Overview
There are 5 surveys each year for WDIS reporting. During each survey period, all students who are scheduled during that time period are reported in the Survey.
This article provides a brief overview of these Surveys as well as some tips.
WDIS Survey Windows
In WDIS, there are preliminary surveys which provide FLDOE early headcounts for each program students are enrolled in the district at the beginning of the term, and there are also final surveys which show the complete data of what occurred during that term that has ended. Final surveys are the ones which impact the district's WDIS funding. Below are the time frame windows that correspond with each survey:
- Window F (final) – WDIS Summer Term start and end date as window. Note: Focus has a special preference for which year you want to submit Survey F under, please see the section below for Survey F for additional information.
- Window G (preliminary) – WDIS Fall Term start and end date as window (send from production)
- Window W (final) – WDIS Fall Term start and end date as window
- Window X (preliminary) – WDIS Winter Term start and end date as window (send from production)
- Window S (final) – WDIS Winter Term start and end date as window
- End of Year (EOY) Update Window - All final Surveys F, W and S are reopened for amendments.
The Survey Window is defined by MIS staff at the district level under Florida Reports > Florida Reports Setup > Survey Dates. MIS staff will enter the dates for each of the surveys:
NOTE: It is critical to set all survey dates for the upcoming year when you begin reviewing data for Survey F. FOCUS processing depends on each window to be populated correctly even if you do not report for all surveys. Any missing or invalid dates are likely to cause issues.
Survey Notes
Preliminary Surveys G & X
Survey G & X are preliminary surveys that give DOE headcount information for funding projections. In order to report Survey G & X students must be enrolled and scheduled into their classes. Preliminary surveys should be sent from production.
For WDIS Student Instructional Hours on these surveys, Focus will never use the attendance threshold logic, it always pulls the total scheduled hours for the entire term as though it already occurred. (total school days in term and survey window X Class daily hours on student schedule).
Survey F
Survey F is the Summer reporting period. Any course that starts in June and runs into July DOE wants two separate sections, but to keep districts from having to reschedule the class, Focus automatically creates a second section in the extracts to DOE and prepends a D to the section number to make the section unique.
The students have to meet the attendance threshold for both June and July sections. So if they do not attend at all in June or do not attend at all in July you will need to adjust the schedule start and end dates or else you will get edit 54. For example, a student attends school in June but does not attend at all in July, in this case you will adjust the end date on the student's schedule for each class to be the last day of June.
Typically districts that offer a WDIS program during the Summer set it up in the same school year they reported the previous Survey W & S under, if you do this you must check the box under Florida Reports Setup > District Options > WDIS - Pulling Survey F YYYY-YYYY (upcoming year) from current school year YYYY-YYYY.
You will also need to make sure that you have this setting turned on in the upcoming school year so you don't have contradictory settings pointing two different school years to the desired Survey F of XXXX year.
If your district sets up the WDIS summer program applicable for Survey F in the new school year, you would need to make sure the box is UNCHECKED for both school years and that your dates are setup appropriately.
Whichever year you have set up in this setting to "point to" for Survey F is the year you need to be sitting in when setting those respective Survey F dates under Florida Reports > Florida Reports Setup > Survey Dates.
EOY Update Window
During the End of Year update window all final Surveys F, W and S are reopened for amendments. If you have any corrections you need to make you will go to that particular survey site, make adjustments and send batches. You may need to request new D-Files in DQ2 before you can send a batch.
Important Note for End of Term Status Reporting
FOCUS uses the default Survey Window Start date of Survey F and the default Survey Window End date of Survey S to determine the date range for the reporting year.
Even if you do not report data in Survey F, you must set these default dates in Florida Reports Setup -> Survey Dates for accurate reporting.
Also review your district option setting for “WDIS - Pulling Survey F YYYY-YYYY from current school year YYYY-YYYY” to ensure you are using the intended dates.
WDIS Data Verification Reports
In Florida Reports > WDIS Data Verification Reports Focus provides a tool you can use to review the errors you are likely to receive back from FLDOE when you send your Survey. On this screen in the top left you will select your Survey and if you have multiple WDIS schools you can check All Schools. Then click Refresh Report.
On the left select your format to see the error messages. Click on the # errors to see the detailed records in error that need to be fixed.
Common Errors that Cause Confusion
Error: Adult General Education 54) 'WDIS Student Instructional Hours' must be numeric and greater than zero. (Reject)
Explanation: Likely this student is not meeting the minimum hours threshold and/or does not have any class meeting days during the time period they are scheduled for during the survey. Review our article on the instructional hours calculation here for more information. Also, see note above under Survey F if you are getting this error in Survey F.
Error: Adult General Education 82) If 'Cost Reporting Code' is 401-404, or 409 the sum of all 'WDIS Student Instructional Hours' reported for the student within the survey must be 450 or less. (Exception)
Explanation: Usually students do not have more than 450 hours in a survey. The typical survey period for W and S covers 90 school days if a student goes to school 5 days a week. Most students do not attend class more than 5 hours per day. 5 hours X 90 days = 450 hours.
Like all exceptions it is just giving you a heads up to double check that this is correct. If the student is attending this many hours no action is required since it is not a reject. However, this exception is to alert you that you might want to double check the number of hours as this is not typical.
Error: Student Demographic Information 80) If 'Grade Level' is 06-12, then 'Resident Status, State/County' must be 0, A, B, 2, or 3. If 'Grade Level' is 30-31, then 'Resident Status, State/County' must be 4, 5, 6, or 7. (Exception)
Explanation: Usually this error occurs for students who transition from K12 to WDIS as they will have to have a separate Resident Status for the K12 enrollment vs WDIS enrollment. If this is the case we recommend updating the field in the enrollment screen rather than on the demographic screen as the enrollment field will override the demographic field.
WDIS Survey Formats
Adult Ed Programs
The following formats are sent for Adult Ed programs:
- Adult General Education Student Course
- Adult General Education Test and Performance Record*
- Student Demographic Information
- Student End of Term Status*
- Teacher Course*
*These formats are only required for final surveys and are not sent in Survey G and X.
CTE Programs
The following formats are sent for CTE programs:
- Career and Technical Education Student Course Schedule
- Supplemental Information*
- Student Demographic Information
- Student End of Term Status*
- Teacher Course*
*These formats are only required for final surveys and are not sent in Survey G and X.
Survey Sites
Survey sites are a full copy of your Focus system at a specific snapshot in time. The purpose of having a survey site is that it keeps the data in a separate silo that is unchanged from when you submitted it to FLDOE.
Districts should make a survey site for each final survey they submit: Survey W, Survey S and Survey F. If you do not operate Adult Ed during the summer you will not submit Survey F and will not need a survey site. Survey sites are not needed for preliminary surveys G or X as you will not be audited on preliminary data.
WDIS Automated Processes (Assign LCPs) Job
See the WDIS Automated Processes (Assign LCPs) Job article here for more information.