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Level 1 Host-Child (L1HC) Application and Relationships Processing

Overview || Resources: Level 1 Hosts defined | Hosted LEAs defined
Technical procedures | L1HC specs & User Guide | Current L1HC Relationships | L1HC FAQ | Support

Overview

"Level 1 Host-Child (L1HC) relationships" is the collective listing of every LEA* (Local Education Agency, or "child" entity) that has established an annual contract for data services with a given Level 1 (L1) regional data center (or "host" entity), where that L1 host center collects data from each LEA and moves it on their behalf to the SIRS (Student Information Repository System) statewide data warehouse for the entirety of that school year (SY) to comply with State and Federal regulations and guidelines (see also Level 1 Hosts defined below).

*(LEAs are the administrative institutions ultimately responsible/accountable for educational services provided to their students, whether at their institution's own locations or at external placements. LEAs include Public districts, BOCES, Charter schools, Nonpublic schools, and State Agencies or State-operated facilities that provide educational services. See also Hosted LEAs defined below.)

"Hosting" in this context is the act of collecting student (and staff) data at the local level (Level 0, or L0) from the LEA's student management system (SMS), validating those data at the regional level (Level 1) - usually through the L1 host's 's "Level 0 Application" validation process, storing validated data in the L1 Host center's regional data warehouse, making sure each student is assigned a unique statewide NYSSIS ID, then moving LEA data to Level 2 (L2, the statewide level) to be stored in NYSED's SIRS data warehouse for reporting purposes.

At the beginning of each school year, each L1 updates their "L1HC relationships" with NYSED using the L1HC online application to verify the SED code/BEDS code (Basic Education Data System identification number) of every LEA whose data they will be responsible for submitting to SIRS that year.

An L1HC relationship is used to:

  • establish Level 1 access to the NYSSIS application, so the L1 Host can request NYSSIS IDs on behalf of their hosted LEAs for the current SY, assist L1s in troubleshooting NYSSIS ID-related data issues, and make updates as needed to LEA records in the NYSSIS database;
  • establish the correlation between LEAs and their Level 1 hosts to provide appropriate access to Level 2 reporting systems (such as the L2RPT reports, the PD System, and the Level 0 Historical application, etc.) so that LEAs and L1 Hosts can view records and troubleshoot enrollment, program, attendance and many other data issues; and
  • grant permission to select Level 1s (see Level 1 Hosts defined for details) to load data for hosted LEAs into L2's staging platform (called the Level 1 Container, or L1C), from which L2 then pulls data into the SIRS data warehouse.

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Resources

Level 1 Hosts defined

For the purposes of the L1HC Application, a Level 1 Host Site is any regional data warehouse to whom an LEA first sends its data (to then be submitted to the SIRS on its behalf), or any Big 5 City School District that submits to SIRS directly (on its own behalf), or any third party who may be approved/contracted to move data.

Of the Big 5 CSDs, NYC submits its own data, therefore NYCDOE is its own "L1". eScholar moves Yonkers data, however, and is thus the "L1" for Yonkers. Syracuse's is hosted by Suffolk RIC; Buffalo and Rochester are hosted by WNYRIC.

Technical note: Some RICs do not move their data directly, but instead contract with another L1 center to act as their "technical L1". The distinction is subtle, but it means

  • the "primary" (L1 host) L1/RIC is still stored as the "parent"/host of all their hosted LEAs in the NYSED SED_RELATIONSHIPS table (that feeds NYSSIS and SEDDAS, which governs access to most other NYSED applications), and thus shows that all hosted LEAs "belong" to them for the purposes of maintaining appropriate access to the NYSSIS, L0H and other applications' features and/or functions;
  • but in the L2 ACL table (Access Control List), which controls the actual loading of data to the Level 1 Container (L1C) on its way to being staged and pulled into the L2 SIRS warehouse, these LEAs will instead display the "proxy" L1 center. This allows a proxy L1 to move LEAs' data on behalf of a "hosted RIC".

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Hosted LEAs defined

A hosted LEA (the "child" institution in the so-called "host-child" relationship) is an LEA who is administratively responsible, or accountable, for its students' participation in NYS assessments and whose students' data are collected in the NYSED SIRS data warehouse. LEA "A" submits student records (demographic, enrollment, program services, assessment data, etc.) from its student management system (SMS) to its Level 1 Host Site so that host can, in turn, move the LEA's data into the SIRS.

When an LEA ("B") provides educational services for students sent to them by another LEA (say, LEA "X"), but for such students LEA "B" is not otherwise responsible (i.e., under the terms of NYS Accountability, where the sending LEA – LEA X – is responsible), and when LEA "B" is NOT otherwise administering NYS assessments for its own students, such an LEA is NOT considered a Hosted LEA. (In many cases, Nonpublic and other specialized schools are approved locations for public school districts to place students with special needs and/or to provide specialized educational services. These schools may well have a combination of public district/LEA-placed students, whose records must be sent back to and reported by that public district/LEA who placed them, as well as parentally-enrolled students that are the Nonpub/specialty school's own responsibility, and whose records they must report through their own contracted L1 Host center.)

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Technical procedures

  1. By default, prior year relationships roll over to the next SY. Once the L1HC application is "updated" to accept a new SY (this occurs during the brief window between closing prior SY data collection in L2 and opening the new SY collection, usually late August/early September), then NYSED alerts each designated L1HC Point of Contact (PoC) and their Project Manager (PM) when the rollover is to take place. (L1HC PoCs are designated by each L1's RIC/Big5 statewide data warehouse Project Manager.)
  2. An L1HC PoC must log into the L1HC online application and confirm all "child" LEAs are accurate, including having appropriate BEDS/SED Codes.
    • L1HC PoCs will be alerted to any newly-closed LEAs with a message at the top of the L1HC application Home screen when they log in. Closed LEAs should be removed from the hosted list (see L1HC User Guide below).
    • L1HCs should also remove any LEAs that are no longer contracting for data services for the new SY. (This also allows them to be "picked up" by a different L1 host if the LEA is changing services.)
    • L1HC PoCs may also add new LEAs at this time, as long as they are of a "valid" institution type/subtype combination that complies with L1HC specifications.
    • All L1HC Application entities are validated against NYSED SEDREF database tables using L1HC specification business rules (see below).
    • A list of currently-hosted LEAs is available in the L1HC application for download as a CSV file to make comparing SYs easier to manage for L1HC PoCs.

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L1HC specification documentation

Detailed explanation for L1s on how to determine what constitutes a valid "child" entity (by SEDREF Institution Type and Subtype) that may be hosted; and the L1HC Application User Guide.

L1HC specification: Rules for determining a "valid" child LEA

L1HC Application User Guide

The L1HC Application now updates the NYSED Relationships table in real time. This means L1s can submit NYSSIS ID requests for newly-hosted LEAs immediately for any approved/hosted LEA.

There may still be a lag in processing Relationships at Level 2 (L2), where ACL (Access Control List) updates take place. L1 Hosts and their associated LEAs must be processed in the ACL table in order to permit L1s to access the Level 1 Container (L1C) in order to submit hosted LEAs' student data to L2. Although ACL processing can take place within the same day, we ask that L1s allow 48 hours for L2 to process L1HC before loading data to the L1C for newly-hosted LEAs.

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Current L1HC Relationships File

Defining the term "current":

  • The Level 2 (L2) statewide data warehouse new/"current" school year (SY) data collection usually begins sometime in early September.
  • Data movement for any given SY continues beyond the "calendar end" of the school year (June 30th) and through the subsequent summer months, while all collected data are verified, potentially amended, and certified.
  • The L2 data warehouse usually closes near the end of August, after year-end accountability and other outcomes are finalized.
    • Relationships between a Host and an LEA apply to all statewide/L2 data movement for the duration of a given school year's data collection, until data collection is closed. See the current SY SIRS Timeline for the closing date of data collection.
    • An LEA can be hosted by only one Level 1 (L1) Center per school year.
    • An LEA does not have to begin moving data at any specific time during the school year, but once data movement has begun for an LEA, all subsequent data for that LEA must continue to move through the already-established L1 Host Center.

DOWNLOADABLE LISTING of all Level 1 relationships with currently-hosted LEAs:

Listings are sorted by Level 1 Center BEDS Code, then alpha by LEA. Listings are updated weekly Wednesday mornings, by 7:00 am.

Keep in mind:

  • L1HC submissions can come in on a daily basis, and (per above) L1HC files are processed weekly, on Mondays. The above extract files are processed weekly and available early on Tuesdays.
  • L1s can and do submit changes throughout the SY (adding new LEAs, removing LEAs, "swapping" LEAs with another Host -- if and only if the "prior LEA" has not yet submitted data for the current SY for that LEA) so be sure you are working from the latest host-child file for the most accurate information on relationships.

NYSSIS users may still look up any LEA's L1 host center by using the "Host Search" menu feature in the NYSSIS application.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q.01: Questions and answers will be posted here as they arise.

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Further L1HC Support

Most questions about L1HC file processing should be answered by reading the L1HC specifications document and/or User Guide. This is a concise list of requirements for data values expected in L1HC submission files and business rules behind them. In addition, common questions may be answered in the L1HC FAQ.

If the file specifications documentation or FAQ do not answer your question, please go to Datasupport and click on the "Systems" area link, then find the "L1HC" section. If there is no article there that addresses the question, use the HELP link to submit an inquiry. In the Help form, please reference the date/time of any error notification email (if you received one), and/or any other applicable details. There is an Attachments area through which you may attach screenshots or other documentation (click inside Attachments to browse/select, or drag from a separate File explorer window and drop into Attachments).

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