Dear Colleagues,

This memorandum is to inform Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), charter schools, and public school districts, of the changes to the Student Information Repository System (SIRS) Level 2 Reporting Environment (L2RPT) verification reports beginning in the 2020-21 reporting school year (SY).

Please be advised and share this information with district, BOCES, and school personnel who are responsible for data reporting and verification processes of your data as reported to the NYSED Data Warehouse (l2DW). The Office of Information and Reporting Services (IRS) has updated SIRS L2RPT to align Regents examination data in these reports with those in the New York State School Report Cards beginning in 2020-21 reporting school year.

2020-21 NYS School Report Cards

The Grades 3-8 Mathematics, Grades 4 & 8 Science, Annual Regents, and Total Cohort Regents sections of the 2020-21 NYS School Report Cards will report students whose highest score on a Regents examination was a Level 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 in the counts at levels as earned. All students reported with an exemption on a Regents examination will be included in a count of exempt students. The new verification reports below were developed to allow LEAs to view data reported and certified in the SIRS in the way they will be included in 2020-21 report cards.

New, Retired, and Modified Verification Reports

NYSED makes available to school districts, BOCES, charter schools, and other reporting entities tools for reviewing, verifying, and certifying their data throughout the school year. Information officers and data coordinators must be familiar with the various systems and applications associated with data verification. All SIRS data verification tools are available in the form of verification reports within the Level 2 Reporting Environment (L2RPT). These reports are available and should be used throughout the school year to ensure all data are reported accurately in SIRS.

Beginning with 2020-21 reporting year data, three new verification reports will be available in the L2RPT:

• SIRS-653 Annual Regents Examination Report
• SIRS-204 Total Cohort Assessment Report
• SIRS-670 Regents in Lieu of NYSTP Report

These reports will contain counts of all students reported as exempt on a Regents exam, even if the students were also reported with a valid score on the Regents exam. The reports will also include all students whose highest performance level on a Regents exam was a Level 1 or Level 2 in the counts at Level 1 or Level 2, even if the students were also reported with an exemption.

Beginning with 2020-21 reporting year data:

• The SIRS-653 Annual Regents Examination Report will replace the SIRS-309 Annual Regents Report.
• The SIRS-204 Total Cohort Assessment Report will replace the SIRS-202 Total Cohort – Assessment Summary.
• The SIRS-670 Regents in Lieu of NYSTP Report will contain data on middle-level (grades 7 and 8) students taking Regents science and/or mathematics examinations in lieu of their grade-level examinations.
• Beginning with 2021-22 reporting year data, data for these students will not be included in the SIRS-301 and 302 Tested/Not Tested Reports.

Support and Additional Assistance:

Thank you for all the work you have done with your students, staff, parents, and community stakeholders this year. We thank you for the countless hours, outstanding efforts, and unending dedication to the health and safety of the students of New York during this unprecedented time. We appreciate the work you do every day that makes a difference in the lives of all New York State stakeholders.

We are here to support you as you use the SIRS verification reports to ensure your school’s data are reported correctly to the Department Level 2 Data Warehouse.

For overall general assistance with data verification or questions about data contained in SIRS for public and rest of state charter schools, please contact your RIC or Big 5 Data Coordinator. For information concerning SIRS reports and resources, please refer to the L2RPT support page.

If you need any further data related assistance, please contact the Office of Information and Reporting Services (IRS) by entering your question via the blue “HELP” icon at the bottom right corner of each IRS subpage.

For New York City schools:

If you need additional support reach out to your Borough Field Support Lead with the NYC DOE. The Office of Information Reporting Services or Datasupport will not be able to assist you.

For ALL NYC Charter Schools:

All NYC Charter Schools are to contact the NYCDOE Charter School Help Support Desk and submit a ticket.