January 2022 AIM Compass Update

AIM Announcements

AIM Staff Transition

Gerrad Bohl, the Student Data Resource Manager has taken a job out of state and Gail Harms, the AIM Student System Manager has retired.  The OPI staff are working now to fill both positions.  Please be patient as our help staff resources are limited during this time.  Andy Boehm and Jennifer Straw are available to help via the AIM Help Desk.  (1-877-424-6681 or 1-406-444-3800 or opiaimhelp@mt.gov)

New Mode Of Instruction Collection

The Fall Mode of Instruction collection opened 11/1/21 closed 12/10/21.  It includes both student and school level modes of instruction. If you have not completed this data, please complete it as soon as you can in preparation of the OPI’s reporting of this data to the Federal Government in January.  This data should be kept updated throughout the year.  Please see our ‘School and Student Mode of Instruction’ user guide and AIM District Webinar pertaining to this collection.  Also, please note there is a new data validation report in Infinite Campus to help find missing data. Index – Date Integrity tools – Data Validation – Definition Groups. Then scroll down the report list to find the report group called ‘FALL Mode of Instruction Data Checks’.

New ‘Section 504’ Screen in Infinite Campus

As of 12/13/21, there is a new ‘Section 504’ screen in Infinite Campus.  See the Section 504’ article on page 8 of the AIM Program Participation Verification Guide. This new screen was implemented to help track the timing of these students’ accommodations.  The new screen is located in Index – Student Information – Program Participation – Section 504.  It includes a start and end date along with a comments field.  Please use this to identify you Section 504 students from now on.  The former ‘Section 504’ check box on the enrollment tab is gone, and the data from that box has been converted to be seen in the new ‘Section 504’ screen (for this year’s data and 3 previous years data).    For those districts using Montana Edition of Infinite Campus, please also see the new separate ‘Section 504’ Upload Template on the AIM Website noted below.

For Montana Edition Districts: The current Program Participation upload Template has been updated to now have field #9 (previously set as ‘Section 504’) set as a filler field. The new ‘Section 504 Template’ is just for Section 504 data.   This new template has the following data rules:

- The Start Date for Section 504 is required and cannot be a future date.

- The End Date for Section 504 cannot be a future date.

- After the start date has been uploaded (without an end date) the End Date cannot be uploaded.  The only time an end date can be uploaded is when the initial upload is done, complete with the start and end date.

- The new Section 504 collection dates will not change.  It is the same as the Program Participation collection,  which is data as of the Oct. Count date, the Test Window Count date and the end of year (as of the last day of school).

New or Updated State Published Ad Hoc and Data Validation Reports

There are a number of updated and new State Published Ad Hocs available to assist with your AIM reporting needs. The following Ad Hocs are either new or updated:

• ALLEN Extracurricular Activities Only 2021-22
• ALLEN Age 19 or Older (updated)
• ALLEN Student Mode of Instruction Recorded 2021-22
• ALLPR Gifted & Talented 2021-22 (updated to show evaluated)
• ALLPR Gifted &Talented Evaluate NOT ID’d 2021-22
• SPED Statewide Assessment Accommodations 2021-22 (shows currently enrolled special ed. students that have their active IEP indicating statewide assessments marked with accommodations.)
• ALLEN Student Mode of Instruction Template – This can be used for uploading your students Mode of Instruction with this extracting your students with the fields needed during the upload process.  Please read the description on this ad hoc for helpful tips.

There is also a new data validation report group called ‘FALL Mode of Instruction Data Checks’.  It is located in Data Integrity Tools – Data Validation – Definition Groups.  It contains 4 reports to show Schools with Mode of Instruction, Schools Missing Mode of Instruction, Students with their Mode of Instruction and Students Missing Mode of Instruction. 

AIM Webinars

There will not be any new Webinar links provided at this time, as we work on getting Gerrad Bohl’s position filled.  Please see the pre-recorded webinars on our AIM web page.   Please see our AIM Webinars webpage for the complete list of pre-recorded webinars from this year and last year. 

AIM Pre-recorded Webinars to help with January Collections:

Winter Assessment Registration (Recorded 11/18/21) Click here to see webinar.

• English Language Proficiency Registration:Enter and verify demographic and enrollment data for all English Learner (EL) students enrolled on 12/1/21. Enter and verify student supports and accommodation test settings for special population students (504 and ELs). The OPI will upload student data to ACCESS for ELLs or WIDA system during this time.
• ACT with Writing Registration:Enter and verify demographic and enrollment data for 11th grade students. Enter and verify student supports and accommodation test settings for special population students (IEP, 504 and ELs). The OPI will upload student data to Pearson Access Next (PANext) system during this time. Please see the AIM Assessment Collection Registration User Guide and the AIM State Assessment Test Settings User Guide

Spring Assessment Registration (Recorded 12/17/20) Click here to see webinar

AIM Data Reminders

State Assessment Test Settings

Please see the AIM State Assessment Test Settings User Guide to ensure that all EL supports and Section 504 Accommodations are accurately entered and up to date.

AIM Student Photos Needed

Please remember to collect the Student Photo Opt-In information from parents as they start registering their students for next year.  Then please follow-up with importing students photos into Infinite Campus, so the photos in AIM with the Opt-in value can be used by the Department of Justice to help find missing children.  See our AIM District Student Photo Repository user guide for additional information.

AIM Student Graduation Data Maintenance:

Please ensure the data on the ‘Graduation’ tab in Infinite Campus is complete for your 12^th grade students.  This will be helpful to prepare for the end of year reporting..

Updating AIM Contact Information

Please ensure to submit the AIM Contacts Update Form on the OPI AIM website whenever there is a change in AIM staff or AIM contact info at your district or school.

Did you know?

The AIM Unit has posted a list of district contacts on our AIM web page.  This will help identify which districts use the same student system as your district, and what their contact information is.  You can also check to make sure we have the correct contact information for your district. If the information for your district is incorrect, please see the link in the article above to correct it.

AIM Help Desk

 Submit an AIM Help Desk Ticket

or call 1-877-424-6681 or 406-444-3800

View the Compass Page

Graphics shared in this newsletter created via LogoMakr.com

The OPI is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation, require an alternate format, or have questions concerning accessibility, contact the OPI ADA Coordinator, 406-444-3161, opiada@mt.gov, Relay Service: 711.