Getting Started for Providers
Aug 04, 2026
Getting Started as a SIRAS Provider
This guide is for teachers, case managers, related-service providers, school psychologists, and other staff who use SIRAS to work with students, participate in meetings, document services, and collaborate with provider teams.
Use it as a first-week orientation or a refresher. For detailed help organized by task, see Provider Support. For page-by-page navigation, see the SIRAS User Manual.
Your district or SELPA SEDS Coordinator is your primary local SIRAS contact.
Providers document the field activity and meeting work they know directly. The SEDS Coordinator helps prepare records, coordinate access, resolve data issues, and make sure important status changes and reporting events are completed.
Providers document the field activity and meeting work they know directly. The SEDS Coordinator helps prepare records, coordinate access, resolve data issues, and make sure important status changes and reporting events are completed.
Contents
Complete Your First-Time Setup
Confirm you are using the correct SIRAS server
Your district or SELPA will provide the correct production login. Production is where live student work is completed. The training server is a separate copy used for practice; changes made there do not affect the live database.
Use Logging In to SIRAS for Production, Training, bookmark, and sign-in information. Use Navigating SIRAS for students, scope, menus, and search. See SIRAS Training for training resources.
Verify your account
- Confirm your name, email address, phone number, role, and assigned schools.
- Make sure the contact information that may print on forms is correct.
- Change the temporary password when prompted.
- Use password reset rather than creating another account.
Account resources:
- Change Your SIRAS Account Information and Preferences
- Change or Reset Your Own SIRAS Password
- SIRAS User Access Roles and Permissions
- User Account - Preferences Help
Moving from another SIRAS district?
Do not ask the new district to create a duplicate user account. Request a transfer of the existing account through User Account Transfer Request Process.
Do not share accounts.
Each person should use their own SIRAS username so access, document activity, signatures, and record history remain attributable to the correct user.
Each person should use their own SIRAS username so access, document activity, signatures, and record history remain attributable to the correct user.
Establish a Daily SIRAS Routine
After logging in, begin on the SIRAS Home Page.
Check the Home Page
- Review Incoming Messages for caseload, transfer, and administrative responses.
- Review Student Data Overview for upcoming and overdue work.
- Review announcements, bulletins, and recent changes.
- Open urgent items before beginning routine data entry.
Review upcoming work
- Identify meetings that need to be scheduled.
- Review upcoming annuals, reevaluations, assessments, and progress reporting.
- Confirm the team and required participants have enough notice.
- Review incomplete service logs or other assigned documentation.
Use:
Schedule ahead.
Upcoming-meeting lists are most useful when they trigger early scheduling and preparation—not only a response after the meeting becomes overdue.
Upcoming-meeting lists are most useful when they trigger early scheduling and preparation—not only a response after the meeting becomes overdue.
Find Students & Manage Your Caseload
Finding a student
Search by more than one identifier when needed. Name spelling, legal-name changes, enrollment changes, and transferred records can affect search results.
- Search by last name, first-name initial, birthdate, local ID, or SSID.
- Check your scope and school assignment when a known student does not appear.
- Ask the SEDS Coordinator to search more broadly before a new record is created.
Use Search Help and Student List Help.
Managing your caseload
- Review students currently assigned to you.
- Request additions or removals through the local process.
- Confirm that transferred, graduated, or no-longer-served students are removed when appropriate.
- Do not change student status merely to gain access.
Use Manage Caseload Help.
A missing student is often an access, scope, school, or assignment issue.
Do not create a duplicate student record or change the student's status as a workaround.
Do not create a duplicate student record or change the student's status as a workaround.
Understand the Student Record
Current data
Current data is what SIRAS understands to be true now. It appears on the MIS Summary and supports searches, caseloads, forms, and reports.
Meeting data
Meeting data contains proposed or in-progress information. It becomes Current only through the appropriate meeting completion and finalization process.
Archived data
Archived transactions preserve completed historical events and may also be used for reporting.
Status
- Active: the student is eligible, enrolled, and participating.
- Pending: referral, arrival, consent, evaluation, participation, or other follow-up is unresolved.
- Inactive: the student is no longer participating through that record, is no longer eligible, or the local workflow has ended.
Core references:
- MIS Summary Help
- SIRAS Record Status – Reflect What Is Happening in the Field
- Data Record – Current Data
- Data Record – Archived Transaction
Providers should report field changes promptly.
The SEDS Coordinator may need to update Current status or create a reporting archive even when no new IEP meeting is required.
The SEDS Coordinator may need to update Current status or create a reporting archive even when no new IEP meeting is required.
Prepare for & Participate in Meetings
Before starting work
- Review the MIS Summary and cover page.
- Confirm that the most recent IEP, IFSP, ISP, or other applicable plan date is represented.
- If the cover page does not reflect a known prior-district plan, contact the SEDS Coordinator before proceeding.
- Confirm the correct meeting purpose and type.
- Review the forms, team members, due dates, and local preparation expectations.
During preparation
- Enter information in the form assigned to you.
- Save work frequently.
- Use professional, student-specific language.
- Coordinate overlapping sections with the case manager and team.
- Document accurate dates and meeting-delay reasons when applicable.
Useful meeting resources
- 10 Steps to Developing an IEP
- Selecting the Meeting Purpose
- Checklist for Avoiding Common Form Errors
- Steps to Finishing an IEP
- Meeting Delay Reasons
Do not use Next Year's Data for current-year changes during a fall meeting.
Next Year's Data is for known future academic-year changes. Current-year decisions belong in the applicable Current and Meeting data.
Next Year's Data is for known future academic-year changes. Current-year decisions belong in the applicable Current and Meeting data.
See Next Year's Data.
Work Safely with Other Team Members
SIRAS supports team collaboration, but it is not designed for multiple users to edit the same form at the same time.
Concurrent-use rules
- Do not log in to SIRAS in more than one session using the same account.
- Only one person should edit a specific form at a time.
- Different team members may work in different forms within Forms Manager.
- Save data immediately rather than composing long narrative text without saving.
- Use the Forms Manager Refresh control to see whether a form has become available and to load another user's saved changes.
- Communicate directly when handing a form from one user to another.
Every user who collaborates on shared records should read Concurrent Usage.
Simultaneous editing can cause unsaved work to be lost.
When another team member is actively using the same record or form, coordinate before continuing.
When another team member is actively using the same record or form, coordinate before continuing.
Communicate Important Field Events
The SEDS Coordinator cannot report an event that has not been communicated. Notify the appropriate district contact promptly when:
- a student begins participating;
- a student stops participating or services cease;
- a parent withdraws consent or declines the proposed plan;
- a student moves, transfers, or is no longer expected to return;
- a student never arrives after being anticipated;
- a meeting is delayed or cannot be completed;
- the team determines the student is Not Eligible;
- an existing plan from another district is discovered; or
- the SIRAS record does not match what is happening in the field.
What to communicate
- what happened;
- the actual date;
- whether eligibility continues;
- whether the student is participating;
- whether a meeting or parent communication occurred; and
- where the supporting documentation is stored in SIRAS.
Follow district procedures for Prior Written Notice and parent communication.
When a student stops participating while still living in the district, document the local communication process and notify the SEDS Coordinator or district special education administrator so the Current record and reporting history can be reviewed.
When a student stops participating while still living in the district, document the local communication process and notify the SEDS Coordinator or district special education administrator so the Current record and reporting history can be reviewed.
Related guidance:
Complete & Close Meeting Work
Before finalization
- Confirm all required forms are complete.
- Preview the complete document.
- Review dates, meeting purpose, participants, parent response, services, and implementation information.
- Confirm the team has documented the outcome that actually occurred.
- Resolve validation messages or contact the SEDS Coordinator when a correction affects Current or historical data.
Do not leave meetings open indefinitely
Follow district procedures for parent contact, continuation, finalization, and closure. When a meeting remains open for an extended period—especially approaching or exceeding 90 days—review it with the SEDS Coordinator rather than allowing it to remain unresolved.
Finalization resources
- Printing and Finalizing the Meeting
- Finalizing and Reactivating Meetings
- Force Finalize or Abandon a Meeting
- Parent Response – Definitions
Do not force finalize simply to remove an item from a work list.
Confirm that the meeting outcome, parent response, and documentation accurately reflect what happened.
Confirm that the meeting outcome, parent response, and documentation accurately reflect what happened.
Follow Provider Best Practices
- Read Home Page announcements and SIRAS newsletters.
- Review the student's Current record and prior history before editing meeting forms.
- Schedule meetings early enough for the full team to prepare.
- Save work frequently.
- Coordinate before editing shared records or forms.
- Use the correct meeting purpose rather than choosing a convenient substitute.
- Document accurate delay reasons when a timeline is missed for a recognized reason.
- Follow local policy for contact attempts and unresolved parent response.
- Notify the SEDS Coordinator when participation, eligibility, enrollment, or plan status changes.
- Do not change historical facts merely to clear a validation message.
- Do not leave completed or abandoned meeting work unresolved.
- Use fake records or an approved training area for planned practice exercises.
Review these periodically:
Suggested First 30 Days
First week
- Log in to production and the appropriate training server.
- Verify your account and contact information.
- Identify your SEDS Coordinator and local support process.
- Review the Home Page, student search, MIS Summary, Forms Manager, and Provider Support page.
- Read Concurrent Usage and Terms of Communication.
Second week
- Review your caseload and request corrections.
- Locate upcoming and overdue work.
- Practice finding Current, Meeting, and Archived data.
- Observe or practice a meeting workflow on the training server.
Weeks three and four
- Prepare your assigned sections for an actual meeting with team support.
- Review service-log expectations if applicable to your role.
- Practice previewing and checking a complete document.
- Confirm how your district communicates participation changes, transfers, exits, and reporting issues.
- Attend training or office hours for remaining questions.
Know Where to Get Help
Start with the appropriate resource
- Provider Support – help organized by provider task
- SIRAS User Manual – page-by-page navigation
- SIRAS Training – live, self-guided, and training-server resources
- Typical Resolution Steps for Common SIRAS Issues
- Troubleshooting a Slow or Unresponsive Program
- Active and Known Issues
Contact local support first when
- you need a student, site, role, or caseload assignment;
- the Current record does not match the field;
- you discover prior-district plan information;
- a participation or eligibility outcome changed;
- you are unsure which meeting type or local procedure applies; or
- the question involves district policy.
Contact SIRAS Support:
Email [email protected]. Include the student's SIRAS ID—not the student's name—the page or meeting involved, what you were trying to do, and the exact error or unexpected behavior.
Email [email protected]. Include the student's SIRAS ID—not the student's name—the page or meeting involved, what you were trying to do, and the exact error or unexpected behavior.
Provider Startup Checklist
- ☐ I can log in to the correct production and training servers.
- ☐ My account information, role, schools, and contact information are correct.
- ☐ I know who my SEDS Coordinator or local SIRAS contact is.
- ☐ I reviewed Incoming Messages, Student Data Overview, and SIRAS announcements.
- ☐ I can search for students and review my caseload.
- ☐ I understand Current, Meeting, and Archived data.
- ☐ I understand Active, Pending, and Inactive status.
- ☐ I reviewed Concurrent Usage and know not to edit the same form simultaneously with another user.
- ☐ I know how to prepare my assigned meeting sections and save work safely.
- ☐ I know when to notify the SEDS Coordinator about participation, eligibility, enrollment, transfer, or exit changes.
- ☐ I know the district procedure for meeting delay, parent contact, and unresolved meetings.
- ☐ I know how to preview and review a meeting before finalization.
- ☐ I know where to find Provider Support, the User Manual, training, and SIRAS Support.
