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May 6, 2021

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MiDataHub Update

Recently MiDataHub loaded update 2021.3.8.1 into production. This update brought a wealth of improvements including:

OneRoster Application Username Management enhancements
Addition of Parent and Staff to application username
Updates to the UI placing link on API integration page
Introduction of the following hierarchy for OneRoster Api username (application username, login id, staff/student/parent unique id)
Filtering added for email domain functionality
MSDS – Updates and Bug Fixes
Collection comparison file upload corrected
XML validation error corrections
MSDS extractor error corrected
Missing stored procedure error corrected
Added the MIEWIMS agreement
Added API endpoints for Direct Certification
Fixed Parochial school EEM lookup
Addition of values to MediumOfInstruction Descriptors
Alignment of Ed-Fi API extended enrollment composite to MiDX extended enrollment composite
Minor updates to swagger API documentation, marking fields as required
NWEA missing/absent file error issue correction
Updates to SDK deployment for posting to a virtual folder on the app server
Extension of personal curriculum arrays on student school association
eSchoolPlus data loading improvements

Application Username Changes

One of the updates mentioned above was a change to the OneRoster Application Username functionality. This feature allows for the OneRoster “username” value to be set by the application that is using the data. Previously, the username value for a student could be set to name, student id, email address, or combinations of data elements. Now, that same functionality has been extended to staff and parents.

With the change to the Application Username functionality, we have also placed a link to access that conveniently in the Manage API Integration page. You will notice next to the “Permit Access to OneRoster API” checkbox that there is now a link to Add Application Username (see below).

Clicking on that link will take you to the Add Application Username screen, where there are now tabs for Student, Parent, and Staff. All three tabs work identically. In the example below, we are creating a username definition titled “OneRoster Sample Integration Usernames” with a student username based on email address. This also demonstrates the use of a new flag to exclude the school domain name, so that the username is set to the email address up to, but not including the at sign. Since student email addresses are unique, this ends up being a great way to set unique student usernames.

In the next example, we have set the Parent username to first initial, last name, and student ID concatenated together to create a unique ID. Clicking on the Save button will return to the Manage API Integration screen.

Notice that the Manage API Integration screen now shows an Edit link for the application username accounts.

Finally, in the Utilities>Application Username Management screen, districts can see and manage all application usernames that have been defined. However, this screen will no longer be able to add new application usernames due to the need to tie the username definition to an integration. Please contact support@midatahub.org for any assistance needed for this feature.

Return to Learn Webinars

Over the last few weeks the MiDataHub Team, MDE, and identified assessment vendors have conducted webinars for the Return to Learn (RTL) Benchmark Assessment requirement. These webinars covered the steps needed for districts planning to have one or more of the MDE-identified assessments aggregated for use in RTL Benchmark Assessment reporting. The recordings and the slide decks from each vendor webinar are included on the "Trainings" page of our website.

These webinars covered:

Curriculum Associates i-Ready
DRC Smarter Balanced interim assessments as well as their Michigan Early Literacy and Mathematics Benchmark Assessments
NWEA MAP
Renaissance Star

Although there is a lot of detail in the webinars, the basic steps are as follows:

Load your district SIS data. Many districts already have completed this step and for districts not using an SIS able to connect to MiDataHub, we will be offering an option, the MSDS General Collection file import.
Load your assessment data. This was the main point of the call, and the steps are a little different for each of the 4 assessment products. Steps for loading each assessment vendor's data are located on our product catalog page at www.midatahub.org.
Verify that your SIS and assessment data look correct and complete. This section covered reports and data quality scripts that can be run to review the data.
Create an API integration for aggregation. This step is important as it is what provides access to the MEDC team to allow for the aggregate data to be completed. Please visit our product catalog page (or click here)for steps to complete the MEDC/EPI Aggregation API in the MiDataHub cockpit
Review your aggregated data. After the data aggregation has been completed, each district superintendent will receive an email with a notice to review the aggregated data for the district. This is primarily to identify data quality concerns.
The aggregated data for all districts will be compiled and forwarded to CEPI and MDE so that they can report to the Governor and legislative subcommittees by September 1st, 2021 as required by law.

Questions?

As always, you can rely on the MiDataHub Support team at support@midatahub.org for any questions or assistance. Additionally, the assessment vendors have been wonderful partners in this process and have assisted districts with any steps needed on the assessment side of things.

Disabled Integrations

Over the past week, some users may have been notified that an Integration has been disabled, which has been triggered by work the MiDataHub team is performing to inactivate integration combinations that we know aren’t in use. In the screenshot below, it shows that a PowerSchool integration was disabled in our Grand Bend test district. However, it was an Outbound integration, which PowerSchool does not use, so disabling the unused integration would not be problematic for normal use.

If you determine that an integration was incorrectly disabled, please contact us at support@midatahub.org so that we can adjust our settings to allow the integration to be re-enabled.