Use this article when a student, transaction, count, or compliance item appears on a monitoring list and the reason is not immediately clear.
The purpose of the investigation is to explain why the item appears, establish what actually occurred, and identify which source owns the correction. Once that is known, continue with Process for Error Resolution.
An investigation may begin from the recurring work in Data Monitoring Tasks, preventive projections in Compliance Monitoring, broad school/district review in School and District Data Monitoring, or SELPA member-LEA oversight in Monitor Member LEA Reporting Status in SIRAS. The source of the alert does not change the investigation method.
Do not begin by changing a meeting date, enrollment date, service, archive, or CALPADS transaction simply to make a monitoring item disappear.
Quick Links
| 1. Define the Question and DateIdentify exactly what is being monitored and when it must be accurate. | 2. Review the Four SourcesCompare field reality, SIS, SIRAS, and CALPADS. |
| 3. Build the TimelinePut enrollment, participation, meetings, plans, services, and exits in date order. | 4. Locate the DifferenceDetermine which source or transaction does not match the verified event. |
| 5. Identify the Correction OwnerDecide whether the next action belongs in SIS, SIRAS Current, an archive, CALPADS, or a reporting workflow. | Investigation CompleteKnow when to hand the item to Article 458 for correction. |
| Prioritize FindingsSeparate immediate risks, reporting blockers, compliance concerns, and anomalies. | When to EscalateStop when the history cannot be safely reconstructed or the correction path is unclear. |
1. Define the Question and Date
Before comparing systems, state the monitoring question in plain language. Record where the concern came from: a predefined query/list, CALPADS report, preventive projection, school/district pattern review, SELPA oversight review, staff report, or other source.
Examples:
- Why is this student on the Plan Adoption Required list?
- Why does CALPADS 16.21 show this meeting as overdue?
- Why is this inactive student still appearing as requiring an archive?
- Why is a student missing from a certification population?
- Why does SIRAS show a different enrollment, participation, plan, or service history than CALPADS?
Then identify the date for which the answer must be correct. Monitoring questions often depend on a specific as-of date, Report Event Date, meeting date, enrollment date, Census Day, or certification period.
Write down what you expect to see if the event was entered and reported correctly. This prevents the investigation from turning into random data changes.
2. Review the Four Sources
| Source | What to establish |
|---|---|
| Field reality | What the IEP team, enrollment staff, service providers, family records, and source documents establish actually occurred. |
| SIS | Enrollment, identifiers, demographics, attendance, discipline, and other district-controlled information relevant to the question. |
| SIRAS | Current status, MIS data, meetings, plans, services, archived reporting transactions, assignments, and local workflow history. |
| CALPADS | Posted enrollment and SEDS transactions, certification reports, errors, warnings, and data-discrepancy information. |
SIS, SIRAS, and CALPADS can each contain information that is internally consistent but still incomplete or outdated. Give the greatest weight to verified field reality, then determine which system or dated transaction fails to represent it correctly.
3. Build the Timeline
Put the relevant events in date order. Include only the events needed to answer the monitoring question.
- district enrollment and exit;
- special education participation start or exit;
- referral and consent;
- meeting and evaluation dates;
- plan effective dates;
- service start and end dates;
- transfer or Plan Adoption activity; and
- the date of any archived or posted CALPADS transaction being reviewed.
When the dates do not line up across systems, do not assume the latest value is the correct historical value. A Current record can be accurate today while an older archive or CALPADS transaction still needs correction.
4. Locate the Difference
Compare the expected timeline with each source and identify the first meaningful point where they diverge.
| Finding | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| SIS enrollment does not match the verified enrollment history. | The issue may need to be corrected in the SIS or enrollment process before SIRAS/CALPADS reporting can be resolved. |
| SIRAS Current data does not match what is true now. | The Current record may need correction, but historical archives still require separate review. |
| SIRAS Current is correct but an archived transaction contains the wrong historical value. | The correction belongs in the archive or a replacement reporting transaction, not by changing accurate Current data. |
| CALPADS does not contain a transaction that SIRAS should have sent. | Review the archive state, submission log, prerequisite transactions, and any posted IVRs. |
| CALPADS contains a transaction that does not represent the verified event. | The posted CALPADS history may require correction before the accurate SIRAS transaction can be accepted. |
| The systems agree, but the field event was different. | The same inaccurate assumption may have been entered into more than one system. Reconstruct the event before correcting either system. |
5. Identify the Correction Owner
Do not begin the correction until you can state where the problem lives.
| Correction owner | Use when |
|---|---|
| SIS / enrollment staff | District-controlled enrollment or demographic information is wrong or missing. |
| SIRAS Current | The student's current operational data is inaccurate. |
| SIRAS archived transaction | The historical/reporting transaction is wrong while Current may already be correct. |
| SIRAS meeting / reporting workflow | An event needs finalization, Meeting In Progress, Pending As Of, Plan Adoption, archive creation, or another documented reporting workflow. |
| CALPADS | The posted state history contains an incorrect or blocking transaction that must be addressed before the accurate SIRAS transaction can post. |
| No correction yet | The event cannot be established or the records conflict too strongly to make a safe change. |
When the correction owner is known, continue with Process for Error Resolution.
Prioritize Findings
| Priority | Examples | Expected action |
|---|---|---|
| Immediate | Wrong student access, duplicate identity, invalid transfer, or an event represented incorrectly in a way that can affect other processing. | Pause related processing, establish the correct history, and coordinate the correction. |
| Reporting blocker | Posted IVR, rejected transaction, missing prerequisite transaction, or fatal certification error. | Resolve before the applicable reporting or certification deadline. |
| Compliance risk | Overdue event, missing delay reason, missing Pending As Of, open meeting, or incomplete plan/service reporting. | Verify the event and identify the accurate follow-up/reporting path. |
| Warning / anomaly | Unexpected count, age/grade difference, unusual service pattern, or cross-system mismatch that does not block submission. | Review and document; correct only when the underlying data is inaccurate. |
Investigation Complete: Hand Off to Correction
- What actually happened?
- What date or reporting period is being evaluated?
- Why does the monitoring item appear?
- Which source or transaction owns the correction?
At that point, use Process for Error Resolution to make the correction, resubmit when required, verify acceptance, and rerun the original monitoring query or report.
When to Escalate
Contact SIRAS Support when:
- the field event cannot be reconstructed from available records;
- SIRAS and CALPADS contain conflicting historical transactions that cannot be safely corrected locally;
- a duplicate record, identity, ownership, or transfer issue is involved;
- the correction appears to require a specialized backdated or archive workflow;
- the proposed solution would require changing an accurate finalized record; or
- you still cannot identify which source owns the correction after completing the investigation.
Include the SSID, the monitoring list/report or error being investigated, the relevant dates, and a concise description of what the records and field sources show.
