FASTER Update

1
FASTER Update

• Presenter Pete Tanzy, DOE Office of
  Applications Support
• Overview
• FASTER Update
• Bright Futures Update
• Additional Cost-saving Measures
• Changes Are Coming

2
FASTER Update

• Technical Center Transcript
• Migrant Student Information Exchange
• New Race/Ethnicity Codes
• Cut-over Date for Next FASTER Release

3
Technical Center Transcript

• Technical Centers are required to use FASTER
  beginning this August, 2009.
• New and returning students will have their
  progress reported in courses instead of just
  programs.
• Records of student progress in previous years for
  returning students can be included on transcripts
  at the Technical Centers option.
• Student progress must be reported using courses
  from the Course Code Directory.
• Alternatively, a Technical Center can choose to
  send only new enrollment information for
  returning students.

4
Technical Center Transcript

• An abbreviated form of the Interdistrict Record
  Formats
• Header
• Demographic
• Immunization (optional)
• School Year
• Course
• Vocational
• Comment
• Tests
• Formats can be found in Appendix I of the FASTER
  User Manual, www.fldoe.org/faster/.

5
Migrant Student Information Exchange (MSIX)

• Web-based system accessed by Migrant Education
  Staff
• Password protected
• Encrypted (SSL - https)
• Student search capability
• Immediate availability of student information as
  students are being enrolled

6
Migrant Student Information Exchange (MSIX)

• Central repository for up-to-date information
• Periodic updates from schools to MSIX
• Encrypted batch transmissions (secure FTP)
• Responsibility is on schools to keep information
  current.
• Keeping information current eliminates the need
  to contact a students previous school when they
  arrive at your district.
• The most current information will already be in
  the MSIX database.

7
Migrant Student Information Exchange (MSIX)

• Florida public education has had an electronic
  transcript system since 1988.
• The Florida Automated System for Transferring
  Educational Records (FASTER)
• MSIX has been added as an institution with which
  to exchange information.
• District 99, School 0006

8
Migrant Student Information Exchange (MSIX)

• An exception no request records will be
  exchanged.
• MSIX will request no records.
• Instead, schools will send records on currently
  enrolled migrant students at specified intervals.
• Schools will not request transcripts from MSIX
  using FASTER.
• Instead, Migrant Education staff will use the
  MSIX web-based system to request the transmission
  of a students transcript to their school.

9
Migrant Student Information Exchange (MSIX)

• FASTER will check the MSIX FASTER mailbox once
  a day.
• Any transcripts found will be translated from
  FASTER format to MSIX XML and sent on to MSIX.
• FASTER will poll Floridas directory on the MSIX
  secure FTP server once each day.
• Any transmissions will be retrieved, translated
  from MSIX XML to FASTER format, and stored in
  schools FASTER mailboxes.

10
Migrant Student Information Exchange (MSIX)

• FASTER will send one type of record (student
  transcripts) to MSIX.
• FASTER will create only 2 types of records from
  MSIX transmissions
• Student transcripts
• Header-only transmissions

11
Migrant Student Information Exchange (MSIX)

• Receiving transmissions from MSIX
• Interdistrict formats
• Section B of the Header Record will contain the
  identifying information from Section A of the
  last Header Record the district used to send MSIX
  the students records.
• The Message Type field on the Header Record will
  identify the type of transmission MSIX is posting.

12
Migrant Student Information Exchange (MSIX)

• Message Type M1
• Indicates the student was new to the MSIX system
  when the district submitted their records.
• You only will see this message type as a response
  to your initial transmission for a student to
  MSIX.
• It will be a Header Record only transmission.

13
Migrant Student Information Exchange (MSIX)

• Message Type M2
• Indicates the student was already in the MSIX
  database when the district submitted the
  students records.
• You can see this message type in a response to
  your initial transmission for the student to MSIX
  or when receiving a transcript from MSIX that had
  been requested by one of your schools.

14
Migrant Student Information Exchange (MSIX)

• Message Type M3
• Used when MSIX sends you notification it is
  changing a students MSIX ID because it
  determined that two students were sharing the
  same MSIX ID and needed to be split up.
• This will be a Header Record only transmission.

15
Migrant Student Information Exchange (MSIX)

• Message Type M4
• Used when MSIX sends you notification it is
  changing a students MSIX ID because it
  determined that two of the students in its
  database are actually the same student, and the
  records needed to be merged.
• This, too, will be a Header Record only
  transmission.

16
Migrant Student Information Exchange (MSIX)

• Message Type M5
• Used prior to the merging or separation of a
  students records to inform the school district
  that the MSIX administrators would like to
  discuss the situation with the migrant student
  coordinator for the students school.
• A Header Record only transmission

17
Migrant Student Information Exchange (MSIX)

• Message Type M6
• Used to inform the school district that MSIX no
  longer considers the student to be active in the
  MSIX system.
• A Header Record only transmission

18
Migrant Student Information Exchange (MSIX)

• MSIX would like to receive transmissions within
  48 hours of
• a students initial enrollment in their classes,
• the updating of student information at the end of
  each grade reporting period, and
• the entry of final grades at the end of any term.
• They also want to be sent a record whenever a
  student withdraws from a school district. This
  way, they will have a final status for any
  student leaving the system permanently.

19
Migrant Student Information Exchange (MSIX)

• When sending a students transcript to MSIX, a
  school district is not required to send the
  entire student transcript (since MSIX already has
  the students historical information).
• All MSIX really wants are updates.
• However, in recognition of the fact that it may
  be easier for school districts to send the
  students entire transcript, MSIX has agreed to
  accept such transmissions.

20
Migrant Student Information Exchange (MSIX)

• We are in the final phase of testing with the
  MSIX systems contractor.
• Transcripts for 32,000 migrant students were
  created from 2008s Survey 5 Information Database
  submissions.
• Transmitted to MSIX on April 9th.
• Currently reviewing the information via the MSIX
  web system and working out the last few details.

21
Migrant Student Information Exchange (MSIX)

• We anticipate going into production with MSIX by
  this August.
• Therefore, please send MSIX the transcripts for
  all your migrant students as soon as their course
  schedules are set.
• And then be prepared to receive transmissions
  back from MSIX, as described earlier.

22
New Race/Ethnicity Codes

• School districts are implementing the new federal
  race and ethnicity codes for Fall reporting in
  the 2009-2010 school year.
• To support this effort, changes are being made to
  the FASTER formats.
• The six new data elements (ethnicity and the five
  new race codes) are being added to both the
  FASTER Header Record and to the I/S/T01
  Demographic Record formats.

23
New Race/Ethnicity Codes

• This change will be put into production by July
  1st of this year.
• The change is being made in an upward
  compatible fashion
• The fields on the Header Record are being
  implemented as optional fields (as most fields
  are on this format) and will remain so.
  Therefore, blanks in this field will not cause a
  record to be rejected (however, avoid sending
  non-display characters, like binary zeroes).

24
New Race/Ethnicity Codes

• Upward compatible (continued)
• The fields on the I/S/T01 Demographic Record are
  being implemented as optional fields (blanks
  permitted but, again, non-displayable characters
  will cause a rejection).
• With the upcoming release of FASTER, though,
  these new fields on the I/S/T01 Demographic
  Record will become required.
• Ethnicity must be submitted with a value of
  either Y or N.
• Only values of Y and N will be valid for any
  of the five new race codes, and at least one of
  them must have a value of Y.

25
New Race/Ethnicity Codes

• The mandatory nature of the fields on the I/S/T01
  Demographic format is provisional, subject to
  modification at the upcoming meeting of the
  Student Records and Electronic Systems Committee
  (STRES).
• The STRES Committee meeting this year will be
  conducted by conference call, at a date and time
  to be announced.

26
Cut-over Date for Next FASTER Release

• Cutover begins Friday, 11/6/2009.
• No new postings after 600 AM
• No new retrievals after 1200 Noon
• No more aging reports after 600 PM (system
  shutdown)
• New release in place by 800am, Sunday, 11/8/2009.

27
Bright Futures Update

• Last year, we implemented a cost-saving change to
  our processing procedures the transcripts of
  freshmen, sophomores, and juniors are only
  evaluated on Saturdays, while seniors are
  evaluated nightly.
• In November of 2008, we also converted the Bright
  Futures on-line system from a mainframe-based web
  system to a .NET server-based system.
• We also eliminated the collection of transcripts
  for middle school students, made technical
  changes to the way we share evaluation results
  with FACTS, and archived a significant amount of
  on-line data and magnetic tapes.

28
Bright Futures Update

• This effort paid substantial dividends. For the
  first ten months of the current fiscal year, our
  costs are down by over 260,000 from our Fiscal
  Year 2007-2008 totals.
• Projections for Fiscal Year 2009-2010 indicate
  that the costs for the coming fiscal year will be
  over 350,000 lower than they were in 2007-2008.
• With additional efforts and help from school
  districts, we may achieve more savings.

29
Bright Futures Update

• Northwest Regional Data Center (NWRDC) reduced
  cost rates
• Class C 40 cost reduction
• Class G 75 cost reduction
• Off-hours processing
• Class C weekdays, from 9pm to 5am
• Class G weekends, from 9pm Friday through 2am
  Monday

30
Bright Futures Update

• If we can get the school districts that use the
  Evaluation Report Print function to run their
  jobs during reduced rate hours, we could save
  another 3,000 in the coming year.
• Please contact our staff at the numbers and
  addresses at the end of this presentation for
  assistance in achieving these savings.

31
Additional Cost-saving Measures

• In last years presentation, I asked school
  districts to try to make as much use as possible
  of NWRDCs reduced rate job classes.
• I estimated that, if every FASTER user ran their
  jobs in class C, we could save about 20,000 over
  the course of the fiscal year.

32
Additional Cost-saving Measures

• We didnt hit that maximum.
• However, significant progress was made.
• During the first ten months of this year, almost
  4,000 in savings has been realized from school
  districts making use of NWRDCs reduced rates job
  classes.
• Thats over 3,000 better than was done the
  previous year.
• To all the districts who helped out, thank you so
  much for your time and effort.
• For those yet to get on the bandwagon, please
  feel free to contact us for any assistance you
  need in making this move.

33
Changes Are Coming

• In response to the national economic crisis, we
  will continue to explore avenues for cutting
  costs.
• One avenue under consideration is the re-hosting
  of applications to a server-based environment.

34
Changes Are Coming

• For these and other changes in FASTER, please
  keep an attentive eye on the updates we send out
  via the FASTER listserv.
• And if you are not already on this listserv,
  please contact the FASTER support staff whose
  names appear on the final slide of this
  presentation. They will make sure you get added
  as quickly as possible.

35
Contact Information

• Laverne McKenzie
• [phone]
• laverne.mckenzie_at_fldoe.org
• Candy Sleep
• [phone]
• candy.sleep_at_fldoe.org
• Kim Cote
• [phone]
• Kimberly.cote_at_fldoe.org

36
Follow Up Question and Answer Session

• Submit Questions to
• dbweias_at_fldoe.org
• Or call
• [phone]