This is a guide for troubleshooting issues with Student Information System to SIRAS data transfer.

When data is updated in the SIS but hasn't made it in SIRAS, nearly in all instances it is because the record wasn't matched by the integration process.

(Return to main SIS to SIRAS data transfer article)

Troubleshooting Updates on Records Existing in SIRAS

 

• Go to the student record in SIRAS and open up Student Info > Student History.
• At the top of the page should be 2 data points: Import Identifier and Last Import Date
• If they aren't shown, the record has never been updated by the integration.
• If there's an older date on there, the record hasn't been updated since then.
• If Import Date is today's date, then there is some other issue with updating specific data: first verify the data in the SIS is as you expect, and contact SIRAS Support for further troubleshooting if necessary.
• The reasons why a record might not be updated are the same reasons why a record might not be created.  See below for details.

Troubleshooting Creation of New Records & Record Matching

 

To create new records in SIRAS,  your district must be configured to read data from the SIS and Create New Records.  By default, creation of new records is not enabled.  This is often because the SIS does not have the capability of indicating which records are currently participating in or newly being evaluated for Special Ed.  Often, this means that new Special Ed records must be created first in SIRAS, and the integration will only handle updates to existing matched records.

 

If the creation of new records has been setup and some records are coming in, but there is a new record in the SIS that you expect to have been created in SIRAS:

The following is a checklist, roughly in order of priority, of data points to check to ensure things are setup correctly:

 

• (AERIES Only) Verify Program Code 144, 144x, or 101 exists
  The first thing SIRAS does when connecting to AERIES is to query for the existence of an AERIES Program indicating enrollment in Special Ed (144), evaluation for Special Ed (144x), or the 504 Plan (101).
  SIRAS needs this program code to be present to identify new records for creation, as well as for updating any existing records.  Absence of a program code will not be indicated in the log file.
   
• Check the Log File for errors
  In SIRAS, navigate to SIRAS Admin > Scheduled Task Logs and download the most recent log file.  If a potential duplicate was detected and ignored, it will be indicated in the log as "Could not determine..."
  There may have been a connectivity issue with the last night's import, for example if the SIS and/or SIRAS was temporarily offline, there might be no log file or a single connectivity-related error message.
  There may be other errors in the log file indicating why the record was not created or updated.  Try searching by the student's SSID, name, birthdate and/or Student ID.
   
• (AERIES Only) Verify the School is not ignored
  AERIES to SIRAS integrations are setup to ignore schools that appear to be "unofficial", for example if the school name contains: "Inactive" or "do not use" or "summer school".
  The log file will contain an entry at the top indicating which schools are ignored.
   
• (AERIES Only) Verify no Inactive Status or excluded Attendance Code
  AERIES records with Attendance Code = X or C will not be processed.  (exceptions may be configured at request)
  Records with any Inactive Status Code will not be processed.  (exceptions may be configured at request)

 

• Check Log Files for Closely matched duplicates
  SIRAS might already have a record which appears very close to the record to be created.  In order to prevent creation of duplicates, such cases are logged and unprocessed.

 

Grade Mapping

 

    Kindergarten, Transitional Kindergarten, Preschool, Infant, and Ungraded grade codes.
    Various SIS will code these differently, and we will need to have the correct mapping specified.
    EL/EO/IFEP/RFEP are the default accepted values for EL aka English Language Learner aka EL Type.  "TBD" or "N/A" are not actual values- they are semantically identical to a Null or blank selection. 

    SIRAS data integrations do not allow most fields to be blanked out if they already have been assigned a value.  This is done to prevent undefined data from a partial integration from deleting data entry that has been done directly in SIRAS.

 

Schools Mapping

 

School of Attendance Code (SCH_CODE) for School Programs with no official CDE code:

• For this field, the expected value is a 7 digit code matching the entity in Siras to be assigned as the School of Attendance.  For some school programs, this will not be the same as the Home School in CALPADS.
• Often Siras will have several different school-level entities sharing the same 7 digit code, (often identical to the district code) where those entities are school programs with no official CDE code.  In such cases the code sent in the data transfer file is expected to be that same code shared by those entities in Siras. 
• When the process encounters the same code in the data transfer file that is already assigned to a student, there will not be any update.
• When the code in the data transfer file is one that is shared by multiple entities in the Siras database, Siras will need to have one of the same-coded entities assigned as the "default".  In this case, users will often need to manually select the correct school entity in Siras post-update.
• "Site Code" may be included in the file to help distinguish between school entities sharing the same CDE code.  In this case, Siras will need to have the school entities updated with a unique code for each site which is additionally included in the data transfer file.
  
   

Students Inactive in SIRAS

SIS to Siras integrations will not usually update records which were previously found not eligible, exited, or otherwise Inactivated in Siras.  This is necessary because Siras is treated as the authority on if the student has left the Special Ed (or 504, or SST) program, and SIRAS will usually only receive records which are still in Special Ed from the SIS.  Usually the process works as follows (depends on how the SIS handles Inactive Reasons)
 

When a student is DNQ'd or exited in SIRAS:

1. SIRAS sends the Inactive Reason to the SIS
2. The SIS removes the program code
3. SIRAS will no longer receive data for this record