Use the Student Info button to navigate to various student Information.

Reporting

Use the Reporting button to create Student Lists and run various Reports.

Tools

Use the Tools for useful reference tools that will help you perform a variety of tasks.

Search

Use the Search button to create queries or search for a student by typing in the box.

After you perform a search you will be in a ‘found set’, click ‘reset search’ to restore all your records, click ‘modify’ to modify the existing search.

Logout

Use the log out button every time you want to leave the program.

School House Filter

Use the School Filter to change/filter your focus; drill down to a district or school.

Support in Context

Click on the Blue Question Marks located throughout the program for SIRAS support in context.

SIRAS Best Practice

· For the security and privacy of the student information, SIRAS will time you out about 1 hour of inactivity. Forms that are opened may lose any data that was not saved.

· SIRAS has a built-in reminder to save data while on a form. After a form has been opened for 15 minutes, a box will pop-up and prompt the user to save.

· Clicking on the Cancel button while on a form will not save any changes you have made to the form.

· Clicking the Back button on the webpage may log you out of SIRAS. Instead, use the Return to…. button to the right of the SIRAS icon in the upper left corner of the screen.

· It is best practice to log out of SIRAS by clicking the ‘Logout’ when stepping away from the computer. This will ensure the security and privacy of the student information. Also, it will eliminate losing data from timing out of the system.

IEP Manager

The IEP Manager is where the user creates an IEP Meeting and completes the forms to build the student IEP. Once the meeting is held and the Meeting Held box is checked, a bridge of information is created between the IEP Manager and the MIS Summary page. The data on the IEP forms is pushed into the MIS Summary page updating the MIS Summary page. Finalizing the meeting in the IEP Manager locks the student’s IEP and breaks the bridge between the IEP Manager and the MIS Summary page, thus breaking the flow of information between the two.

Meeting Purpose:

Give careful thought and consideration to the purpose of meeting when planning an IEP. Prior to selecting a meeting purpose, make sure the student information in SIRAS is accurate. Review the MIS Summary page and verify the EL type and Health information is correct. Also, verify the student Contact information. This will ensure that SIRAS will auto-populate the correct data in the forms.

Initial Evaluation

An Initial Evaluation is first evaluation to determine the student’s eligibility for Special Education, including preschool services. If the student is found to be eligible for services, SIRAS will generate a Next IEP Date one year from the date of the Initial Evaluation and a Next Triennial Review Date three years from the date of the Initial Evaluation. The Implementation Date is defaulted to the next day after the meeting, but can be changed if needed. (If implementation of a particular service will be delayed, it can be noted by changing the Begin Date in the services box at the bottom of the services form or the MIS Summary page. The Implementation Date will also be considered the Entry Date on the MIS Summary page).

Initial Evaluation is still marked if a student does not qualify for services, and no date is recorded for entering Special Education. Check the ‘Not Eligible’ checkbox at the bottom of the eligibility section on the appropriate form. Only the forms needed for a non-eligible student will then be required. If any of the other forms had been filled out prior to the determination that the student did not qualify, they should be reset by using the red X in the action column to the right of the form link on the IEP Manager. Do not worry about any errors that may be showing on the MIS Summary at this time. Check the Meeting Held box and the plan type will change from IEP (10) to Not Eligible (90). The errors on the MIS Summary page will then be cleared. Subsequent IEPs for a student previously found not eligible, will still be considered an Initial Evaluation. The date of the IEP, in which student is found eligible, will be the Initial Evaluation date. If the student exits Special Education and re-enters at a later date, that IEP will be considered as a second Initial Evaluation.

Note: The Initial Evaluation date was a new field introduced July 1, 2006. Therefore, some students who entered Special Education before that date may not have an Initial Evaluation date in their records because it was not required at the time. SIRAS blocks users from creating a second Initial Evaluation if the student has an Initial IEP date and is currently enrolled in Special Education. If a second Initial IEP is needed for a student who was previously assessed and found to be Not Eligible, or was previously in Special Education and exited, the program will prompt you to reset the Referral Information. When you click on that option, SIRAS will remove the old referral information and allow the user to do another Initial Evaluation. If the meeting is deleted because the parent denies permission to assess or new evidence arises that suggests a new Initial is not needed, SIRAS will restore the original information on the MIS Summary.

Annual Review

An Annual Review is held every year to evaluate student progress and develop new goals and objectives for the student. An Annual Review is also used if there is a review held earlier than twelve months from the last IEP. All required forms of the IEP must be completed and new goals and objectives developed and adopted. If the Annual Review date coincides with the Triennial Review/Reevaluation date, the Triennial Review will serve as the Annual Review as well as the Triennial Review.

Triennial Review/Reevaluation

A Triennial Review/Reevaluation is held at least once every three years to evaluate student’s continued eligibility for Special Education. A Triennial Review/Reevaluation must be within 3 years from the date of the last evaluation, but may be conducted sooner if a new evaluation has been conducted to determine the student's continued eligibility or to change eligibility.

The Triennial/Reevaluation is also used for reevaluations for transition from Preschool into Kindergarten. The Triennial Review/Reevaluation will reset the next IEP date one year from the date of the meeting and the next Triennial Review/Reevaluation date three years from the date of the meeting.

The meeting purpose of Triennial Review/Reevaluation is also used when a student with an IEP transfers into the district from out of state. A Reevaluation must be conducted for an out of state students, with all elements of a Triennial Review to reestablish eligibility and need for services.

An Assessment Plan will be generated with a 60-day timeline for a Triennial Review/Reevaluation. The IEP meeting must be held no later than the end of the 60 days. However, if the team determines there is adequate information already available in the student’s record and that no additional data is needed, the Triennial Review Summary (located under Tools/Added Forms/Triennial) is completed and presented at a Triennial/Reevaluation meeting within 30 days in lieu of an assessment.

If a student is found to be no longer eligible at the Triennial Review/Reevaluation, fill out the pages required for a non-eligible student. Form Kern SELPA and Ventura SELPA, click the Exit Student button at the bottom of the Dates box; for all other SELPA click the ‘No longer eligible checkbox on the IEP 2 form; which will enter an Exit Date and Exit Reason (Returned to general education, no longer eligible). This action will also remove the next IEP date, the next Tri date, the disability, all services from the SIS page / IEP 2 forms, and change the % in general education to 100%. Do not check Not Eligible checkbox as this box is only used for Initial Evaluations. Also, do not put anything in the Dismissed from box. This box is used only when students are being dismissed from one or more services and continue to be eligible for special education.

When you save this page with the Exit Date and Exit Reason, all the pages not needed for the student will drop off the list. The action of exiting a student will have the information the way it needs to be for the IEP, but all the CASEMIS data will remain on the MIS page for CASEMIS reporting. DO NOT alter the MIS Summary page by removing the services or disability from the MIS Summary page as those data elements are required for CASEMIS even if the student has exited.

Refer to the section Exiting a Student from Special Education for more detailed information.

Review 30-Day (Interim Placement)

A Review 30-Day is held when a student is transferring in from a district outside of the SELPA or State with a current/active IEP. A meeting is not required upon enrollment, but must be completed within 30 days of enrollment. If the student is in a SELPA who is a user of SIRAS, request a transfer of that record to your district. If the student is not in a SELPA who uses SIRAS, create a new record and enter all CASEMIS information from the student’s current IEP in the MIS Summary page. Only SIRAS users that have admin access can create a new record. When creating the new record be sure to designate the student’s Status as ‘Active’.

Once the Review 30-day meeting is created in the IEP Manager, go to the field that says Enrollment. This is the date that the student first attended school in your SELPA. This date does not change if the student is transferred to another district within the SELPA.

The Interim Placement form is located in the IEP Manager under Pre-IEP forms. This is a 30-day placement agreement of the services the district will provide until the Review 30-day is completed.

Developing and completing the Review 30-day is the same process as completing an Annual Review. The only difference between the two meetings is the Interim Placement form located in the Pre-IEP forms of the Review 30-day. You must complete the new Annual Review within the 30-day timeline. A new Annual date will be established, but the Next Triennial Review date will remain the same as indicated on the IEP from the previous district the student transferred from

The IEP team may choose to adopt the student’s current IEP from out of the SELPA district in lieu of developing a new Annual. Check the box under the enrollment date on the IEP Manager to ‘Adopt Existing Out of SELPA IEP’, and the program will indicate Adopt Out of SELPA IEP as the secondary purpose of the Review (30 day) meeting. The next IEP date and the Next Triennial date will remain the same as indicated on the IEP from the previous district.

When adopting an IEP from an out of SELPA district, all pages of the IEP will be available and the information from the previous IEP needs to be transcribed into the SELPA forms. Any other information required to make the IEP legally compliant would need to be added. Minor changes to the student’s services (percent of day and minutes), accommodations, CAASPP participation, etc. can be made just as it would on an Other Review. Use the Additional page as needed to capture information from the former district’s IEP that does not fit into the SELPA forms.

Goals will need to be transferred from the Out of SELPA IEP into the Goal Developer. Click on the Create Blank Goal button toward the bottom of the Goal developer and transcribe the goals from the Out of SELPA IEP.

Transfers from out of state require a Triennial Review/Reevaluation meeting. Transfers from a district within the SELPA do not require an IEP meeting unless the district feels it is necessary to change parts of the IEP from the previous district. In this case, changes to the IEP could be done through an Addendum/Amendment or Other Review. Refer to Transfers of Students with IEPs into the District for more detailed information.

Addendum/Amendment

An Addendum/Amendment meeting is created to make minor changes to the IEP (e.g. add accommodations or an additional goal). The Addendum requires an IEP meeting; the Amendment does not. Neither form can be used for a change in placement.

An Addendum/Amendment does not change any dates from the original IEP except the Implementation date. The Addendum/Amendment form is the only form required; no other pages are required for an Addendum/Amendment. The SELPA has elected to make most IEP pages available as optional forms. The Addendum/Amendment form may be used in combination with any of the other IEP pages, with the exception of the Student Demographic/Information page, that may be appropriate to assist in entering data into SIRAS. For example, changes being made to the student’s CAASPP participation should be made directly onto the CAASPP page of the IEP, so the data would be saved correctly in SIRAS.

The Addendum/Amendment will appear appended to the top of the current IEP when it is Finalized. When the IEP is downloaded Addendum/Amendment will be the first page(s) followed by the current IEP.

Other Review

An Other Review meeting is created when a portion of the IEP is being revised. An Other Review is not an Annual Review. An Other Review may be conducted for many reasons: Parent Request, Behavior, Additional Assessment (to look at the need for additional service--not an evaluation to determine eligibility), Change Placement, Consider Exiting, Transfer to Kindergarten (only for students entering preschool within the last 90 days of the school year), Transfer to Middle School, or Transfer to High School.

An Other Review meeting may also be held instead of a stand-alone Addendum, particularly if the proposed changes to the IEP will impact CASEMIS data. A secondary purpose should always be selected when using an Other Review. The only required forms for an Other Review are the Student Demographics form and the Signature Agreement/Attendance form. All other forms are optional. Any changes being made related to CASEMIS data such as the CAASPP participation, Services, Transition, or English Language Development forms should be changed directly on those forms for ease in pushing the data directly into SIRAS rather than having the CASEMIS staff enter those changes by hand on the MIS Summary. The optional Additional page is used to clarify the purpose of the meeting and indicate changes that have been made to the IEP.

An Other Review does not reset any dates from the previous IEP except the implementation date. Therefore, if goals are added during this meeting, the target dates should correspond with the target dates of the other goals in the IEP. An Other Review is not appended to the IEP as an Addendum/Amendment is.

Manifestation Determination

A Manifestation Determination meeting is held when a student has reached or is close to reaching the 10th day of suspension and the student established a pattern of behaviors and/or the student is being considered for expulsion. A Manifestation Determination is normally a separate meeting to consider the student's behavior/s that led to the suspension/s or consideration for expulsion. A Manifestation Determination Review Worksheet is available as an optional form for an Annual Review and Triennial Review/Reevaluation in the case it is needed.

Exit Summary

An Exit Summary is used to document the discussion between a high school or post-secondary student exiting Special Education and his/her case manager. An Exit Summary should be completed for every student leaving school due to graduation, aging out, or withdrawal after the age of 18. It does not have to be completed in the context of an IEP meeting and is usually done within one or two weeks of the student leaving school.

The Case Manager is responsible for completing the forms and presenting them to the student. The graduation date is entered as the exit date. This will allow the student to remain Active until they have graduated. The student needs to sign the Exit Summary and is given a copy. A copy is also given to the CASEMIS clerk to establish a baseline and to retain contact information to use when conducting the post-secondary follow-up one year after the student exits Special Education.

Individualized Service Plan (ISP)

An ISP is used for a student who is eligible for special education services in a public school, but has been placed by his/her parent/s in a private school. The ISP is located on a separate tab on the IEP Manager. During an Initial Evaluation, Annual Review, or Triennial Review/Reevaluation you must develop a full IEP offering FAPE at the student’s home school. If the parent decides to continue the student in private school located within the boundaries of your district, you can develop the ISP as a part of the meeting. Once you develop the ISP form and indicate the meeting was held, the plan type will be automatically changed to ISP. To change from an ISP to an IEP during any meeting, click on the Change to IEP button and the IEP forms will appear.

Private School Referral for Special Education Policy

When a student attending a private school is referred for special education services, the student should be entered into SIRAS as though s/he was attending his/her home school with school type as public school while the assessment is being conducted and the IEP is being developed. If the student found to be eligible the IEP will offer services at the home school. If the parent does not want to enroll the student in public school the student may be offered services through an ISP (Individual Services Plan), depending on district guidelines. At this point the school type should be changed to private school non-certified, and the school attending should be changed to the name of the private school. The private school name for students taught at home by their parents Is "School with No Name". If an ISP is developed the plan type will automatically be changed to ISP (20). If an ISP is not developed, the plan type should be manually changed to 70 - Eligible, no plan, parent placed in private school.

Secondary Purpose

A Secondary Purpose may be added for most of the meetings above

Addendum/Amendment

An Addendum/Amendment is added to discuss and/or make minor changes to the IEP that does not require a full review.

Additional Assessment

An Additional Assessment is added to discuss the results of an additional assessment and to determine if student needs additional goals and/or services. This is not an evaluation to determine eligibility.

Behavior

Behavior is added as a secondary purpose to discuss issues related to behavior that may result in development of a behavior plan and/or changes to goals, services, accommodations or other parts of the IEP.

Change of Placement

A Change of Placement is added to discuss a possible change of placement for the student.

Consider Exiting

A Consider Exiting is added as a secondary purpose to discuss the possibility of exiting the student from special education. This may result in development of an assessment plan to evaluate continuing eligibility.

Parent Request

A Parent request may be added to indicate issues of concern the parent may have.

Review Progress

A Review Progress is added to review the student’s progress in their current placement and determine if any changes are needed.

Transfer to Preschool

A transition to Preschool from an Infant program. From IFSP to IEP (C to B).

Transfer to Kindergarten

A transfer to Kindergarten is added to discuss any issues related to the student’s transfer to Kindergarten that were not discussed at the Initial Evaluation.

Transfer to Middle School

A Transfer to Middle School is added to consider any changes in the IEP that are related to the student transferring to a middle school campus.

Transfer to High School

A Transfer to High School is added to consider changes in the IEP that are related to the student transferring to a high school campus.

Transfer to Post-Secondary Adult Transition Program

A Transfer to Post-Secondary Adult Transition Program is added to consider any changes in the student’s IEP that are related to transferring to a post-secondary adult transition program.

Transition from Early Start

A Transition from Early Start is added at the age of three to review the child's progress in the Early Start program and consider the need for educational services in preschool. The child’s Early Start Service Coordinator is invited to the meeting. Please notify support if you prefer that the Service Coordinator does not attend.

Transition to Kindergarten

A Transition to Kindergarten is added to review the child's progress in preschool and review the results of the evaluation conducted prior to child’s entry to Kindergarten and determine if special education services are necessary for the child to access the Kindergarten program.

Transition to Adult

A Transition to Adult is required for all special education students 16 years old and older. The meeting is held to discuss student’s dreams/goals for adult living and develop a plan toward attainment of those goals. The student is invited and is encouraged to participate in the meeting as much as possible. Per your permission at the last IEP, we will invite the agency representatives below to discuss adult services. If the agency representative is unable to attend, input by phone or in writing will be requested.

Transition IFSP to IEP Meeting Procedure - Part C to Part B

A child must have an Initial IEP (IFSP to IEP Transition) completed before the age of 3. Ideally the Initial IEP [Initial Evaluation] should be created in SIRAS within 45 days from when the child turns age 3. Other IFSP meetings such as Exit IFSP; Amendments, Other Review can occur as at the same time as the Initial IEP. The Initial IEP will always take precedence on the CASEMIS data that is placed on the MIS Summary page.

Below is the procedure for an Initial IEP:

1. IFSP district flags child who is approaching age 3 so that the IEP district can access the student record.

Under Student Info menu select “Next Year’s Data” tab
Click Create Next Year’s Data button
Select under District Attending the new district that will be developing the Initial IEP.
Check the “IFSP to IEP Transition” checkbox to allow the IEP district to search and list those children who are in the process of an Initial IEP.
If known, the IFSP District can assign the providers from the IEP district who are going to access the record with [Preschool Transition] role.

2. Creating the Initial IEP meeting to determine continued special education eligibility.

Select the IFSP Manager link and create an ‘Initial Evaluation’ meeting by click the Create New Meeting button and the select ‘Initial Evaluation’
If there is already an open meeting.

- DO NOT delete or try to Finalize that existing meeting.

- Instead, select ‘Create New Meeting’ in the popup menu of meetings located in the upper left corner of the IFSP/IEP Manager. (see picture below)

You can ‘Create New Meeting’ or toggle between meetings in this menu.

- In this case, the current meeting being displayed is “In development: 6 month Review”.
- Below is the finalized “Current IFSP: Annual Review: 7/24/2017”.

Issues concerning Secondary Meetings:

A Secondary Meeting can be created at any time. The Initial Evaluation and Annual Review are primary meetings, all other meeting types are considered Secondary. An Annual Review and Initial Evaluaton will take presidence on the MIS Summary page. Because of this it is not possible to have an Annual Review and an Initial Evaluation or two Primary meetings occur at the same time. In the rare event that this happens the IFSP Annual Review will need to be Finalized before stating the Initial Evaluation, or the IFSP Annual Review can be started after the IEP Initial Evaluation has been Finalized.

Swapping an IFSP meeting and IEP meeting:

o When there is an Initial Evaluation SIRAS will make the assumption if the student is between ages 2.6 and 3.0 that it is an Initial IEP meeting, if not click the red ‘X’ to convert the meeting to a IFSP Initial Evaluation.

o The blue ‘Edit’ link will allow you to switch the meeting type. It will not allow you to switch meeting types if there are two meetings happening at the same time. In that event one of the meetings will need to be deleted and then a new meeting created.

Developing the new IEP Goals for the IEP:

- The IEP District user will go to the Goal Developer under the Student Info menu and select the ‘Next IEP Goals’ tab.

- At the bottom of the Goal Developer, select either ‘Goals only’ or ‘Benchmark’ (IFSP Outcomes always default to Benchmarks), then click either the Create New Goal with Wizard button or the Create New Blank Goal button to start the development of a New Goal. Click the Blue Questionmark for detailed instructions on how to use the Goal Developer and how to use the GoalWizard.

When two meeting are open at the same time and one of those meetings is an Initial IEP:

o When the user is in an IFSP meeting the IFSP Outcomes page will get populated from the previous finalized IFSP Outcomes page; not the Goal Developer.

o When the user is in the Initial IEP meeting [Initial Evaluation], the IEP Goal page will get populated from the Goal Developer (Goals that were entered in the “Next IEP Goals” tab after the Archive and Advance button has been selected by the IFSP user.

o Before the Archive and Advance button can be selected the IFSP user needs to enter if the Goal (Outcome) has been ‘Met’ or ‘Not met’. The IFSP Outcomes page in the Exit IFSP meeting would be considered the actual last progress report for the child.

Exit IFSP meeting issues:

- To create an Exit IFSP (final IFSP), create an ‘Addendum/Amendment’ meeting and select the Secondary Meeting Purpose to ‘Exit’.

- This can be done even when an Initial IEP is in progress as a second meeting.

- The Outcomes page will be populated from the previous IFSP meetings Outcomes page, not the Goal developer as explained above.

- Complete the last Progress Report on the IFSP Outcomes page and then go to the Goal Developer and click the Archive and Advance button as explained above (it does not matter what order you do this in).

Interim IFSP Meeting:

- Create an ‘Other Review’ meeting and automatically the “Interim Placement” will be entered in the Secondary Meeting Purpose.

10 Steps to Developing an IEP

1. Click on the Choose Student icon to get your student list; click on student name to go to IEP Manager. Let your CASEMIS staff know if any of your students do not appear or if you see any students on your list that are not yours.

2. Go to Student Profile to check accuracy of information that will go directly onto IEP forms:

· Demographics: ethnicity, race, EL type

· Contacts: must at least have one primary contact

· Providers: must have case manager, all service providers should be listed

· Vision/Hearing results; Medication; Overall health: can enter entire caseload under Student Info/Student Profile/Medical tab when you get report from nurse. Lists/reports can be created once this information is in SIRAS.

3. Select meeting purpose on IEP Manager to get all forms associated with that meeting type. Refer to the handout ‘Selecting a Meeting Purpose’ for the definitions of each meeting type.

4. Enter meeting date, time, and location, if known. You may enter this information at any time.

The Implementation Date will automatically be entered on day after the meeting date. If that is not the cases it can be changed; this will also auto enter the service start date. The Next IEP and (depending the meeting is a Triennial) the Next Evaluation date will be auto entered.

5. IEP Manager Tabs: Basic forms (IEP forms); Pre-IEP forms; ISP Forms*; Assmt Report*; Other forms and Upload Documents. * not available in all SELPAs.

· Pre-IEP tab contains the forms used prior to the meeting such as the Meeting Notice and the Assessment Plan.

· Basic Forms tab opens as the default and contains all the forms that are used at the time of the actual meeting. Once all the required forms have been submitted click the ‘Preview/Print’ link to assemble the IEP.

· Assmt. Reports tab (not available for all SELPAs) contain the narrative assessment reports. Once all the required forms have been submitted click the ‘Preview/Print’ link to assemble the IEP.

· ISP Forms tab is used to develop the ISP forms. Once the first ISP form is submitted the student’s plan type will change to ISP and ‘ISP Forms’ will be the default tab instead of the Basic Forms tab.

· Other forms tab contains other forms that may be necessary for the IEP meeting but is not a numbered page in the IEP such as the Health History or Parent Interview forms.

· Uploaded Documents tab is used to upload any document associated with the meeting such as doctor’s notes or an evaluation from an outside source, etc. If the form is uploaded as a PDF document, it can be appended as a numbered form with the IEP. If you designate it as a copy of the signed signature page under ‘Category’ SIRAS will replace the uploaded signature page with the blank one. Click the blue question mark button located in the lower left corner for more details. DO NOT enter periods in the file name of an uploaded form.

· Open form (all required forms must be submitted before the IEP can be assembled)

· Make changes as needed to existing information. Click blue question mark button at the top of the form page for directions on how to complete the form.

· Add information as needed.

· Save the form. You have a choice between "Save" (which simply saves the information and keeps you on the same page) and "Save and return…” (which saves the information and takes you to the location that you select from the menu). The menu defaults to "IEP Manager" but this feature allows you to bypass the IEP Manager and go directly to the next IEP page that you want to access.

6. Fill out all required (red) IEP forms and desired optional forms for meeting. A green check mark will appear on all forms you have opened and saved. This does not mean you have successfully completed them, just that they have been opened and saved. All ‘Required’ forms must be addressed.

7. Use the ‘Print/Preview’ button on the IEP Manager to preview the paginated IEP for the meeting. It is recommended that if there are errors, go back to the IEP Manager, and click on the page, make the correction, and save; then do ‘Print/Preview’ again. It is highly recommended that a complete draft of the IEP is developed prior to the meeting.

· If you will be using a computer during the meeting, you may wish to bring drafts for team members to look at unless you will be projecting the IEP pages onto a screen. In either case, you can make any corrections or changes directly onto the forms. At the close of the meeting, use ‘Print/Preview’ to print out a paginated copy for the team to sign. This is the official copy of the IEP.

· If you will not have access to a computer during the IEP meeting to make changes, print out the forms to present at the IEP. Make copies of the forms for IEP team members to refer to during the meeting and mark “Draft” on those copies, but not on the original document. A “Draft” watermark can be placed on the IEP by clicking the little triangle to the right of the ‘Preview/Print’ link and then select ‘Add draft watermark’.

· Any changes or corrections made at the meeting will need to be made in handwriting on the original. Once signed, this becomes the official copy of the IEP. Destroy all draft copies.

8. After the meeting

· Click on “Meeting Held” checkbox. That will push all the CASEMIS data for the completed IEP over onto the MIS Summary page, for reporting to the state. If you made any handwritten changes on the printed copy during the meeting, go back into the forms on the computer and enter the information so the electronic and printed copies of the IEP are the exactly same. You will get a popup menu which you will need to indicate the Parent’s Response. By selecting the option of “Does not accept the plan or Stay-put” will allow the IEP and Eval dates to be moved to the MIS Summary page but nothing else. Any other option would result in all the CASEMIS data to be moved to the MIS Summary page.

· Use the ‘Print/Preview’ feature to compile the final IEP for proofreading located above. The ‘Preview/Print’ will be inactive until ALL the required (red) forms have been submitted.

· Proofread the IEP carefully to be sure all corrections were made.

· If anything was missed, you can still make changes on the form and reprint that page if needed.

9. Final steps (IEP Manager):

· Check “Translation Needed” where appropriate. If the Agreement and Attendance page indicates oral translation only, do not check the Translation needed box. Translations can be done any time even after the IEP has been ‘Finalized’. It is preferable not to begin the translation before finalizing the IEP to ensure all changes have been made to the IEP before translating.

· Fill in information on drop down menu regarding Parent Participation & Response.

· Check any notes you have put in the Scheduling Notes box on the IEP Manager to be sure they reflect the comments you want to remain in the record after the meeting has been finalized. Delete any working notes or resolved issues. Enter any other information pertinent to the meeting outcome (e.g. "Meeting finalized even though parents did not sign; additional assessment to be conducted before scheduling another meeting.")

· Click on ‘Finalize’ to lock the IEP so no further changes can be made.

· Send signed original paper copy to the office and click "Sent to district office" from the menu in the Forms Status box under ‘Follow-up’.

o The signature page can be scanned and uploaded as a PDF file into the Upload Documents tab or under Student Info / Student Profile / Upload Documents tab if the meeting had already been Finalized.

· Depending on your district’s policy, normally CASEMIS staff will do a final review of the paper and electronic copies to be sure they are the same and validate the data.

General Users will only see ‘Sent to District Office’ checkbox while the Admin users will see both ‘Sent to District Office’ checkbox ‘Form status’ which contains the options:

· If there are inconsistencies or errors on the electronic copy the CASEMIS staff person will ‘Reactivate’ the IEP and return it to you for corrections. Note, no data will transfer into the MIS Summary page after a meeting has been ‘Finalized’. If an IEP has been ‘Reactivated’ and it required a change to a CASEMIS item, that CASEMIS item will need to be changed on the MIS Summary page separately.

· Refer to the document on Issues Related to Finalizing and Reactivating IEPS for policy of when to re-activate a meeting, or when to do an Amendment, versus an Addendum.

Editing the Meeting Purpose

The user that created the meeting can edit the Meeting Purpose. In the IEP Manager, next to the Meeting Purpose, the user who created the meeting will have an edit button available to them. Clicking on the edit button will unlock the Meeting Purpose and allow you to choose a new Meeting Purpose from a drop-down menu. Do not delete any forms that may have be completed. The program will redistribute the IEP forms based on the new Meeting Purpose selected. All forms that were completed for the previous Meeting Purpose will be saved; any forms completed and saved that are no longer applicable may be deleted by clicking on the red X in the action column to the right of the form.

Rescheduling a Meeting

A meeting may be rescheduled by changing the meeting date to a later date, time, and location if needed. Do not delete the meeting or you will lose all the work that has been done to the meeting. Send out a new Notice of IEP to the parents informing the parent/s of the new date, time and location.

Continuing a Meeting

A meeting may be suspended or continued to a later date. Complete the form under the Pre IEP tab labeled Notice of IEP Continued. Do not change the original meeting date. The Notice of IEP Continued will reflect the original meeting date as well as the user will enter the date the meeting will be continued to. Note, some SELPAs/district may have a different procedure for continuation meetings; confirm your SELPAs procedure. Select ‘Meeting Held’ and for Parent Response select ‘Continued’ only when the meeting is close to a CASEMIS Reporting period so that the dates can be included in the State report.

Deleting a Meeting

The user that created the meeting can delete the meeting. To delete a meeting, the user must delete all submitted forms by clicking on the red X to the right of the form link. Be sure to delete all the other submitted forms in the Basic forms tab, as well as, the Pre-IEP forms tab and the Other Forms tab. You will also need to delete the Meeting Date. After this has been completed the meeting may be deleted by clicking on the red X that is labeled delete in the right of the menu bar of the IEP Manager.

Finalizing a Meeting

Before a meeting is Finalized, the case manager is responsible for going into the electronic copy of the IEP and entering all changes made to the IEP during the IEP meeting. This is to ensure the electronic copy of the IEP is the same as the copy of the IEP given to the parent. Once this process is complete, the case manager can Finalize the meeting and enter the Parent Input and Follow-up information on the IEP Manager. A hard copy of the IEP may be sent to the CASEMIS staff to verify that the hard copy and electronic copy match.

Once the IEP has been Finalized, it no longer pushes new information into the MIS Summary page. If the case manager accidentally Finalizes a meeting prior to completing the electronic copy, s/he will need to contact a CASEMIS staff person who can go to the archived meeting in the IEP Manager and Re-activate that meeting.

Once the meeting has been reactivated the case manager can enter the corrections on the IEP forms and Finalize the meeting again. Any corrections and/or changes to CASEMIS data after a meeting has been reactivated must be entered on the MIS Summary page as well as on the IEP meeting forms.

It is never permissible to make changes to the electronic copy of the IEP that are not on the original hard copy of the IEP signed by the parents. The IEP document is a legal agreement between the parent/guardian/adult student and the document cannot be altered after it is signed without the permission from the parent/guardian/adult student.

Force Finalize a meeting

Sometimes you must cancel a meeting but not wanting to delete the meeting so that there can be a history (completed forms) of the planned event. Normally this is not possible because all the required forms must be submitted before the meeting can be Finalized. If the user has Admin access you can click the little triangle to the right of the ‘Preview/Print’ button and select ‘Disable validations for preview/finalize. After this is selected the ‘Finalize button will appear. Click the “Finalize” button to close the meeting ignoring any of the required forms and validations.

Issues Related to Finalizing and Reactivating IEPs

After an IEP is developed in the IEP Manager, it is expected that the case manager will click on the ‘Print/Preview’ to create a draft of the IEP. After the meeting, is held, the case manager should click the Meeting Held button and enter the Parent Participation information. This lets anyone who looks at the IEP Manager know the status of the meeting.

If a computer and printer are not available during the meeting, the hard copy draft of the IEP should have changes on it written in by the case manager or other members of the team. At the very least, the team would need to add the Parent Comments to the Present Levels page on this copy. In most instances there will also be meeting notes written onto the IEP. Any other changes to the draft of the IEP would also be written onto the hard copy. At the close of the meeting, the parents will be asked to initial and sign this copy. This will then be the legal copy of the IEP.

The case manager is now responsible for going into the electronic copy of the IEP, and entering all changes made by hand on the paper copy so that the electronic copy of the IEP in SIRAS matches the hard copy of the IEP signed by the parent. Once this process is complete, the case manager should Finalize the meeting, enter the Parent Input and Follow-up information on the IEP Manager, and send the hard copy of the IEP to the CASEMIS staff to verify that the hard copy and electronic copy match.

The IEP should never be Finalized before the case manager has a chance to make the electronic copy in SIRAS the same as the hard copy of the IEP because once the IEP has been Finalized, it no longer pushes new information into the MIS Summary page. If the case manager accidentally Finalizes a meeting prior to completing the electronic copy, s/he will need to contact a CASEMIS staff person who can go to the archived meeting in the IEP Manager and Re-activate that meeting.

Once the meeting has been reactivated the case manager can enter the corrections on the IEP forms and Finalize the meeting again; however, once a meeting has been Finalized there is NO data transfer between the re-activated forms and SIRAS. This could result in compliance errors. For this reason, any corrections and/or changes to CASEMIS data after a meeting has been reactivated must be entered on the MIS Summary page as well as on the IEP meeting forms.

If something superficial was left out on the IEP which was noticed AFTER the parent signed the hardcopy, it is permissible for the case manager to do an Addendum or Administrative Amendment (per district policy). Some examples would be things like entering vision or hearing test results, adding an accommodation, or checking a box on one of the pages. If the change is more significant such as dismissing and adding a service, it is recommended that an ‘Other Review’ be held.

It is never permissible to make changes to the electronic copy of the IEP that are not on the original hard copy of the IEP signed by the parents. The IEP document is a legal agreement between the parent/guardian/adult student and the district cannot be altered after it is signed without permission from the parent/guardian/adult student. Any changes to the IEP must be made by one of the methods listed above.

Checklist for Avoiding Common Errors on SIRAS

If there are missing items on the forms, after the form has been submitted SIRAS will list missing items as orange form warnings in the Status column in the IEP Manager. Form warnings will not prevent you in any way to proceed with the IEP process.

If developing a draft, you may not know what to enter until the meeting; therefore, the orange form warnings can act like an agenda for your meeting. They will act as ‘reminders’ of what will need to be addressed.

When all the orange form warnings have been addressed, there will be a green check in the Status column.

TIP: Hover the mouse over the green check or the orange form warning and you will see a history of users (name, date/time) that have participated in the development of the form.

When SIRAS Updates Existing Forms

SIRAS is continually being modified to make things better. This includes not only the way the program runs, but also the IEP forms in the program. When an IEP form that you have saved get revised, the form will go from green to red with the warning “Submitted but no longer applicable”. That message tells you that the form has been revised. Delete the older version after retrieving any text (copy & paste into the new form or Word) you might want to add to the new version; the old form will disappear and be replaced by the new form. Check under Preview/Print and you will see the older version of the form has been replaced by the new version. If you are going to want to revise the old form, you can print a copy from the Print/Preview screen before you delete it.

Uploading (attaching) a Document to a Student Record

You can upload a document to a student record such as a Word Document, Excel file, JPEG, PDF, etc. to the student’s records. Frequently the Assessment Reports are added to this area. To upload a document to the record:

There are 3 types of uploads:

1. Upload a document to a record, such as an IEP from another program, a doctor’s note, etc. This is done under the Student Info menu, select Personal Profile, and then Document File.

2. Upload a document to a meeting, such as assessment profiles, signature pages, contributions from outside agencies, etc. This is done in the IEP Manager in an open meeting under the ‘Upload Document tab.

3. Then upload a document as a numbered page to the end of the IEP or assessment report. This is the same as uploading a document to a meeting, but if that document is a PDF you will have the option to append it to the end of the IEP/document as a numbered page.

Tip: If you scan the signature page as a PDF and indicate after uploading the form under Category as a ‘Signature Page’, SIRAS will replace the blank signature page with the scanned /uploaded signature page.

(see below for detail on three types of document uploads)

Upload Document to Student Record

· Choose the student and select a student.

· Go to “Student Info,” then “Student Profile,” then “Documents File.”

· Select a Category (e.g. Assessment Report).

· Type in a file description (include the date in your file description), click on “Choose File” and then “Upload”.

Anyone who is associated with the student will have access to view or add the uploaded documents.

Upload Document to Meeting

You can upload a document to a meeting by going to the open meeting, selecting the ‘Upload Document’ tab and following the directions above to associate the document with the meeting.

Upload Document as numbered Document in IEP

If the document you are associating with the meeting is a PDF file, you will have the option to append that document at the end of the IEP, ISP or Assessment Report (if your SELPA has had Assessment Reports incorporated in the IEP Manager). While all the PDF documents will always be at the end of the IEP, ISP or Assessment Report you can use the “Page Order” or to index or put which PDF document you want to be first or second, etc. This is done by enter the ordinal number in the ‘Page Order’ field.

Note: Only PDF files can be attached to the Basic forms (IEP), ISP or Assessment Report.

Note: If you upload a form to a meeting and if it is a PDF document, assigning the Category as “Signature Page” will replace the blank signature page a replace it with the uploaded signature page.

The file name convention is important. Do not use a file name with more than one period, i.e. “signature page 4.1.2014.pdf”. I file name like this will not allow you to append the file. The only period in the file name should be used to separate the file name and the type of file; i.e. “Signature Page.pdf”. Also limit the length of the filename to 15 characters.

Accessing Spanish Forms/Translating IEP Forms into Spanish

Spanish forms will only become available after you have developed the form in English, saved it, and clicked the checkbox for ‘Translation Req’d’ on the menu bar across the top of the IEP Manager screen.

Make sure you have filled out the English form and saved it before opening the Spanish form because all the information on the Spanish forms comes over directly from the English forms. If you open the Spanish form and save in SIRAS and then make further changes to the English form those changes will not be reflected on the Spanish form. For this reason, it is suggested that you not check the checkbox for ‘Translation Req’d” until all the English forms have been completed. If you need to make changes to the English version of any form after submitting the Spanish form to SIRAS, you will need to delete the saved Spanish form (by clicking on the grey ‘X’ to the right of the Spanish submitted form) so SIRAS will bring over all the revised information entered on the English form.

An exception to this suggestion would be Pre-IEP forms. The Spanish versions will be needed before the IEP meeting has been held. For Pre-IEP meeting forms, fill out all the forms that will be needed in English first and save them. Then check the ‘Translation Req’d’ checkbox. You will then see a new column for Spanish Pre-IEP forms.

The Spanish versions of the English forms that have been saved will be available under this tab. If the only information that will need to be translated on these forms, such as the IEP Meeting Notice, would be information which was typed onto the form rather than selected from the menus. Once the Spanish Pre-IEP forms have been printed, it is strongly advised that you uncheck the ‘Translation Req’d’ box so that other users will not be tempted to open the Spanish forms before the English forms have been completed.

Notice that the Spanish link only appears after the English form has been submitted.

All information entered onto the English IEP forms will be translated into Spanish except for information typed onto the form by the user. Any information typed onto the English form will show in English on the Spanish form. The translator does not need to view the English form. S/he can then just pull up the Spanish form and translate the English entries directly on the Spanish form.

Progress Reports can be printed in Spanish provided the goals have been translated. If staff members used the GoalWizard to develop the English goals, SIRAS will automatically translate them into Spanish. However, any goals that were customized or changed on the English version will need to have the same changes made on the Spanish version. Goals written without using the GoalWizard will have to be translated completely. Goals should always be translated in the Goal Developer. Then the translated versions will go directly into the Spanish IEP forms and progress report. To access the Spanish version of the goal, click on Edit Text to bring up the English goal, then click the button to access the Spanish version and make any changes needed, and save. Any comments typed by the user for the goals (rather than using the comments menu) or at the bottom of the Progress Report will also have to be translated.

To print a Finalized IEP in Spanish in the Finalized meeting window, select ‘Basic (Spanish)’ and click “View/Print All Forms” button.

Note 1: There is a special role in the program which is called Translator. Any user assigned the role of Translator can see all and only students who have “Translation Req’d” checked. When the translation is finished, the Translator will check “Translation Complete,” and the record will no longer be listed. If a Translator needs to be assigned to another role in addition to that of Translator, the students with IEPs needing to be translated will have to be assigned to that provider. The Translator role cannot be combined with any other role.

Note 2: When the translation is completed indicated by the translator checking the ‘Translation Complete’ checkbox the providers associated with the meeting and the person who created the meeting will get an internal email message (located on the SIRAS Home Page) that the translations to the IEP have been completed.

Setting up a Second IEP Meeting

SIRAS will allow a user to create a second meeting while another meeting is under development. This is only available if the primary meeting is one of the “Big 3”, Initial Evaluation, Annual Review, or a Triennial Review/Reevaluation. The secondary meeting options are limited in choices as well. The secondary meeting choices are an Addendum/Amendment, Other Review, Manifestation Determination, and an Exit Summary. These choices are limited due to the reason of SIRAS will not allow you to open a Triennial Review/Reevaluation and an Annual at the same time.

The Select a Meeting drop down box in the upper left corner of the IEP Manager will show the IEP in development, as well as, any archived meetings for the selected student. There is also an option to Create New Meeting.

Select Create New Meeting to create the secondary meeting. The meeting purpose will automatically be limited to the four options available.

Once a secondary meeting has been opened, the system will warn you that you have more than one active meeting, but only one meeting at a time will show on the IEP Manager screen. The user needs to toggle back and forth between the two meetings to complete the IEP forms.

The main concern with having two meeting types open at the same time is that the user might enter conflicting information for the two meetings. It is important to understand that the information in SIRAS from the meeting finalized first will be overwritten by the information from the second meeting finalized. It is also important to remember to start the primary meeting as one of the Big 3 first, as the options for the secondary meeting are limited. For example, if a Manifestation Determination meeting is created, the program would not permit you to create an Annual Review meeting because you already have a meeting open and the Annual Review is not one of the four meeting purposes allowed for a secondary meeting.

Student Does Not Qualify (DNQ)

During an Initial Evaluation a student may be determined not to qualify for Special Education services. Open the Student Demographic form; fill out the form, but do not fill out the disability or services. Check the box “Not Eligible - Initials Only... “

Click on ‘Save and Return’ to the IEP Manager. Notice that many of the Required forms on the Basic Forms list have been removed, as they will no longer required if the student is not eligible. Develop a draft by clicking the Preview/Print button. After the meeting check the Meeting Held box and Finalize meeting. Confirm the Plan Type field on the MIS Summary page says Not Eligible for Special Education or Related Services.

Student Exit from Special Education

To make terms clear, we Exit students from special education and we Dismiss students from services. If a student is speech only, and we dismiss the service, then by default the student will be exiting special education.

When a student is exiting from Special Education because s/he is no longer eligible, it is not necessary to do all the pages of the IEP. Only the Student Demographic, the IEP Eligibility, and the Consent and Signatures forms are required. It is also advised that you include a meeting summary using the Notes & Additional Information page of the IEP.

Exiting a student requires an assessment to determine whether the student continues to be eligible. Therefore, any meeting where a student will be exited must be a ‘Triennial/Reevaluation’ (even if it is conducted before the three-year due date). A student may be dismissed from a service during an annual review or other meeting if the IEP team determines that the service is no longer needed, but a student may not be exited from Special Education without an assessment. (Check your district policy regarding dismissing from a service without an assessment.) On rare occasions it would be permissible to do an exit using a ‘Other Review’ meeting purpose if a parent wants their child removed from special education.

To exit a student from special education during the Triennial Review, simply click on [Exit Student] button which will have the meeting date auto entered and the exit reason “No longer qualifies for special education’.

It will also remove the Next Review and Next Triennial dates as well as the disability and services on the IEP. The IEP page will have the information the way it needs to be for the exit IEP, but all the CASEMIS data about former services will remain on the MIS Summary page for CASEMIS reporting, and the student's file will be changed to ‘Inactive’ after the record has been ‘Validated’.

After the student is exited, DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHNG FROM THE MIS SUMMARY PAGE INCLUDING SERVICES ANS DISABILITIES. The State requires a snapshot of what the student was receiving just before they have exited. You will NOT be able to submit the exited record if anything has been removed from the MIS Summary page.

When a student is exited all pages that are no longer “Required” for the IEP will collapse (disappear) so they are no longer a part of the IEP. If one of these pages had been saved previously, it will still be listed on the IEP Manager, but there will be an ‘X’ in the Action Column to the right of the form that will allow the user to delete any page that is no longer required. Once the page is deleted, it will be removed from the list.

Other reasons a student may be exited from Special Education do not require an IEP meeting. The following reasons for exiting may be entered by CASEMIS staff:

Graduated from high school with regular diploma (no waiver or exemption)
Graduated from high school with certificate of completion or other than diploma
Reached maximum age
Dropped out (includes attempts to contact unsuccessful or not known to be continuing)
Moved, and known to be continuing (includes transfer to another program)
Deceased
Parent withdrawal/self-withdrawal if over 18
Received high school completion certificate through GED
Graduated from high school with a diploma using an exemption

In all cases listed above, the CASEMIS staff can simply enter the Exit Date and Exit Reason directly on the MIS Summary page in SIRAS. If the student is a graduating senior, over 18 dropping out, or aging out, the Case Manager should complete an Exit Summary, indicating the Exit Reason, and hold an Exit Summary meeting with the student. In those cases, the Exit Date and Reason will be entered on the MIS Summary directly from the Exit Summary.

If the student is leaving the district and going to another district within the SELPA, do not enter an Exit Date or Exit Reason; ask CASEMIS staff to transfer the student's record to the new district. An Exit Date with the Exit Reason of "Moved, and known to be continuing, transfer to another program" should only be used when the student is transferring out of the SELPA.

Concurrent Usage

It is not recommended to have two or more users working on the same record at the same time. The result will end with one or more users logged out of the system. The IEP Manager is the only area that may be used by multiple users, however, it is not recommended.

The IEP Manager may be accessed by more than one user. However, there can only be one user on a form at a time. If a form has already been accessed by a user, the form will list who is accessing the form and timestamp it. This does not prevent another user from accessing another form on the IEP Manager. SIRAS does not have the capability to have more than one user on the same form. If a user is no longer accessing a form and their name is still timestamped on the form preventing anyone from accessing, click on the Refresh button to update the forms and gain access to the particular form.

· It is not best practice to have two or more users working on the same record at the same time. However, this is permissible, but not recommended, in the IEP Manager but nowhere else in SIRAS. The effect of multiple users in the same record is that SIRAS will “kick you out”.

The exception is the IEP Manager, if two or more users log in SIRAS at the same time to fill out forms in the IEP Manager they can access forms unless someone else is already in the form. For example, John can be filling out the Present Levels page and Steve can fill out the SLD Eligibility form at the same time on the same student. However, if Steve want to also fill out the Present Levels form he will have to wait until John is done. Steve will see a message on the form link that John is currently in the form and the time John first went in the form.

By clicking the “Refresh” button above in the IEP Manager will reevaluate the availability of the form.

· Do not log in SIRAS with more than one session per user at a time. The same user should not log in SIRAS in two different sessions at the same time. If this is done you will get “kick out”.

IEP Manager FAQs

SIRAS will not allow me to create an Initial Evaluation. It says that the student is already in Special Education. How do I fix this?

The student’s Referral Information and/or Special Education Data has been entered on the MIS Summary page. Contact SIRAS Support to reset this data.

Why didn’t the ELD page come up for the student that is an English Language Learner?

Check the demographics tab to be sure the student is listed as EL. If not, the page will not come up. If a student is found to be not eligible on an initial or no longer eligible on a tri, the page will disappear as it is no longer needed. Also, this page does not come up for preschool students since their ELD information is at the bottom of the Preschool page.

Where are the Spanish forms?

Spanish forms do not appear until after you submit the English version of the form and check the Translation Required box on the IEP Manager.

Does SIRAS have a place to figure out % of time in the General Education class?

Yes, click on the calculator button next to the ‘% Time in General Ed’ field on the MIS Summary page.

Where are the Parent Rights and Safeguards forms?

How do I enter IEP date, location, and time on the Notice of Meeting form?

The IEP date, location and time are not inputted on the Notice of Meeting form. Enter the data on the interface screen for the new meeting. The program auto-populates the data on the form.

I accidentally opened an optional IEP form. I do not want to save it. How do I get rid of the form?

A form that has been opened does not have to be saved. Click on cancel and the system will respond as if the form had never been opened. If the form had already been saved, click on the red X next to the form to reset it.

Why do I get a picture of a cat?

Getting a picture of the "Bad Kitty" can mean you may have discovered a bug in the program that caused the browser to crash. Try to replicate the process it took you to get the Bad Kitty. This will help SIRAS Support troubleshoot the bug. It can also be an anomaly. Try logging back in and see if the Bad Kitty show up again. If so, contact SIRAS Support.

SIRAS Tips and Reminders

· For the security and privacy of the student information, SIRAS will time you out after 1 hour of inactivity. Forms that are opened may lose any data that was not saved.

· Log out of SIRAS when stepping away from the computer. This will ensure the security and privacy of the student information. Also, it will eliminate losing data from timing out of the system.

· SIRAS has a built-in reminder to save data while on a form. After a form has been opened for 15 minutes, a box will pop-up and prompt the user to save.

· Clicking on the Cancel button while on a form will not save any changes made to the form.

· Clicking the Back button on the webpage may log you out of SIRAS. Instead, use the Return to…. button to the right of the SIRAS icon in the upper left corner of the screen.

· Always log out of SIRAS first before closing the browser. The log out button is located in the upper right-hand corner by the username.

· SIRAS is a secure website, as well as, HIPPA compliant. The system is designed to log the user out after 45 minutes of inactivity. Take precaution and save any data and log out of the systems if there will be extended inactivity.

· Clicking on the Cancel button while on a form will not save any data entered on the form. you made to disappear.

· Missing items on the forms in the IEP Manager will show as Orange Form Warnings. These warnings will not prevent you from proceeding with the IEP process

· Orange Form Warnings may be used as an agenda of items to be discussed in the IEP meeting.

· When all the orange form warnings have been addressed, there will be a green check in the Status column.

· Hover the mouse over the green check or the orange form warning to see a history of users that have participated in the development of the form.

The Goals Developer

It is recommended that all goals be developed in the Goals Developer. The Goals Developer may be accessed for a student prior to creating a meeting by navigating to Student Info à Goals Developer. The Goals Developer can be accessed when a meeting is created by clicking on the link Go to Goals Developer next to the Annual Goals form. SIRAS defaults to the Annual Goals page. Click on the Benchmarks link to access the Goals and Objectives page prior to opening the Goals Developer. Do not open the Annual Goals forms until you have completed developing your goals in the Goals Developer.

There are several reasons for developing goals in the Goals Developer. The Goals Developer will ensure the goals are saved and put into the form correctly. Also, the Current Goals will go directly from the Goal Developer into the Progress Report form, as well as, the Goal or Goal/Benchmark form in the IEP Manager during an active meeting.

The Goals Developer has two choices. Creating a New Goal with the GoalWizard will pull goals from a goals bank. Creating a New Blank Goal allows you space to write a goal from scratch. Verify you are creating Goals Only or Benchmarks before you select ‘Creating a New Goal’ with the GoalWizard or Creating a New Blank Goal.

The GoalWizard

Creating a goal using the GoalWizard will guide you through developing a goal that will include all the required elements of a goal. Begin at the top of the screen and work down. Select a Target Date for the goal. The calendar will default to one year from today's date. Select the date that is one year from the actual date of the student’s IEP. This date will go into all the other goals. Next, select the Setting/Condition for the goal. Global Setting will give you a list of places or settings where you might want the student to demonstrate the goal. Choosing one of the domains or subjects on the list will give you specific settings and conditions pertinent to that subject area under which the student might perform the goal.

The next step is to select the Domain and Category and/or grade level for the goal. If one of the domains was selected for the condition above, the domain will already be entered. Skills/Behaviors will be listed 10 per page. Use the green arrows at the bottom to scroll back and forth between pages. Click on the hand to select a goal. As soon as a behavior is selected, the goals list will collapse out of the way. If you made a mistake on your selection, click on Choose a different behavior, and the behavior list will come back up.

Once a behavior has been selected for the goal, select the Accuracy (how well the student will perform the skill), Consistency (how frequently or how long over time), and the Measurement Instrument to be used. The program automatically enters the same behavior and Measurement Instrument for both the baseline and the goal. It also enters the same Accuracy and Consistency terms, but both can be modified while developing the goal when appropriate. It is important to state Accuracy in the same terms for baseline and goal so that comparisons of progress to baselines are logical. In most cases, Consistency will be stated in the same or similar terms as well. Although, the period for the baseline may be shorter than for the annual goal.

As information is added, the goal and baseline are being developed at the top of the page. Select Assemble Goal when finished. This will put the elements of the goal together and navigates to the Edit Goal screen where changes can be made to the goal. Replace the blank lines with a number by double clicking on the line. After any changes have been made to the goal and benchmarks click Save. This will take you back to the Goals Developer. Here you may create another goal. Click Delete if a goal was created that is no longer needed. A goal can only be deleted from the Goals Developer.

While developing Benchmarks, be sure to list the benchmarks in the order of expectation of them being achieved. Use the Goal Order field in the right-hand column to change the order of the goals. Be sure to include a separate benchmark for each reporting period. Progress report will not be able to be completed without benchmarks corresponding to the reporting period. Do not mark anything in the Action column to the right of any goal at this time. That is to be used only after the final Progress Report has been developed and after it has been indicated whether the goal has been met.

While developing goals in the Goal Developer, the following fields will be available:

· Area of Need: Select the area from the present levels and/or transition page that is addressed by the goal. All English learners must also have an ELD goal based on ELD standards. It the goal addresses more than one area it is possible to indicate both. (e.g. Transition & writing or ELD & reading).

· Responsible Discipline(s): A list of all persons responsible for implementing the goal may be listed, but the first person listed is the one responsible for collecting data and completing the scheduled Progress Reports for that goal. Multiple persons may be collaborating to help the student achieve the goal and collecting data, but only one person is responsible for compiling the data and completing the Progress Report. For this reason, the parent or student must never be listed first under Responsible Discipline. This also helps the parent know whom to contact if they have questions about the student's progress on a particular goal.

· Reason for goal: Describe the student's current needs in this area in terms the parents can understand. Be specific in terms of the behavior selected for the goal and why that skill is important. Explain how this area of need impacts the student’s progress in the general curriculum or other educational areas. If the student had a goal in this area on the previous IEP, report the progress or lack of progress and why it continues to be a need. It is not sufficient to write New Goal. This does not explain the reason for selecting this particular behavior as being important for the student.

After developing all the goals and/or goals and objectives using the GoalWizard in the Goals Developer, click on the Annual Goals form link on the Basic forms tab of the IEP Manager to open the form. Mark the Language of Instruction for all English Language Learners. Check the box to indicate if the goal Enables the student to be involved/progress in general curriculum and/or addresses other educational needs resulting from the disability. Indicate the Domain for the goal if addresses other educational needs resulting from the disability is checked. The Category and Standard will auto-populate if the GoalWizard was used to develop the goals.

Go to the Goals Developer to delete any blank goals that appear on the Annual Goals form. Blank goals will appear on the goals form and progress report if not deleted.

Customizing the GoalWizard

The GoalWizard can be customized to meet the needs of the user. To customize your goals bank, select a student, and start a goal using the GoalWizard. Select a domain and read through the goals. Click on Add to Favorites on the far-right side to add a goal to the Favorites. Click on Find Favorites to display favorites selected. To add a custom goal, click on Custom Behavior at the bottom of the goal list and type in your own goal stem. Begin the behavior with the verb and type in the behavior or skill. If it is an academic goal, put in the standard number as well and click Save. That goal will be to your personal goal bank. You can always access all the goals in that domain again by unchecking Find Favorites and Find Custom. That way you may continue to add favorites and/or "remove" a goal from the favorites. You may also delete a custom goal if it is no longer needed. Once finished customizing the goals bank, click on Cancel goal so that an unwanted goal is not created in the Goals Developer.

Creating the Next IEP Goals

SIRAS will allow the user to create goals for a student for the Next IEP without interfering with the current. Navigate to Student Info à Goals Developer. Find the tab labeled Next IEP Goals. Create the student’s Next IEP Goals using the GoalWizard or by creating a blank goal. Goals in the Next IEP Goals tab will be pushed to the Current Goals tab once the last Progress Report is completed and goals are archived and advanced.

Archiving & Advancing Goals

Prior to Archiving and Advancing goals, complete the final Progress Report and indicate whether the current goals have been met. If a goal is indicated that it was not met, an option to Keep and Revise will be given under the Action column. A goal that is checked to Keep and Revise will keep a copy of the goal in both Current Goals and Archived Goals when the Archive and Advance button is clicked.

Clicking the Archive and Advance button will send the student’s current goals to the archive tab. This will also send the Next IEP goals to the Current Goals tab. Any goals elected to Keep and Revise will copy both to the Current Goals and the Archived Goals tabs.

Important: Do not click on Archive and Advance Goals unless it is certain that the Progress Report has been completed and printed for the current IEP. Also, do not open the Annual Goals form for the upcoming IEP until after the goals are archived. You cannot archive goals while there is an active meeting with a submitted goals form.

nextYearsGoals

Service Log

The Service Log is a tool for the service provider to log and report services administered to an individual student or group of students. You can log a service, an assessment, or an activity leading to the completion of a goal. Individual progress can be represented in a list and/or a graph. The Service Log in SIRAS is not intended for Medi-Cal billing, as it may not possess all the required elements for billing. The Service Log is a tool for providers to document assessments or services.

Service Logs can be accessed in two places. To access a Service Log for a specific student, go to the Student Info menu > Data Collection and Progress > Service Log. To access all the logs for students on your caseload (or for a found set for an admin user), go to the Reporting menu > Service Log.

Service Logs

To develop a Service Log, first select a student from the Choose Student menu in the upper left corner under the SIRAS Systems logo. Then, access the Service Log located under the Student Info menu. You can toggle to another student’s Service Log by clicking on Choose Student.

To create a new Service Log, click on Create Service Log and a new log will be generated for the student.

The log is divided into three sections:

1. Services. The service, type of service and the date/time are entered here. Today’s date will be auto-entered as the service date. The service, type, and time will be auto entered based on the last log that was entered for the student. The user should review the auto-entered data and edit/revise to reflect the current service being documented.

2. Service Delivery. The service delivery model (Individual, Group, Consult or Absent) is indicated here. The services, including frequency, duration, and location from the current IEP will appear for the user’s reference. If ‘Absent’ is selected, the subsequent section with IEP services will be hidden.

Under the services, the goals associated with the services will appear. The goals will only appear if the goal has been associated with a service in the Goal Developer/ Edit Goal Text tab. Select the ‘Area of Need’ to display the goal and the entire goal will appear in the log.

3. Progress. Accuracy, Consistency and comments are logged here.

Progress Percent - This is an optional feature. Slide the progress bar to the percentage achieved for that session. This will generate a graph of progress. Progress entered on the last Service Log is auto-entered.

Accuracy – This is a required field. Describe what the student can do, the precision or the student’s performance for the session.
Consistency – This is a required field. Describe the period of time or the number of trials in which the accuracy was demonstrated for the session.

The Accuracy and Consistency in the student’s last Service Log entry appear to the right, as a reference for the user.

Progress Comment - This is a required field. Select a comment from the menu or type a general comment about the student’s performance for the session.

Notes – This is an optional field. Provide details of the student’s performance or interactions, such as observations during the session.

Once you have completed a Service Log, click Validate and Save to confirm that the accuracy, consistency and comments are recorded. If you do not want to save your entries, click Cancel to return to the main Service Log page for that student.

Progress Report Tools

A graph of the student’s service data marked form the progress percent slider is generated by clicking on Generate Progress Graph. Data from one Service Log will generate only one dot on the graph. As subsequent services are logged, the data will populate the graph with more data points.

To search for multiple Service Logs in a specific date range or by provider for Admin users, click on Search Service Logs. This will search your existing found set of students. Narrow your search by date ranges or by provider name for Admin users.

SIRAS will search your list of students or the found set of students that resulted from a search. For a larger group of students, be sure to reset your search to find Service Logs for all students you have access to or use the dropdown menu to determine the scope of your search. Click Reset to cancel the search.

To view more than 20 services at a time, select a larger figure from the dropdown located in the lower right corner.

The Service Log report can be printed using the pint icon.

Group Logs

If you have already created a Student Group, select that group from the dropdown menu.

Students served in a group settring can be documented as a group. Click on Create New Student Group to develop a group of students so they can be logged at once saving the provider time. Select the student by clicking on the student’s name, then click the ‘Add Student’ link. When done adding all the students for the group, create a name for the group and type it in the ‘Group Description’ field. That name will be then added to the Selected Group dropdown menu choices.

To generate a series of logs, click on Create Service Logs For Group to generate a series of logs.

There will be multiple students within the same Service Log. The service being provided, type of service and time/date will be the same for all the students. Session Delivery will default to ‘Group.’ If the student is absent, mark ‘Absent’ and the validations will be ignored.

Progress Reports

Student Progress Reports must be sent out to parents within the periods specified in the IEP, normally the Progress Reports coincide with the Report Cards sent out by the school. It is important that Progress Reports are completed before goals are archived and advanced.

Student Progress Report

To access an individual student Progress Report, select a student. Once a student is selected navigate to Student Info à Data Collection and Progress à Progress Report. This will allow you to enter Progress Report data for this student only.

Use the Calendar icon to the right of the date field to enter the date of the Progress Report. This date will be recorded as the first reporting date for that student. Next, select the Grading Period (Quarter, Semester, Trimester) for the Progress Report from the drop-down menu. Click on Add Progress Report to enter information regarding the student’s progress. The Edit Progress Report interface will prompt you to enter the Progress Report Date, Accuracy, Consistency, and any Comments.

The Progress Report Date defaults to the date selected for the Progress Report to be sent home. If the report date needs to be changed, it should be corrected using the calendar at the top of the page. Enter the current level of Accuracy the student has achieved. The accuracy must be expressed in the same terms as used in the goal or benchmark (number of times, errors, prompts, percentage, etc.). This is a report of how well the student is performing at this time. Enter the current level of Consistency that the student can achieve the reported level of accuracy. The consistency must be reported in the same terms as used in the goal or benchmark (number of weeks, months, observations, etc.). This is a report of how often the reported level of accuracy was demonstrated. Comments do not substitute for Accuracy and Consistency. Comments should serve as an explanation and/or summary of the reports of the levels of Accuracy and Consistency. For convenience, a drop-down menu of comments is available in the comments box. This menu can be bypassed by clicking directly into the box to access the field and typing comments. The box looks small, but it will expand to whatever size is needed to enter comments. Below the English Comment box there is a box for a comment in Spanish. If a comment from the drop-down menu is selected, SIRAS will automatically translate the entry to Spanish. Comments that were constructed using open-ended text will not be translated.

Once all four fields on this screen are filled out, click Save. This information will be entered into the Progress Report. Repeat the above steps for each goal and/or benchmark. Be sure not to skip any goals or benchmarks. If a mistake is made, correct it by clicking on Edit Progress Report.

This process should be repeated at each scheduled reporting date. The final Progress Report for the IEP meeting must indicate whether each goal was met under the Action column. If a mistake was made, click on Clear. This will allow the Yes or No to be removed. This is important because when marked Yes, a green check mark and the words Goal Met will appear on the Progress Report. When marked No, a red circle with an exclamation point and the words Goal Not Met will appear on the Progress Report.

Bulk Progress Report

The Bulk Progress Reports function is accessed under Reporting à Bulk Progress Reports.

This feature searches for all students with active goals and compiles them in a list. Students who do not yet have goals in SIRAS will not appear on the list. Click on the first student’s name and the page will expand. This area is to be completed exactly how the Individual Progress Report is completed. When the student’s Progress Report is completed, click on the student’s name again to minimize the window. Now click on the next student’s name on the list and repeat the same process until all students are complete.

Printing Bulk Progress Reports

Complete all student Progress Reports listed in the Bulk Progress Report. The Bulk Progress Report allows the user to print out all student Progress Reports at one time. Click on the Print All Progress Report button to print all Progress Reports.

It is recommended to go to the Menu bar of the browser and go under File à Page Setup, and change all the settings for the header and footer to Empty. Otherwise, the things listed such as Title, page numbers, dates, and URL will print on the Progress Report.

Users may also filter the list of students to print. Check the box next to the student’s names that need to be printed in Spanish. Click on any of the little black arrows next to the student’s name and select Find Only Marked. This will filter the list to only the student’s names the box is checked. Click in the word Spanish on the Print All Progress Reports button to print Progress Reports in Spanish. Click on any of the black arrows again and select Omit Marked. This will bring up the rest of the Progress Reports that need to be printed in English. Click on Clear All Marked to bring every student back to the Bulk Progress Report list.

MIS Summary Page

The MIS Summary page is a summary of all the important student information collected on one page. Student CASEMIS data is validated and submitted on the MIS Summary page.

Field Definitions

Most of the fields on the MIS Summary page have a small question mark next to the field. Place the cursor over the question mark to generate the definition for the field.

Student Status: Active / Inactive / Pending

The Student Status is located in the upper right-hand corner of the MIS Summary page. The student is designated as one of three statuses: Active, Inactive, or Pending.

Active Status records are students actively receiving Special Education services by an IEP, ISP or IFSP. All Active records must be submitted to CASEMIS.

Pending Status records are all students who are being referred for Special Education. Pending records are not included in CASEMIS; their eligibility has not been determined. After the Initial Evaluation meeting, the record will automatically become Active or Inactive depending on the what is determined for the student.

Inactive records are students that have been either Exited, are Not Eligible (DNQ), or Other.

Unlocking a Student Record

Many of the fields on the MIS Summary page are locked down for most users after the Initial Evaluation is complete. Users that have CASEMIS Clerk access and Admin 1 access will have an Unlock button at the top of the MIS Summary page. By clicking the Unlock button, the CASEMIS Clerk or Admin 1 user can open those fields to be edited.

Validating and Submitting a Record

The student record will need to be Validated before Submitting a record to CASEMIS. Validating a record will scan the record for any CASEMIS and non-CASEMIS errors. If there are either errors or warnings, an explanation of the error will appear in a yellow box located in the upper right corner. Once the errors have been corrected and the warning has been reviewed, then Submit the record to CASEMIS.

A history of all the CASEMIS submissions for a record may be viewed by selecting the desired report date. To return to the Active record click the button View Active Student Record.

CASEMIS Warnings and Errors

CASEMIS Warnings are identified with yellow triangle and are caused because of an anomaly in the data. Warnings must be reviewed before submitting the record to CASEMIS for State reporting. It is permissible to send a student record to CASEMIS with a warning. An explanation of the warning will appear in a yellow box located in the upper right corner. Warnings include the student’s grade and age are misaligned by more than two years, or an overdue IEP or Evaluation.

CASEMIS Errors are identified in red and may be caused by an omission or an entry where the condition is in error. All errors must be corrected before the record can be submitted to CASEMIS for State reporting. If there is an error, an explanation of the error will appear in a yellow box located in the upper right corner. Errors may include the student’s grade has been omitted.

Warning and errors are also represented on the ‘Choose Student’ list under ‘E’ for Errors and ‘W’ for Warnings. If the record had been successfully submitted to CASEMIS a green checkbox will be in the error space.

Detecting a Change on the Student’s MIS Summary Page

If SIRAS detects a change in the MIS Summary page, the Submit button turns yellow on the MIS Summary page. That record will also be listed under the Notification and Messages on the Home page. The record needs to be submitted for December/June CASEMIS.

Student Info.

Student Info. is the area a user can find all information related to a student. It is important for users to verify information in this area. Also, it is a place for users to gain information on a student as well as document and upload information pertaining to the student. Users can find the following by clicking on Student Info.

Student Profile

The Student Profile is where a user can view Personal, Contact, and Medical information for a particular student. Users are also able to view and create Notes and view and upload pertinent documents to the student’s profile.

Personal

The Personal tab displays the selected student’s Personal Data, School Data, and Demographic Data.

Contacts

Student Contact information is located in this tab. Users need to verify this information before creating a new meeting. Information located in the Contacts tab will be auto-populated in the necessary IEP forms when a meeting is created.

Medical

The Medical tab houses all medical information for the student record. Nurses may enter medical information for the student at any time. Hearing and Sight test results will auto-populate in the IEP forms if the medical information is added before a meeting is created.

Notes

SIRAS notes may be used to log parent contacts, antidote notes, medical issues, etc. Notes are searchable by clicking on the magnifying glass icon and selecting Notes. Enter a keyword, such as drug or seizure, and SIRAS will find all students with that key word listed in their Notes. Student lists can also be generated by clicking Reporting à Student List. Select the Predefined List tab and select Notes List. This will create a list of all notes for each student.

· List Notes: Go to the Student List under the Reporting menu, select the 'Predefined Lists' tab and select 'Notes List'. This will create a list of all the notes for each student within a list of multiple students. Use this feature with the Searchable notes feature discussed above for a powerful organizational tool.

· Print All button: will pint all the notes for the selected student.

· Print link: Print out the selected note.

Document File

The Document File is where a user can upload a document to the student record. Click on the Upload File button. Select a Category and type in a File Description. Next click on the Add button to add a file saved to the computer. Once a document is selected, click on Upload. Anyone who is associated with the student will have access to view or add an uploaded document.

Special Education Profile

The Special Education Profile will display the student’s IEP/Referral Dates, Program and Transportation Information, Services, Assessment Information/DRDP, and Transition information.

Discipline

The Discipline tab is where a user would go to create a new discipline incidence or view a history of the student’s discipline record and view a list of suspensions and/or expulsions.

Providers

The Providers tab is where a user would go to see a list of all the student’s providers. This is also where a user can assign a new provider to a student.

IEP Manager

The IEP Manager is where the user creates an IEP Meeting and completes the forms to build the student IEP. Once the meeting is held and the Meeting Held box is checked, a bridge of information is created between the IEP Manager and the MIS Summary page. The information on the forms is pushed to the MIS Summary page updated the information. Finalizing the meeting in the IEP Manager locks the student’s IEP and breaks the bridge between the IEP Manager and the MIS Summary page, thus breaking the flow of information between the two as well.

Goals Developer

The Goals Developer is where users can create goals for a student IEP. For more information, see the Goals Developer section above.

Data Collection and Progress

Data Collection will generate data for a student’s progress toward their goals. Users can print this data by clicking Print Data Collection Grid. Users are also able to enter data directly into the program by clicking Add Data Collection Date. Over time the system will generate a graph to show the student’s progress toward a goal. The graph will average one line for each area of need.

Users can access the student’s Progress Report by clicking on Progress Reports.

MIS Summary Page

The MIS Summary page is a summary of all the important student information collected on one page. Student CASEMIS data is validated and submitted on the MIS Summary page.

Student History

The Student History captures many of the actions users do to the student record. CASEMIS submission, Transfers, and the Meeting History are all recorded in the Student History. The Student History lists any Disciplinary Actions taken and Archives the Services the student is provided. The Change Log lists all the changes made to the student record, who made the change, and timestamps the change.

Next Year’s Data

Next Year’s Data tab / Record of Change – Revision to IEP form / Rollover / Viewing Incoming Students

The Next Year’s Data tab is located in the Student Info menu. This page contains data that will rollover and replace the current data with the next year’s data during the rollover which occurs sometime in July after the completion of June CASEMIS for the next school year. These fields include next year’s SELPA; DOS; DOR; School Attending; School Residence; Transportation; Services; Providers; Statewide Assessments; Placement and % in General Ed.

The Next Year’s Data page is connected to the Record of Change forms or Revision to Next Year’s IEP form (depending on your SELPA) so when the form is completed the next year’s data will be populated on the Next Year’s Data page. Normally these forms are not used unless the student is having a transition. Once on the page many of these items are Searchable and List-able which assists in the development of a matriculation list [where/what the student has currently and where/what the student will have next year].

By entering the Next Year’s District that district entered in that field will be able to view that record as read only except for the Next Year’s Data page. The purpose is so that the district can plan ahead of time for incoming students. To view incoming students from another district you must have district level admin access; then go up to the little school house in the upper right-hand corner and check “View incoming students”. This will switch your focus from your district’s students to only those students who have your district listed as Next Year’s District on the Next Year’s Data page. The admin user will be able to enter the next year’s school and providers for those students on the Next Year’s Data page. They will also be able to generate lists, do searches and view the IEP and MIS Summary page as read only of those students.

Often this scenario plays out when a high school district wants to plan for their incoming freshman. If all the students at a particular elementary district or school are going to the same high school district the CASEMIS Clerk or special ed. secretary can use the ‘Batch Edit/Submit’ under tool to enter the students’ new high school district en masse. Please contact SIRAS Systems should you need assistance with this. This can also be done individually by a provider to that student by going to the Next Year’s Data page. After this has been done the high school district admin user can view all those students as read only and prepare for those incoming freshmen. This would not be necessary if the district is a unified school district.

Print Profile Summary

This is where a user can print the student’s Profile Summary

Creating a New Student Record

This is where a user would create a new student record. The most important thing to note in creating a New Student is to correctly select the student’s Special Education Status. If the student is coming from another SELPA and has already been receiving services, the status should Active. During an Initial Evaluation the student status should be Pending. Continue to fill out as much information as possible. Once the student information is completed, click on the Create New Student Record button.

Reporting

Student Lists

The Student Lists can assist the user in case management. The Student List defaults to the Management List. Click on the Predefined Lists tab to view all the Predefined Lists available.

Management List 1 is the default list. This list will provide basic Special Education data such as the School, Grade, Birthdate, Last IEP date, Last Triennial Review/Reevaluation date, Primary Disability, and Primary Service.

Management List 2 provides similar information in a slightly different format. The Management List 2 provides data such as Grade, Primary Disability, Birthdate, Primary Contact Information, School Attending, and a list of All Services.

Services List shows the School along with a detailed list of All Services including the Provider, Frequency, Location, and Duration of each service.

State Assessment List shows a list of students and their participation in CAASPP, along with all the specific variations, accommodations, and modifications entered on the CAASPP page of the IEP. This is similar to the ISAAP Tool provided by CDE.

Notes List shows a list of students and any notes entered into the student’s record.

Discipline List shows only the students who have discipline records entered into SIRAS.

All the above lists can be grouped by School or by School and case manager, School and placement (DIS, RSP, SDC), or School and Program (S/L, APE, Full Inclusion, etc.).

Lists may also be Edited. Users can modify or edit the lists to meet their needs. Click on Edit List tab. The Predefined List chosen will roll over to continue to Edit. The column on the left contains criteria users can add to the list to make more customized lists. The column on the right houses the criteria the list will be constructed of. Use the Add and Remove buttons to Add and Remove criteria to the to the customized list. The order of the criteria in the right column will be the order the list will appear. Click on an item in the right column and use the Up and Down buttons to adjust the order of the criteria in the customized list.

The custom list may be saved by the user for convenience and ease of access to custom lists that may have to be created multiple times. To save a custom list, name the list in the box next to where it says Save List As and click save. Each user can save unique customized lists to access at any time. To access Saved Lists, click on the drop-down menu and select the Saved list desired.

Click on the drop-down menu Group By to group like students together in the list.

Classroom/Instructional Accommodations List

SIRAS now offers a list of your students’ classroom/instructional accommodations. These are the accommodations listed on the ‘Classroom Accommodations and Modifications’ or the ‘Preschool Strategies’ forms in the IEP Manager. To access the list, go the Reporting menu > Student Lists and then select the Pre-Defined List tab. On the Predefined List tab and select either the “Classroom Accommodations” or the “Preschool Accommodations” buttons to generate the list.

You can also enter the Classroom/Instructional Accommodations by going to the Student Info menu / Special Ed Profile / Services. To add an accommodation, next to the button “Add Accommodation” select the category and then the accommodation.

Statistical Reports

Statistical Reports may be used to establish trends, point out strengths, and uncover weaknesses. SIRAS allows the user to develop reports for the current and historical data. The results are displayed in a list, a matrix format, or a graph. Statistical Reports are divided into Predefined Reports and Setup Custom Report.

The Statistical Reports may include the entire District/School/Caseload or can be filtered through be a Found Set.

Predefined Reports are reports that are commonly used by the district. SIRAS has compiled many convenient Statistical Reports to be utilized.

To Develop a more customized report, click on Setup Custom Report. The Data Set is the data set that you want to source from. The default data set is the current found set.

The Report Layout will provide you the option to display the results as a List or Matrix. Use List when displaying one data element and use Matrix when displaying two data elements. The default Report Layout is List.

Users have the option to represent the data by using Labels, Abbreviations, Codes, or Codes and Labels.

Show Percentages

Check the Show Percentages box to display the results as percentage, as well as, the number. The Show Percentage box is unchecked by default.

Show Graphs

Results may also be displayed in the form of a graph. Check the Generate Graph box and choose between a Pie Graph, Vertical Bar Graph, or a Horizontal Bar Graph. The size of the graph can be adjusted by using the Width and Height sliding bars.

No more than two fields may be selected to report on. Select the fields from the column on the left. Fields selected will show in the column on the right. Select a field be clicking on the Add button. Click on the Remove button to remove an item from the report. The Up and Down arrows will change the fields to the primary and secondary reporting fields.

Click on the Generate Report button to generate the Statistical Report.

Tools

Calendar

The Calendar displays the events by the month. Click on the day and the Calendar will display the agenda for the day. To the right of the Calendar there is a list of deadlines for the Initial Evaluations, Annual Reviews, and Triennial Review/Reevaluations. At the bottom of the Calendar there is a list all the arranged meetings for the month. Logging in as a district level administrator will give the user the calendar for the whole district. A School level admin will generate a calendar for the school. And a general user, such as a case manager, will see a calendar for their caseload. If the district CASEMIS Clerk entered vacation days at the beginning of the school year, they will be plotted on the calendar in green and vacation days of more than 5 days will adjust the Initial Evaluation timeline. Click the Print button to print the calendar.

calendar

Adding District Bulletin Board & District Vacation Days

This can only be done by the District CASEMIS Clerk admin user and should be done at the beginning of the school year AFTER the SELPA rollover. To do this go to Tools, the District CASEMIS Clerk admin user will see a menu item “SELPA/District Admin”. When this is selected it will open a page with two parts: the top part allows the user to enter create a bulletin board that all users in the district can view on the SIRAS Home page; the bottom section allows the user to enter district vacation days.

Create District Calendar

To create a bulletin Board, click the “Edit” button on the page. Use the web tool bar to modify text size, color, format, etc. (Do not copy & paste from Word). Click ‘Save’ button at the bottom when done. Now when any district user logs in they will see three buttons on the Home Page: “SIRAS News;” the “SELPA Bulletin Board (default)” and the your new “District Bulletin Board”.

Enter District Vacation Days & Progress Report Dates

To enter a vacation dates, click ‘Create New Holiday’ and enter the name of the holiday in the description such as ‘Spring Break’, the start date and the end date. Do not start or end a vacation on a weekend. If the vacation is more than 5 working days total the Initial Evaluation count down will be extended to reflect the vacation days. The vacation days will be plotted in green on the Calendar located under the Tools menu.

Progress Report Dates will be plotted in the calendar and appear as a list of dates on the Progress Report and the benchmark target dates.

Using the Search Feature in SIRAS

The Search Feature is located on the Home Page to the right of the number of records in the current selection. When you are viewing all available records, you will see the hourglass and the word Search.

To search for a specific student in SIRAS, you can type the student’s name or ID number in the blank field next to the word Search, and then click on the arrow to the right of that box, to locate the student. If you are not sure of the student’s exact name or ID number, you may enter only part of the name, and the program will bring up all students containing that entry (see below).

Once you have done a search, the number of available records will be reduced, and the words Modify/Reset Search will appear next to the hourglass. To bring back all records, click on Reset Search link.

To search of a particular group of students, click on the word Search to the right of the hourglass. This will bring up the Search screen. There are some simple searches under Basic Query where you can search by entering the Name, ID, or Birthdate or select from the menus for the other basic queries.

There are also some other Queries availabler under the headings of Advanced Query Contitions and Predefined Queries that were designed for use by the CASEMIS staff who use them on a regular basis. See below for a screen shot of the Advanced and Predefined Queries available.

Predefined Queries tab

This is a list of predefined queries that are commonly used such as CASEMIS compliance and DRDP related searches.

Creating a search (query):

Most general users will not want to use these two categories because their level of access will not make them relevent. The power of the Search for general users is in the ability to build their own queries and save them under the Query Builder at the bottom of the screen. The first step in building your own query is to Add Search Criteria. The menu for that field has a huge number of options that can be used for a search. For ease of access the various menu options are sorted into the following categories: Student Identification, School, Demographics, Contact Information, Program Information, Services, Referral Data, IEP dates, Special Ed, Participation, Post Secondary, Providers, Discipline, Next Year’s Data, SIRAS, ESY, Participation, Medical, and Other Provider Services. Each of these categories contains anywhere from 6 to 25 fields related to the categorie that can be used in the search. Once a field has been selected for the search, SIRAS will ask for a value for that field. Then you will be able to decide if you wish to Exclude that option rather than search for it. If you check the Exclude box you will be searching for all records that do not include that option.

Click on the ‘Add Search by Criteria’ link to vew all the searchable fields by category.

Or, if you know the name of the field that you are looking for, just enter it in the field to the lect of the ‘Add Search by Criteria’ link.

In some cases, you will be given the opportunity to further define your selection. For example, if you select the option of “Grade” you will have the choices of equal to the grade you enter, between two grades, or greater than or less than the grade selected.

Similar choices are available for age, dates, and other fields where you may want a range of selections. If you select “Between” you will get 2 fields that allow you to enter a begin and end for the range you desire. For date fields you will also have a calendar from which you can select the dates desired.

There is no limit to the number of search criteria that can be added, but it is important to remember than when you included mutliple critera, the program will find only the records that meet all of the criteria selected. Any combination of fields is permitted. It can sometimes be helpful to put in one category to include and another one to exclude as a means of getting the desired group of students.

Once the search criteia have been identified, the user needs to go back to the top of the Search screen and click on one of the two choices next to the number of records to be searched: Search and Choose or Search to List. Search and Choose will bring you to the Choose Student screen (as shown in the second screen shot in this document). Search to List will take you to the default Management List (also accessed under Reporting/Student Lists/Management List (default).

Anytime you create a search that you think you might use again, you can save time in the future by saving the list. Simply type in the name you want to assign to that query next to “Save Query As,” and then click on Save New Query. Your query will then appear under the Menu next to My Saved Queries so you can select it again any time you need it.

Some users serve students for whom they are not the case manager. As a means of quickly finding only the students for whom they are the case manager, they can create a search to locate the students on their case management list by entering the search criteria of Case Manager, selecting their own name from the case manager list, and then clicking on either Search and Choose or Search to List to pull up only the students for whom they are the case manager. Saving that query will enable them to quickly locate these students by selecting that search from the list of saved queries.

A saved query can be brought up at any time, and the user only needs to click on Search and Choose or Search to List to find those students again. The search will automatically include any new students who have been added that meet the search criteria.

Once a query has been created and/or saved, it is possible to modify the search criteria without having to reset the search. If, for example, a user has more than one school, the user could create a query to find the School Attending, with the name of one of the schools. The user could first search for the students in that school, and work with them. Then s/he could click on Modify and simply change the school name, and the program would switch to the new school without the user having to Reset the search. This can be very helpful in terms of saving time when the user wants to change back and forth between two or more values for the selected Search Criteria (grade, age, EL type, school, case manager, etc.)

Searching for student who meet specific criteria is a useful tool for data managment. Any time a user wants to find a particular group of students, English Learners for example, s/he can do a search limit the records viewed to only the students who meet the criteria of interest (EL type = EL). Using the search feature also makes the Student Lists (under Reporting) much more powerful. For example, instead of seeing all students in the school or district on the SBAC Participation List, the user could first search for students between grades 2 and 11 to see only the students who fall within the grades that make up the testing group for SBAC.

Batch Edit/Submit

Batch Edit/Submit allows the use to replace data of one field for an entire found set of records. This feature is only available to users who have CASEMIS Clerk access. SIRAS Systems suggest contacting Brian Marcontell at brian@sirassystems.com when using this feature for the first time.

To Batch Edit/Submit, perform a search to isolate a found set of records by using the Search feature (the little magnifying glass). Make a note of the number in the found set. Navigate to Tools à Batch Edit/Submit. Select the field that will be replaced from the drop-down menu then select the field that it will be replaced with. Before clicking on the Replace button make sure the found set is correct and the data to be replace is correct. Once the Replace button is clicked on there is NO UNDO button. Once the data is correct, click the Replace button. Verify the number of students is equal to the found set in the next dialog box and click OK if it is correct.

IMPORTANT: If a mistake is made do not log out, contact Brian Marcontell at (805) 252-2052 to try and recover any data.

Added Forms

Added forms is an area for the SELPA/District to upload SELPA/District forms to be downloaded by users. The forms are links that allows the users to download SELPA/District forms. SIRAS does not auto-populate data into the forms.

SELPA User, District CASEMIS Clerk, or District Admin 1 can upload documents to this page. To upload a form to the Added Forms, scroll to the bottom of the Added Forms page, enter a file description, and browse for the document to be uploaded. Once the document is selected, click Upload. Next, enter a Category and Index. The Index is the order of how the uploaded forms will show for a user.

NOTE: SIRAS supports PDF and Word documents with a limit of 20 megs per form. The file name must have 15 characters or less with no punctuation marks in the name.

Assessment Reports

This is not available for all SELPAs as the SELPA has the option to post their own SELPA Assessment Report templates or use ours as a tab in the IEP Manager.

Assessment Reports are a list of assessment report templates that can downloaded by a user. SIRAS does not auto-populate data into the forms. Users may download a template to the computer and modify to fit the user and student’s needs. Once the template is completed, the user may upload the Assessment Report to the student’s record in SIRAS

To input data on the Assessment Report, toggle between the fields using the up and down arrows on the computer keyboard. The arrow buttons will take you directly to the fields that need to be addressed and skip all other areas that are legally required and may not be changed. If any non-required fields are not applicable for a student, click on the spacebar on the computer keyboard to delete.

Some fields have optional headers that can be deleted if not applicable for the specific child. Use the backward arrow to undo any mistake. Tables and text can be copied and pasted into any field that is blue. Please spellcheck the text before copy and pasting.

Student Transfer

A Student Transfer may only be executed by the CASEMIS Clerk and the District Admin 1 access users.

Direct Transfer

A student may be transferred to another District or School by navigating to the student’s MIS Summary page. The student’s record will need to be unlocked by clicking the unlock button, only available to Admin users.

Once the record is unlocked, the Admin may change the District or School directly on the MIS Summary page. Changing the district attending, district of residence, or school constitutes a transfer and will log a transfer record.

Request Transfer

A student new to a district or school may not be new to SIRAS. A new student may have an existing record in SIRAS. The Admin can navigate to Tools à Request Transfer to search for an existing student record before creating a new student record in SIRAS.

Enter the student’s SSID under the Find Candidate Student Records page and click on Find Matching Records. Partial first name, partial last name, or the student’s birthdate may be entered as well. Do not try to search for the student by completing all the fields. The more variables may limit the ability to search and reduce the chance of finding the student. It is recommended to use the SSID if known.

Once the student record is found, the Admin can specify directly what District and School the student will be going to. Use the School Type choice to select other schools besides public schools. Click on Create Transfer Request to send a request. The CASEMIS Admin from the other district/school can accept or cancel the request depending on the circumstances. Whomever requested the transfer will be notified on the Home page when the transfer is accepted or denied.

Sending a Transfer:

The Admins Home page will list the current Transfer Request. Each request will show when it was initiated, information about the student, where the request is coming from, and where the request is going. There will be an option to accept, send, or cancel the request.

The Admin can specify a reason for cancelling the request if needed. Individual transfers are logged under the Student History.

Transfer Rules

· Records that have an open meeting cannot be transferred. The meeting must be finalized or deleted if no longer needed.

· Records that are Inactive will be made Active upon transferring. A record that was Exited and Returned to Regular Education will be left Inactive, so the receiving district can start a Secondary Initial Evaluation.

· Records being transferred from one SELPA to another also must be Inactive and given exit information when appropriate.

· During the CASEMIS Deadline period, when SELPA is making a final review of the CASEMIS data, transfers will not be permitted.

· An Admin will see Accept, Send, and Cancel as options for a Transfer. Accept indicates accepting the Student Transfer. Send indicates sending the record to another district/school. Cancel indicates that the transfer is to be undone with no action.

Transfer History

Records that have been transferred are logged. Admins can review the transfer history by clicking on the View Transfer History link located on the Home page. It can also be viewed from Reporting.

In the Transfer History Report, the name of the student is a link that will give a snapshot of the student’s MIS Summary page at the moment of the transfer. In the upper right corner is an option ‘Print transfers from date’ that will allow you to search for a range of transfer dates.

Data Export

Data Export is available to all Admin users and depending on the district, general users as well. Before exporting data create a Found set of records by clicking on the Search Icon. The Export will be limited to those students in the found set. If you would like the entire District/School/Caseload, do not create a found set. Once the set of students are determined, navigate to Tools à Data Export. Choose between Current or Historical records. The Found set may also be filtered further by changing the MIS Status. Incomplete Status will produce student records with missing information or errors on the MIS Summary page. Warning Status will produce student records that contain warnings on the MIS Summary page. Complete Status will produce student records that contain no errors or warnings on the MIS Summary page. Submitted Status will produce only those records of students that have been submitted to CASEMIS for the current reporting cycle and Not Submitted Status will produce those records that have not been submitted to CASEMIS.

Next Select the State Code Format. Most CASEMIS fields have codes associated with them. The system defaults to Label. Users may also choose Code or Code and Label.

Select a Data Set that is to be exported. Data sets must be exported separately. Some elements of the Student Data have been combined with other sets for convenience. The Choose Fields column will adjust depending on the selection of the Data Set.

The Choose Fields column on the left contains all the fields in the data set that are available for downloading. The column on the right are the fields that have been selected from the left column that will be part of the export. To move a filed from the left column to the right column, double click on the desired field or click on the field and click the Add button. To change the order of how the fields will be exported use the Up and Down buttons to move the position of the field.

Next give the exported file a brief description in the box next to Description for Saved File and select the file format of the export.

To Export the data, click on the Start Process – Generate Export button. The export will be saved for downloading at the very bottom of the Export Data screen under My Finished Exports.

SIRAS has compiled Export Presets for the convenience of the user. Click on the button of the Export Preset to export the data.

Data Exports can be found under My Finished Exports. Click on the Download link to retrieve the data. It is recommended to delete exports that are no longer needed by clicking on the red X to the right of the Finished Export.

Note: If the export finishes and the download link is missing, refresh your browser window. The browser will ask to confirm to leave the page; click leave and the link should show up.

Data may also be exported directly from a Student List by clicking the Export icon.

export

Preparing CAASPP Data for TOMS

For students eligible for CAASPP you will need to confirm that their SBAC/CAA participation has been properly selected and Designated Supports and Accommodations have been entered. Designated Supports and Accommodations can be entered on the CAASPP Participation form or directly into SIRAS by going to the Assessment Data/DRDP page (Student Info > Special Ed Profile > Assessment Data/DRDP).

Before a transfer of data is done by the testing coordinator at your district you will need to review your caseload for “holes” (nothing filled in for participations) using the State Assessment list.

Part 1 Locate the eligible records for review:

1. Go to the Search Page by clicking on the magnifying glass.

2. Click the Predefined Queries tab option.

3. Click the “Smarter Balanced Eligible” button to execute the search/query. This will locate all the students from grades 3^rd – 11^th who are required to take the Smarter Balanced test.

4. Now click “Search to List.” Feel free to modify the search to narrow the search to a specific site or caseload if appropriate.

5. Click the “Predefined Lists” tab in the Student List area.

6. Click “Statewide Assessment List.”

7. Review the SBAC_ELA and SBAC_Math columns for “holes” (an empty SBAC cell that is blank or says, “Smarter Balanced with Designated Supports” or “Smarter Balanced with Accommodations” without any listed below– see pict 2 below).

8. When you find missing or incorrect information right click on the student’s name and select Special Ed Profile > Assessment Data/DRDP and enter the missing data (see Part 3). To return to the Student List again click the back button to the right of the SIRAS logo.

Records that will have “gaps” are records where the IEPs have not been held yet. CAASPP data entered in this tab will be ready for export into TOMS. If you have removed Supports/Accommodations or added Accommodations, an IEP must be held prior to testing. This can be done via an addendum/amendment/other review/annual or triennial. Check with your director/ program specialist for their guidance about the meeting type they prefer in these cases.

Part 2 Review the data for gaps or incorrect data.

Students in the testing group with blanks. Add Participation and Supports/Accommodations if needed.

Students with Supports or Accommodations, but none are listed. Add specific Supports or Accommodations if needed, otherwise choose participation without Supports/Accommdations.

Students in the testing group who are listed as outside of grade level. Participation must be changed and Supports/Accommodations added if needed.

Pict 1 - Reviewing the data for gaps or missing data

gaps

Part 3 Fill in the missing and/or correct the data.

Go to Student Info > Special Ed Profile > Assessment/DRDP tab.

Repeat until all eligible records are showing correct data with no gaps in the list.

Part 4 Exporting the TOMS data

1. Repeat Part 1, steps 1 – 4 and modify if needed to isolate the eligible records for export.

2. Click on the Tools menu and choose “Data Export.”

3. Below on the Export Data page click the “Smarter Balanced” button

4. When the export is complete, you will see the file listed further below on the Export Data page under the “Downloaded Saved Export Files” with a filename of SBACSirasExportYYYYMMDD.xls Send the file to your testing coordinator. This file should be sent at the latest 2 weeks prior to testing. Site coordinators will upload this information into TOMS 2-4 weeks prior to testing. Site testing coordinators should confirm with support@sirassytems.com that the Smarter Balanced Export has been updated for 2016 prior to attempting initial TOMS upload.

Document Library

The Document Library is a library of all the forms listed in SIRAS. The Document Library has a tab for Non-IEP forms and a tab for Emergency Use forms.

The Document Library defaults to the Non-IEP forms. Non-IEP Forms are not part of the student IEP forms. Non-IEP forms include the Transportation form, the IEP Agenda, the IEP at a Glance, and more. These forms are not saved and archived in SIRAS.

Emergency Use forms consist of all the forms in the IEP Manager, both English and Spanish. Not all forms have a Spanish component. Only the forms with a Spanish link offer a Spanish form. The forms are arranged by category, the Basic Forms, Pre-IEP Forms, and Other Forms. These forms are not intended to take the place of the forms in the IEP Manager. These forms are intended to be downloaded and saved to a computer or printed out in the case of a network or power failure. These forms are not saved and archived in SIRAS as they are in the IEP Manager.

The forms in the Document Library contains a fill in feature if a student is selected before navigating to the Document Library. This feature will only partially fill in the forms with basic student information. Some fields on the forms are locked because the forms are sourced from the IEP Manager and not intended to be changed on the form.

My Account/Manage User

A general user will have access to the My Account link. This gives the user access to only make changes to their own account. Users with Admin access will have the Manage Users link. Admins will have access to make changes to their own account and other user accounts.

The User Account section has 6 tabs: User Account, Personnel Data, Edit Preferences, Students, District/School, and User Audit.

The Choose User button allows the Admin to locate a user account.

The New User button is used to create a new user. SIRAS will not allow duplicate users. Contact the SELPA CASEMIS Clerk if there is an error message indicating that a user with the same name already exists. The CASEMIS Clerk can Reactivate the user, Transfer, or Add the user to your district/school.

User Account Tab

Click the “Edit Account Detail: (your username)” located at the bottom to open account fields.

· “Update User” button: updates changes made to the user account.

· “Reset Password” button: removes the existing password and replaces it with [SIRAS access] (Capital ‘S’ and a space between SIRAS and access.)

· “Deactivate User” button: (depending on the SELPA this may not be accessible).

· Username is the name that you would log in with. It must be unique to any other user without spaces. The user name does not show up on any of the form.

· Password must be at least 8 digits and must be entered twice to confirm.

· First/Last Name is the name that will be on the forms. It does not necessarily have to be unique like the username. User should fill in the phone and email address as this will be distributed as an auto enter to the forms.

· User Access: This is where the user is assigned their level of access to SIRAS. The default is “General User”.

· Access Levels: for details refer to ‘SIRAS Access Rights and Levels Chart’

· “SELPA Level Access” has access to all the records within the SELPA.

· “District Level Access” has access to all the records within the district(s).

· “School or Charter School Level Access” has access to all the records within the school(s).

· “Read Only” limits users to only be able to view records.

· CASEMIS Clerk – this is the highest level of access and should only be given to users who need this level of access. They would be responsible for managing user accounts, manage transfers, resetting passwords, creating new accounts, assigning students, assigning schools, unlock MIS Summary page, reactivate meetings, etc.

· District Admin 1- has the same access as a CASEMIS clerk but they are not able to create new users. This assess should be given to directors and trusted program specialists.

· District Admin 2 – can add/remove school and providers to student records. No access to manage users.

· School Admin 1- request and submit school transfers and add/remove school and providers to student records.

· School Admin 2- add/remove school and providers to student records.

· Translator – only has access to records that have the ‘Translation Required’ checkbox checked for a meeting and the ‘Complete’ checkbox not checked.

Personnel Data Tab

This tab allows you to enter contact, demographic and certification information for users. Personnel reports can be generated with this data.

Edit Preferences Tab

You can change the skins and submitted record / completed form icon for the selected account. You can also set a default to the maximum number of viewable records in the ‘Choose Student’ list. If you are a CASEMIS Clerk set it to the maximum. Also, if you use an iPad, Tablet or Chrome most of the time under IEP Manager.

Student Tab

Assign students to a Provider

· FIRST select the role of the provider

· In the ‘Choose Student’ list, click the checkbox located to the far right of the students you want to add to the selected user account. (hint, use the Search to obtain a found set.)

· When completed selecting the students, scroll all the way up to the top of the list. Click the > button located at the very top of the checkboxes and select “Find Only Marked”

· This will create a found set of all the selected records. At the top right-hand corner will be a button after the “Find Only Marked” is selected “Assign all Found Students to: (user name)”

Assigning Groups of Students to Providers

1. Go to Tools then to Manage Users. Click on Choose User and select the Provider that you want to assign students to. This is only accessible by the CASEMIS Clerk.

2. Enter a role (remember there can be only one case manager per student) and click on “Add student”.

3. Check the students you want to add. To view more students, you can bump up 50 per page to 200 per page.

4. Scroll all the way up and click on the little triangle and select “Find only marked”

5. Once you have selected, “Find only marked” then you will see the button “Assign all students to …”

6. Now the Provider will have access to those selected students.

District/School Tab

There are two columns, one column lists the district and schools in a sub folder. Select the district(s) or school(s) that the user would have access to. You can make a district/school the default. That means when the student logs in that will be the district/school readily available to that user. To toggle between the other district/schools the user should click on the school house in the upper right corner and select the district/school to access.

You can make a district/school read only by checking the ‘read only’ checkbox to the right of the district/school that had been dragged and dropped from the list of district/schools in the left-hand column.

User Audit Tab

This logs the selected user’s history of their activity when in SIRAS. It will log what they have done and when they have done it. These logs are subject to the most important fields.

Note 1: If new schools need to be added, contact SIRAS Systems and make this request. We will need the CDS code for the school, the address, phone and fax.

Note 2: New user ‘Roles’ can be developed by SIRAS Systems containing with chosen rights. Refer to the ‘SIRAS Access Rights and Levels Chart’ for a list of rights.

Entering DRDP Data (Desired Results Access Project)

1) Login to SIRAS

2) Click on SEARCH

3) Look under 'Predefined Queries' (click on word 'Predefined Queries' to toggle view of the buttons)

DRDP eligible

Those records that will most likely need a DRDP. Staff discretion on recent transfers or exits.

DRDP not complete

Eligible records that have either not been started at all or have been started but not completed.

DRDP started but not complete

Those records started but not finished. (Most likely blank DRDP generating errors)

DRDP complete

Those records that have been created and all needed fields filled in.

Click on 'DRDP eligible'

4) Click on 'Search to List' to show list of chosen students for DRDP lists

Or search for students individually

Once the student record has been found and selected:

5) Choose /Student Info/Special Ed. Profile/Assessment Info/DRDP

menu_to_drdp

6) Scroll down to view 'DRDP' area

7) Click on 'Create DRDP' to start data entry

8) Fill in DRDP data and click 'Validate' when complete

9) Fix listed validation errors, re-validate until error free.

** NOTE: If Assessor Name is blank, delete DRDP, go back to MIS Summary, assign a Case Manager and recreate DRDP.

Assessor Name can be entered by hand if no Case Manager is applicable or if DRDP was already filled out.

DRDP Buttons

Validate: Validate DRDP record for data entry errors. (shown in upper right-hand corner)

Set all Unable to Rate: Will fill out all Unrated Reasons with rating value of ‘Unable to Rate’

Clear all: Will clear out all data entry.

Delete DRDP: Will completely remove DRDP record if filled out in error.

Completion date range 9/01/201_ - 11/30/201_

Feel free to contact support@sirassystems.com if you have any questions on above procedure or validation errors.

Printing the IEP Forms & Documents

IEP forms may be printed individually by clicking on the form link to open the form. Click on the print icon to print the individual form. Printing the forms individually will not print as a number form.

The Preview/Print button on the IEP Manager will not become available until all required forms for the particular meeting are addressed. The Preview/Print button will assemble the IEP as a number document. The Preview/Print button will allow you to print the IEP document as a whole or you may choose the pages desired to print as a numbered page.

The Preview/Print button also contains a few features. A box will pop-up by left clicking on the black arrow of the Preview/Print button.

Disabling validations for preview/finalize will allow CASEMIS Clerks & District 1 Admin users to override the requirement to address all the Required forms so that Preview/Print button can be used or to Force Finalize the meeting.

Once the option is selected it will have a green check in front of it that will stay there for that record until you log out.

Forms in the Pre-IEP forms and Other forms tab can be printed directly from the form if needed. Look at the Menu bar at the top of the form & select the printer icon.

Pop-up Blockers must be turned off to print in SIRAS. For instructions on how to turn off Pop-up Blocker, click on the link to your preferred browser:

Chrome Firefox Internet Explorer Safari

Print Preview Options

*Disable page numbering (this will add "Page ___ of _____" to each page instead of page numbers)

Add draft watermark (this will add a faint watermark of "Draft" to each page)

Disable validations for preview/finalize (this will allow CASEMIS Clerks & District 1 Admin users to override the requirement to address all the Required forms so that 'Print/Preview' can be used or to "Force Finalize" the meeting.

*Once the option is selected it will have a green check in front of it that will stay there for that record until you log out.

printPreviewOptions

Page numbering is a SELPA option and is on as a default.

*Kern High School Districts SELPA has page numbering turned off as a default.

Printing Reports - including Progress Reports and Lists

Reports are HTML forms, so they operate differently from the IEP and Other forms on the IEP Manager that are PDFs. These reports print through your browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.). You need to turn off your popup blockers before you can print any HTML form in the program, including the Progress Report, MIS Summary, Student Notes, CAASPP Participation list, and any other reports under the Reporting tab at the top of the page. To turn off your Popup Blockers for all sites, open your browser and look under Tools on the menu bar and scroll down to Pop-up Blocker, then select "Turn off Pop-up Blocker". Do not go to File / Print to print, always use the ‘Print’ buttons.

SIRAS Short Cuts and “Hot Keys”

Note: Mac users replace Ctrl with the Open Apple key

· F11 Full screen

· Control spacebar Opens “Choose Student” list

· Control plus (+) Zoom (makes print larger, but you see less of the page)

· Control minus (-) Unzoom (makes print smaller; you see more of the page)

· Control rt. arrow Moves to the next student

· Control left arrow Moves to the previous student

· Control down arrow Takes you to bottom of the page

· Control up arrow Takes you to top of the page

· Page down Moves to next page on forms that are more than one page (Transition, Additional pages)

· Page up Moves to previous page on forms that are more than one page (Transition Additional pages)

Under Choose Student

· right click on name Gives you list of menus under Student Info (or click on “carrot” to left of name for the same access)

· right click on Student ID Gives you the option to select the SSID or the Birthdate

· right click on Last Modified Gives you the option to select Last Validated, IEP or EVAL Date

On the MIS Summary page

· Control return Validates the MIS form

Mac Users: Mac users are the same as Windows except replace the ‘Control’ key with the ‘Open Apple’ key.

Troubleshooting SIRAS

Login Problems

The Login name will be your first name, then your last name separated by a period. i.e. mickey. mouse If you use variations in your name (i.e. Thomas or Tam), you will need to contact your CASEMIS clerk to get how your user name is spelled.

The default password is: Siras access

This will be needed to initially log in or in you forgot your password and it needed to be reset.

Look at the message right above your name. The message indicates why you were not able to log into the system.

If you log in and you have no record (0) then you will need to have someone who has admin access to assign you your caseload first. First confirm that you are not in a ‘found set’ of (0) records. If you are click the ‘Reset Search’ link next to the search icon.

Issues Related to Accessing Support

I know that there is support information somewhere, but I forget how to access it.

Support information is available by clicking on the SUPPORT button in the lower left corner of any screen in SIRAS. The support section has the latest information regarding system requirements for SIRAS, how to Videos, longer instructional videos and several documents, including the Troubleshooting Guide.

Support by context is available by clicking on the blue question mark button in the section you are on.

I tried to watch the support videos, but nothing happened.

Be sure you have Adobe Flash installed on your computer. That software can be accessed at http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ and is necessary to run the videos in the Support section of SIRAS.

Problems Finding Students

Where is the Choose Student button?

The picture of the number of students on the upper left side (under the SIRAS logo) is the "Choose Student' button.

Choose student button does not work.

Look at the number of students listed at the top left of the screen. If the ‘Choose Student’ list feature doesn't work, look at the number of students you still have listed and available to you. If that number is "1" because you have already searched for a student, then it won't work because it has no place to go. You are already on the only student available to you. If this is the case, you should see the words Modify/Reset Search to the right of the number of student assigned. The Reset Search button will bring back your full caseload, and then the Choose Student button will work.

When you log into the program and bring up a student by typing in the student's name in the little box and selecting him/her then you have "drilled down" into the program so that you now have access to only that one student. If you click on Reset Search you will bring them all back. Once you reset the search you will have all your students and the Choose Student link will work.

I can't see all my students and the program will not let me scroll down.

To scroll down, use the grey bar on the right edge of the Choose Student screen to scroll up and down to see all the students on that screen. If you have more than 50 students you need to, click on the right arrow at the bottom of the Choose Student screen to see the rest of your caseload. It shows 50 records at a time. If you want to see more than that, you can change the box at the bottom right that says 50 to either 100 or 200 or just use the green arrows to go back and forth between screens. If you cannot see the bottom of the screen, you may have increased your font size so much that it does not show. Use Control – (minus) to reduce the size of the screen so you can see all of it.

I tried to search for a student and got the message “No records found”.

You may have misspelled the student’s name, or you may have been working in a smaller set of records due to a previous search. Click on “Reset search” to bring back all the students and then try again. It is also possible that the student is "Inactive" (if released from sped) or "Pending" if not yet assessed. Try changing the Active Status (upper right corner of Choose Student screen) from "Active" to "All" so you will see all records in which you are listed as a provider.

How do I find students who have too many suspensions and/or need a manifestation review?

On the Choose Student screen, look for students under S (for suspensions) who have a yellow warning. This box turns yellow when a student has 7 or more suspensions. If the student gets more than 10 suspensions, it will turn red to indicate "out of compliance". It is a good idea to check for suspensions on a regular basis and schedule a Manifestation Determination meeting before or as soon as the student gets to 10 suspensions unless the suspensions do not show a pattern. See the Worksheet for Determining Pattern of Suspensions under Tools, Added Forms for more information.

Issues with Respect to Selecting a Meeting Type

What happens if I select the wrong meeting type?

You can contact the person who arranged the meeting (listed under the Meeting Purpose on the IEP Manager). That person can "Edit" (change) the meeting type. Once the meeting purpose is changed, the program will keep the forms you have filled out and add any additional IEP forms needed based on the new meeting purpose.

What is the real difference between the various meeting types?

The most important difference is that an Initial IEP, Annual Review, or Triennial “the Big Three” will affect the meeting dates. Those three types of meetings always reset your meeting dates. If the IEP happens to be a review that coincides with the triennial, always select the Triennial/Reevaluation so that both the annual review and triennial review dates will be reset. The only other meeting type that can reset dates is the ‘Review 30 Day’, conducted after a student from another SELPA has been enrolled in the district in a temporary placement to allow the IEP team to determine the most appropriate placement for the student. Unless you select "Adopt out of SELPA IEP," this meeting type will function just like an Annual Review with all the same required pages. If you elect to adopt the IEP from another SELPA you have access only to the SIS or Demographic form (1^st page of IEP), Meeting Notes, and the Agreement and Attendance (signature) page. The annual review due date from the other SELPA will be the due date for the next Annual Review. All the other meeting types do not reset dates. If you are making only minor changes to the IEP you may choose to use the Addendum/Amendment meeting type according to district policy. The "Other Review” is just that. It is a meeting held to discuss Additional Assessments, parent concerns, behavior, results of a limited assessment, etc. These meetings are more than just an addendum but are not a full annual or triennial, so the team can use whatever forms they need to make changes to the current IEP.

Do I need to do another meeting to change the student's placement after a Manifestation Determination Review since Change of Placement is not indicated as a secondary purpose for this meeting?

A Manifestation Determination Review may result in a change of placement on the IEP. It is not necessary to do a second meeting to change the student's placement since one of the steps in the manifestation process is to determine if a change of placement is needed. Two statements on the form are directly related to a possible change in placement: "The student will return to his/her current program, unless a change is agreed to by the IEP team." and “Student placed in Interim Alternative Educational Setting." A change of placement is a possible outcome of any Manifestation Determination Review, so it is not necessary to indicate Change of Placement as a secondary purpose.

I am trying to do an Initial Evaluation, but SIRAS will not allow me to create the meeting? It says that the student is already in Special Education.

When doing a fist Initial Evaluation on a new student you are only to enter the demographic information, not the referral nor the special education data. Doing so is predetermination and will cause SIRAS to mistakenly believe that the student is already in Special Education.

If this happens you will need to contact SIRAS Systems Support so that he special education data can be reset.

What do we do if a parent cancels a meeting?

There also has been some confusion as to the difference between cancelling a meeting and rescheduling a meeting. In SIRAS the term "Cancelling" means clicking the red box to cancel the meeting and delete all the forms. If a parent cancels a meeting for a particular date, that is not the same as cancelling the meeting in SIRAS. In this case all that is needed is a change of the meeting date.

How do I do an exit IEP for a graduating senior?

You don't. Seniors exit automatically upon graduation, they do not need an IEP to do so. What you do need to do is have an ‘Exit Summary’ meeting for each senior. The Exit Summary is listed as a meeting type to provide access to the Summary of Performance pages. On this form enter the graduation date (which will be the exit date) and the exit reason which will be graduated with diploma, graduated with certificate or aged out. It is permissible to put a future date for the ‘exit date’. After Finalizing the Exit Summary meeting the ‘exit date’ will be placed on the MIS Summary page and the student record Status will remain Active until the ‘exit date’ occurs. On that date the student record Status will automatically turn ‘Inactive’. This will all happen automatically.

When do you have Transition to Kindergarten as a secondary purpose on an IEP?

Transition to Kindergarten is a secondary purpose for the Triennial that must be done when a student is enrolled in preschool and is moving up to Kindergarten. Transfer to Kindergarten may be used as a secondary purpose for an ‘Other Review’ for a student who has been assessed and entered preschool within the past 90 days, and the team does not feel another assessment is required but wants to add something to the IEP.

Why isn't Transition to Kindergarten as a secondary purpose on an Initial IEP?

It can't be a secondary purpose for an Initial because the initial assessment would be done to enter the student into either preschool or Kindergarten depending on when the assessment is done. It would not be a Transition to Kindergarten meeting. (See information above)

Problems Entering Information in the Student Profile

I entered new contact information for my student and then it wasn't there when I went back

Information on the Student Profile saves automatically as you enter it. There is nothing you need to do to make it “stick”. Some users mistakenly think the "Refresh" button is a way to save their information. Actually, the opposite is true. The "Refresh" button reloads the original information. The only time you would click refresh is if the program wasn't responding and didn't bring the information onto the screen. This would be extremely rare.

I changed the student from EL to RFEP and it asked for a date. Where do I get that?

If the student has been reclassified from EL to RFEP (Reclassified Fully English Proficient) then there will be a written record of that decision with a date on it. If the documentation is not in the student's cumulative file, contact the Language Acquisition Office to get a copy of the Reclassification Form.

Our district health records for vision and hearing only have month and year for the results, but SIRAS wants a specific day.

Just go ahead and enter a day in the middle of the month for the first time you are entering the data for your students this first year. In subsequent years, make note of the date the nurse checks the students in your program. Ask for a list of all your students immediately after the vision and/or hearing testing and enter all the information for your caseload on the Medical tab of the Student Profile (Under Student Info) so whenever you are ready to do an IEP, the vision and hearing results will automatically be entered onto the Present Levels page.

On the Next Year's Data tab, I can't seem to enter the name of the school.

You must enter the name of the District for next year before you get access to the list of schools in the district. Enter SELPA before District before School.

Problems Locating Forms

Next Year’s Data section and related forms

There are special forms called either Revision to Next Year’s IEP or Record of Change. These forms are tied to the Next Years Data section under the Student Info menu. The forms and the Next Years data section are connected. Use this section to develop matriculation lists from the Student Lists. If you enter a Next District, that district’s CASEMIS Clerk will be able to view that student as ‘Read only’ (except for the Next Years Data section) after she clicks on the little school house in the upper right-hand corner and then checks ‘Only incoming students’.

At the end of the school year (after the June CASEMIS) SIRAS Systems will do a ‘roll over’ which will automatically replace the next year’s data into the current data.

Student is an English Learner, but no ELD page came up

Where are the Spanish forms?

Spanish forms do not appear until after you submit the English version of the form and check the Translation needed box on the IEP Manager (on the blue bar across the middle of the page). It is suggested that you do not check this box until after all the English forms are complete because the information on the Spanish forms comes over directly from the English Forms. If you open the Spanish form and save in SIRAS and then make further changes to the English form those changes will not be reflected on the Spanish form. If you need to access the Pre-IEP meeting forms in Spanish, fill out the English forms, check the translation needed box to bring up the Spanish Pre-IEP forms, and print the needed Spanish forms. It is recommended that you then uncheck the Translation needed box so that other users will not be tempted to open the Spanish forms before completing the English forms.

Where is the parent contact log?

Go under Student Info to Student Profile to the Notes tab. You can put notes in there for various reasons, one of which is Parent Contact. You can start a new note each time or just continue to add more info in the same note if it is about the same topic. To view all notes about all students on your case load, go under Report to student Lists to the Notes List.

If you are in the process of setting up an IEP meeting and want to keep track of parent contacts to schedule the meeting, you can use the Notes box on the IEP Manager. These notes will be retained when you finalize the IEP, but they will be located on the IEP Manager rather than in the Notes List.

Does SIRAS have a place to figure out % of time in Gen Ed class?

Yes, this will have to be done by clicking on the little calculator button next to the ‘% Time in General Ed’ field.

Where is the Data Collection form in SIRAS?

Go under Student Info to Data Collection and Progress Reports and Select Data Collection then click on "Print Data Collection Grid". That will generate the form you can print off to collect data about progress toward the goals. That same screen allows you to enter data you have collected (Click on Add Data Collection Date to record progress data directly into the program. If you do this over time you can generate a graph to show the student's progress toward the goal.) The graph will average one line for each Area of Need.

I am completing a ‘Review (30 day) IEP in SIRAS and noticed that the only forms made available to me are SIS or Demographic form (1^st page) and the Agreement/Attendance (Signature) page. All other forms are optional.

Sounds like you checked the box for "Adopt out of SELPA IEP". You only check this box when you are not doing a full IEP but have decided to work off the IEP from the student's previous SELPA. If that is the case, those are the only pages you need. Also under that scenario, the student's annual review date is not reset. The annual will be due on the date indicated on the out of SELPA IEP.

If you are doing a full review, uncheck that box and you will have access to all the forms. In this case, you will be doing the equivalent of an annual review, and it will reset the due date for the annual review. All the pages for an annual will be there with some as required and others optional.

Completed an initial IEP and found the student “Not eligible”. Forms that were not required are still on the list and printed as a part of the IEP.

It appears you filled out those forms prior to determining the student was not eligible and sent them to SIRAS. Therefore, the program retained the information as though they were submitted as “optional” forms even though they were not required. If you do save forms that are not required for the meeting the box next to the form will turn red, and there will be a “Delete" button underneath the word Submitted. This allows you to delete the pages not required for the meeting that were submitted in error.

Accidentally submitting an optional form that I really didn't want.

All optional forms have a delete button underneath the word "Submitted" so the user can delete the form if it was submitted in error. Required forms cannot be deleted (except as noted above) but they can be changed/modified by reopening the form and making any corrections needed.

Can’t find the forms for Assessment Reports

Not all SELPA use this feature.

Assessment Report templates can be found under Tools in SIRAS. They are designed to be downloaded to the provider's computer to use as a template it for writing reports. Once you download a template onto your computer, you can customize it by adding your name and title as well as language you customarily use in your report and save a master template on your own computer. Once you have written a report and are ready to upload into the student’s record, go under the Student Info tab to the Student Profile/Documents Folder. There you will see as simple download feature. Select the Category of Assessment Report, type in the name of the report (e.g. Psychoeducational Report) as well as the date of the report. Then browse to find it on your computer and “open” it. It will then come over and be ready to “upload”. It is recommended that you change the report to a PDF before uploading so it is locked and cannot be changed.

Can’t find the Parent Rights and Safeguards [Added Forms]

The Parent Rights and Safeguards as well as other SELPA and District forms not considered to be part of the IEP are located under Tools/Added Forms. They are designed to be downloaded to your computer and customized for your use. Districts and SELPA administrators can upload their forms. These forms will not be interactive with SIRAS but are intended to be downloaded.

As an overview, IEP pages and forms directly related to the IEP will be in the IEP Manager.

IEP pages (required and optional) are listed in order on the left side. To the right are tabs for Pre-IEP forms and Other Forms. The Pre-IEP forms section contains all the forms you will need for the meeting based on type of meeting selected, the age, and grade of the student. ‘Other Forms’ tab contains forms commonly filled out at an IEP meeting that are not actually pages of the IEP.

Some forms are available under the Tools Menu / Document Library - "Blank Forms" tab is just a link to the PDF forms that can be used in an emergency, particularly, Pre-IEP forms such as the Assessment Plan for a student who does not yet have a record in SIRAS. These forms are not interactive in the program. Information written onto a blank form would have to be typed into SIRAS prior to submitting the IEP. "Added Forms" contains forms that are not IEP forms, but are related to the IEP. Those are uploaded by the SELPA. Requests to have additional forms added to this section should be sent to steve@sirassystems.com.

What is the IEP letter (continued) for (located in the Pre-IEP tab)?

That form is used only when a meeting must be adjourned before it is finished and must be continued on another date. The dates and times on this meeting notice allow you to send out another notice and do not change the IEP date. This form will have indicated that this is continuation IEP from (date) in addition to the original meeting purpose. That way it clearly notifies the parents that meeting is being continued. Be sure that when a meeting is going to be "Continued" on another date that the meeting notes reflect that the meeting was not completed and will be reconvened or continued on another date. If the date to continue the meeting is agreed upon, indicate the date, time, and location in the meeting notes.

SIRAS Freezing

SIRAS is not like other websites, i.e. Yahoo or the like. There is a lot of data passing back and forth and is therefore dependent on a solid and reliable network/internet connection.

· The most common cause of poor performance of freezing in SIRAS is that the Adobe Reader is an old version or has been corrupted. The solution is to uninstall Adobe Reader, restart computer then re-install Adobe Reader.

· If too many tabs are open in your browser it will consume its ability to efficiently process data and can be slower, possibly causing time outs, and/or other unusual behaviors. The solution is to close all other non-essential tabs on your browser.

· If you are connected to a Wi-Fi, confirm that you have at least three bars or an excellent connection otherwise you may experience disconnections. If there are too many computers on the Wi-Fi, you will also experience some performance issues. Sometimes these disconnections won’t be obvious until the page refreshes. Solution is to position your computer where the Wi-Fi access is strongest.

· If you connect to both Wi-Fi and wired networks on the same computer, be sure to disable the wireless card when your plugin to a wired network. Otherwise you have two competing internet connections on the same computer and that can affect your overall network connection.

· Some browsers work better with SIRAS than other browsers. This is dependent on your browser version, computer OS and its configuration. It may be a process of trial and error to see which bowser. Please refer to the configuration handouts on the SIRAS login page above the newsletter.

· If this is happening at school, it may be related to the district firewall or DNS server disconnected the session. This can be very problematic as the program has been disconnected yet the program is still loaded in the browser cache and will seem to act normally until some point where SIRAS becomes non-responsive. Usually everyone in the school will have similar issues. The solution would be to contact and describe the issue with your IT department. SIRAS Systems will work with them to assist in resolving. A question to ask is: How long IP addresses are good for in the DHCP setup. Expired DHCP sessions will take you off line while the browser still appears to be online temporarily. If a DHCP address is good for less than 12 hours, that may be a problem.

Difficulties Entering Information on Forms

Can’t enter IEP date, location, and time on meeting notice.

You don't enter the date on the meeting notice in SIRAS. You enter it as a part of the new meeting information on the interface screen for the meeting. Then the program auto fills the pages for the meeting. Look at the top of the screen where it says Meeting. You will see a place for the meeting date, time, location, etc. Once you fill in the information there, it will be on the IEP meeting letters. Once the ‘Meeting held’ checkbox has been checked, the time, date, place will be locked.

Unable to delete information entered by mistake/incorrectly on the forms

Some of the menus in SIRAS are locked because the content is controlled by either CASEMIS data or state requirements. To remove an entry from a locked menu, click on the item and select the blank space at the top of the menu.

Unable to enter next year's testing information on the SBAC page even though the student has already taken CAASPP this year.

The popup menus on the Statewide Assessment form / CAASPP Participation form use popup menus based on the student’s grade. After the SBAC testing the CASEMIS clerk should enter under Tools > SELPA/District Admin under the Calendar section the date that the CAASPP testing has been completed. Once the CAASPP Completion date has past, then the popup menus on the Statewide Assessment form / CAASPP Participation forms will be modified for the next grade.

Changes to IEP team member names made on the meeting notice, did not change the provider names in SIRAS.

Changes made to the names of providers on the meeting notice are intended to be temporary to enable you to indicate that a person other than the regular team member will be attending a particular meeting or to add an administrator or general education teacher to the meeting notice. These names will be saved in SIRAS for future meetings, but they will not be added as providers for the student. Permanent changes to provider names can only be made by editing the provider list in SIRAS. This can only be done by someone with administrative access.

Missing information on the forms and unable to enter it on the page (parent contact information, case manager name & phone, EL status etc.

This information is entered on various interfaces in the program so that it can be entered one time only and then it will be entered automatically on any page where it is needed. Parent contact information (address, phone, email) is entered under Student Info, Student Profile, Contacts. EL status is entered under Student Info, Student profile, Personal. Case manager is entered when a provider is designated as the case manager. The case manager phone and email address are entered under My Account in the Tools menu. All other information is entered on the Student Profile in the Student Info menu.

The page numbers are missing on the forms when I print them.

Page numbers are generated by using the Preview/Print button. If you print directly from the IEP page, there will be no numbers. When you use the Preview/Print feature, the program will put all the pages together into a single document and number them. If you want to replace page numbering with ‘Page __ of __’ just to the left of the link Preview/Print (IEP Manager) is a carrot where you can remove the page numbering in favor of ‘Page __ of __’.

Removing Page Numbers from the Forms.

Just to the right of the Preview/Print button > is a little arrow (>). If you click on that little arrow you will get the option to remove the page numbering.

When copying from a Word document to SIRAS the information is too large to fit in the available space.

If you reduced the size of the font in your document to a 10-pt. font using Times Roman (8 pt. font using Arial for Ventura and Kern County users), it will copy and paste successfully into SIRAS.

Field size is too small to enter the information needed.

This is a problem with the field size on the SELPA forms; it has nothing to do with SIRAS. Problems of this type can only be corrected by revising the SELPA form itself. Report this type of problem to Steve Ormbrek steve@sirassystems.com so she can add it to the list of needed changes to SELPA forms. Changes are typically made each summer based on user input. Additional room for information on the Present Levels page can be made by creating an additional page. In the meantime, use an Additional page for this information.

How do I create an Additional Page for Present Levels? Does the information go over automatically?

If you fill a box, you need to click on Add page (option available under the "Save and" menu) to create the additional page, and then copy and paste the information onto the second page. You would also want to check the box to show where the info came from and put in a header for the topic if you end up with things from several different boxes on the same page. Then go back to the Present Levels page and put "See additional page" in the boxes you carried over.

Case manager name and phone did not come over to the form even though I entered that information on My Account under Tools.

Check to be sure you are listed as the case manager. Go to Student Info, Providers to check this. In fact, it would be best to check all students to be sure a case manager name appears on every record. SLPs need to be listed twice, once as case manager and again as SLPs. They are the only ones that need to be listed twice. Special education teachers who are also case managers may be listed twice, once as case manager and once as special education teacher, but this is not necessary.

Some of my changes on the English forms did not come over to the Spanish form,

Changes made to the English form after the Spanish forms has been sent to SIRAS will not be reflected on the Spanish form after it has been saved to SIRAS. To ensure that all the information from the English form comes over to the Spanish form, you must completely fill out the English form before opening and saving the Spanish form. If you need to make changes to the English version of any form after submitting the Spanish form to SIRAS, you will need to contact steve@sirassystems.com so she can undo the submitted Spanish form to bring over the information from the English form.

Refer to the handout ‘Accessing Spanish Forms and Translating’ located in the Support Documents.

I accidentally opened an optional IEP form that I did not want and had to save it to SIRAS. Now it is in my IEP. How do I get rid of it?

When you open an IEP form by accident and realize that you do not want it, you do not have to save it to SIRAS. Instead, click on "Cancel" (red) in the upper right corner of the screen. That will allow you to close the page without saving it to SIRAS. If you do accidentally save an optional form to SIRAS you can use the "Delete" button to remove the page from your IEP.

Problems in Goal Developer

Unable to find the goals bank

When you are developing an IEP and want to do the goals or goals & objectives pages, start on the column to the right of the form (not on the form itself). First click on the button ‘Add Blank Goal’ to create several goals for the student in the Goals Developer. It is OK to have too many or two few, you can always add more or delete once you are in the Goal Developer. Then select either Goals or Benchmarks to bring up the correct form. Next click on Go to Goals/Benchmarks. That will bring you directly into the Goals Developer where you can select how you want to develop the goal. Edit Goal Text brings up an empty box for you to type in your own goal. As you develop your goal, you will be required to include all the required elements. You will see the goal and baseline being developed at the top of the page. Once you are finished, select Assemble Goal. That will take you to the Edit Goal screen where you can make any changes you want to the goal. To replace any of the blank lines with a number, just double click on the line and then type in the number and click on the space bar. After you have made the changes you want to the goal and benchmark, click SAVE, and it will take you back to the first screen you were in. Then you can develop your next goal the same way. If you created more goals than you needed, just click ‘delete’ to get rid of them. Otherwise you will end up with blank goals on your IEP page. Only the person who created the goal or a CASEMIS Clerk level admin user can delete a goal.

Note: You can also access the Goals/Benchmarks under the Student Info menu, then IEP Manager, then Goal Developer.

Unable to find custom goals in GoalWizard

Go to the Domain and Category for the custom goal and click the box for Custom to find a custom goal in an area or just select Custom before selecting a Domain and it will bring up all the custom goals you created in the entire GoalWizard. Spellcheck errors will be underlined in red.

Why don't you have IEP team on the menu for Responsible Discipline?

The Responsible Discipline is supposed to reflect the person(s) responsible for collecting the data and reporting on the progress. The entire IEP team may be helping the student achieve the goal, but normally only one person (or possibly two people) will actually be responsible for data collection and the progress report. This helps the parent understand which member(s) of the IEP team to contact if they have questions about the student's progress on a particular goal. As a rule of thumb, the first person listed is the one responsible for collecting data and reporting progress on that goal.

Empty blank goals on the goals page and/or goals & objectives pages

Blank goals are an indication that you created more goals than you needed in the Goal Developer. Go back to Goals/Benchmarks (either from the IEP manager to the right of the goals page or under the Student Info tab) and click ‘delete’ link next to the extra goals that you did not fill in or want.

Warning: Empty goals left in the goals developer can result in an extra bank goals pages after Finalized.

Unable to locate the Progress Reports

Progress reports are found in two places. For individual students it is easier to go under Student Info, Data Collection/Progress Reports. You can also complete and print progress reports for your entire caseload (rather than student by student) if you go under Reporting to Bulk Progress Reports.

Unable to print progress report in Spanish

Go under Reporting to Bulk Progress Reports. There you will see all your students with an option to switch to Spanish.

What if I want to start my goals before the case manager starts the meeting?

You can develop goals at any time by going Under Student Info to IEP Manager/Goals Developer. You can also develop additional goals there if needed for an addendum meeting. In addition, there is a section (tab) for “Next IEP Goals” tab to be used when developing the next IEP.

Is there a way to customize goals so I don't have to be limited to the ones in the GoalWizard?

Not only can you customize goals, you customize the entire goals bank to meet your needs. Start a goal using the GoalWizard. Once you select a domain and category, read through the goals and pick out the ones you like by clicking on Add to Favorites on the far-right side. After you get to the end of the category, click on Find Favorites. You will now have your own personalized goal bank within the program that contains only the goals you selected in that category. If there are additional goals you want to add, click on Custom Behavior (at the bottom of the goal list) and type in your own goal stem. Begin with the verb (not will) and type in the behavior. If it is an academic goal, you need to put in the standard number as well. Then click on Save, and you have added your own goal to your personal goal bank.

Issues Related to IEPs for Students Previously Found Not Eligible

I am trying to do an Initial IEP for a student who was previously in SpEd and dismissed, but the program won't let me

To start a 2^nd Initial for an exited student, if exit was “returned to regular ed, no longer eligible” SIRAS will allow you to create a 2^nd Initial Evaluation for the student. It will replace the old referral data with the new referral data automatically. No need to do anything in the MIS Summary page for a 2^nd Initial, just create the meeting in the IEP Manager.

I am trying to do an Initial IEP for a student who was previously referred but found not Eligible (DNQ)

This is like the situation above. To start a 2^nd Initial for a student who is a DNQ, if Plan Type is [90] ‘Not Eligible’ SIRAS will allow you to create a 2^nd Initial Evaluation for the student. It will replace the old referral data with the new referral data automatically. No need to do anything in the MIS Summary page for a 2^nd Initial, just create the meeting in the IEP Manager.

How do I get rid of the extra IEP pages that are not needed if a student is not eligible for services on an Initial IEP?

As soon as you check the Not Eligible box on the Student Information and Services page, the extra pages will no longer be required and will drop off your list. If you find you made a mistake, and the student is eligible, put in the disability and uncheck the box and the other required forms will be back on the list.

Issues Related to Sharing Forms / Files / Emailing

(some districts may have different policies concerning emailing IEPs, so be sure to check with your district)

In the Action column in the Basic IEP tab, what does it mean when it says an IEP page is Open for editing?

This message tells you that another provider is working on that page, and that you should not go into the page until it says “Submitted”. The reason the page is locked is because a member of the team has not finished with it, so it would be wise to never try to open a locked page. Next to the form link will display the name of the user and the time they had opened the form. It is permissible to fill out another form until the other user has finished.

This message may remain on your screen even after the person has exited the page because you are seeing information generated when you logged on. You can click the “refresh” button (top of the screen to the right of the student’s name) to bring up more current information, sometimes it can take as long as 30 seconds to even a minute before the program realizes that the other user has left the record. Another way to push the request is to log out and log back in.

I opened the IEP manager and it said, "Read Only" & the IEP disappeared. What happened?

This is a rare occurrence that can happen if you and another provider for the student open the student's record at the same time or almost the same time. The second person will be temporarily locked out of the record. Log out, wait a few minutes, then log in again. The information is not "lost"--just temporarily unavailable. Again, by clicking the Refresh button located on top of the IEP manager will push the request.

Problems Related to Printing and Finalizing the IEP

‘Preview/Print’ button does not work

The Print/Preview button is designed to put all IEP pages in order and number them. This will generate your “Draft IEP”. Therefore, you must submit all required forms before you can preview and print the IEP using this feature. Until this is done the ‘Preview/Print’ button will be faded. If you need to print one of the pages of the IEP prior to completion of all the forms, you can print directly from that form, but it will not have a page number.

Message that the meeting cannot be finalized until it is checked ‘Meeting held’.

Check the Meeting Held box to the right of the meeting date and then fill in the Parent Participation and Follow-up information before clicking on Finalize IEP. Note: You cannot check the Meeting Held until after the date of the meeting. This is a built-in protection so that you will not accidentally finalize a meeting that has not been held. The dates on the MIS Summary do not change until you check Meeting Held.

It is when the ‘Meeting Held’ box is checked that SIRAS and the MIS Summary page gets updated from the forms. This “bridge” between the forms and the MIS Summary page will stay in place until the meeting gets “Finalized”. Once Finalized the meeting is locked and the “bridge” cannot be restored.

DO NOT finalize until after the meeting has been held and you have made any necessary changes to the IEP because of things you wrote in during the meeting. Once you finalize the meeting you will no longer be able to make changes to the IEP document or have access to the other menus on the interface.

Message that the Student has # remaining error(s).

Check the MIS Summary and fix any errors before “Finalizing” the IEP. Go to the MIS Summary (button to the left of the IEP Manager). Note any fields highlighted in red, and make corrections. After corrections click on the green check mark at the top left of the page to validate again to be sure there are no additional errors. Then you can return to the IEP Manager and Finalize the meeting. This is a rare occurrence in the current system and will usually happen only if you leave a field empty (e.g. leaving a blank on the Statewide Assessment or CAASPP Participation form rather than entering “Not to participate”) or a similar error in CAEMIS data such as forgetting to enter the percent of time in regular education.

After I finalized my Initial IEP for a preschooler, I saw a message on the Home page under “Notifications and Messages” that I have “1 student who have their third birthday this year, and who have an overdue or incomplete initial evaluation date without a reason.”

This notice is coming up because this student did turn 3 years old this year prior to the IEP.

Any students who turn 3 years old listed this way because there are specific timelines involved with students who are getting services between the ages of 2 to 3 years old that are tracked in CASEMIS. Since this student was not in SpEd prior to age three, the timelines do not apply. Please ignore this message and consider it just one of those CASEMIS warnings that we can't do anything about- at least for now.

Technical SIRAS Reminder Notes

· One concern is to make sure SIRAS is secure and HIPPA compliant. One security issue is that it will time you out of the program if you are idle for too long. Idle is when no buttons are being clicked. Idle time does include entering text. You may have had this experience on other secured websites as well. If you have logged into the website for your bank or credit card company or any other secure server, you may have noticed that even though your statement was on your screen and you could manipulate it, when you went to click on some other feature on the site you got a message saying, "for security reasons your session has been terminated". Actually, it was terminated because you exceeded the amount of time set by the website. The production server is set for 45 minutes, but you could be timed out prior to that time if there is a disruption in service (e.g. you lose your internet connection) or your district’s router or DNS server stops internet access after a set time of no-usage.

· SIRAS sees you as inactive if you are working on a form because you are not interacting with the program during this time. It is strongly suggested that if you are working on Present Levels or Meeting Notes, or any other page that is taking a long time, you need to click the "Save" save every ten minutes to avoid timing out of the program. In 15 minutes in a form SIRAS will remind the user to save.

· Never walk away from your computer with a form open. There is a definite possibility that you could be gone a long enough to time out of the program or have a disruption in your internet service and lose your work.

· When in a form, never hit "Cancel" on the form bar unless you really want any changes you made to disappear.

· Never hit the browser’s back button (located in the upper left-hand corner of the browser while in SIRAS; instead use the SIRAS back button located to the right of the SIRAS logo.

· Always log out of the program by clicking the log out link in the upper right-hand corner. Do not just “close” it using the red [X] at the top right corner of the window.

· It is best practice to have SIRAS as the only website available in the browser. In other words, do not don’t have Yahoo, your bank web site, stock trading, etc. in the same browser at the same time. SIRAS uses a lot of your computer’s resources and it is not a good idea to have other websites compete with those resources.

SIRAS Compatibility Outline

All Computers:
We suggest keeping up with computer/browser and Adobe updates.

SIRAS Support

Contact SIRAS Support with any question you may have.

Phone: 1 (844) 33 SIRAS

Email: support@sirassystems.com

SST and 504 Plan Modules:

To get started download the Getting Started in the 504 Plan Module (click here).

Home Page

SIRAS Best Practice

Printing Reports - including Progress Reports and Lists

Troubleshooting SIRAS