The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) created ISIS, a school and student information software package, in 1998 as a multi-functional tool to replace the Vocational Information Management System (VIMS). This new system, deemed to be Perkins III-compliant, has enabled Illinois to maintain a national leadership role in the performance accountability arena. Having local agencies follow uniform procedures, use the same software, definitions, and reporting requirements all help ensure that data reported to the state and the U. S. Department of Education are complete, accurate, and reliable. The resulting data are able to drive a multitude of applications related to the Career and Technical Education enterprise. These systems rely on ISIS data transmissions and common coding sets and taxonomies.
Database features:
School/regional course/local course records are maintained for the current year as well as a planning year with ISBE retaining approval rights via a LAN database maintained at ISBE.
Student records contain an extensive array of elements including demographics, special populations identification and services, programmatic details, and user-defined elements.
All students in grades 6 through 12 and adult, not only those enrolled in CTE courses, can be entered into the database.
Enrollment (class list) data are carried by semester and are subject to ISBE rules for eligibility.
Output features:
An array of pre-formatted reports is available with multiple selection criteria.
A Custom reports feature allows the construction of reports for regional/local use.
Data export features have been added to feed additional applications.
Technical components:
The application was developed using Visual Basic, Crystal Reports, and Microsoft Access database tools.
Specifications have been developed to enable vendor-supplied or locally-developed systems to transfer data into ISIS.
There are multiple data entry options for select elements.
Database maintenance and security options meet industry standards.
RoboHelp was used to develop an integrated context-sensitive Help.
Data quality is ensured by comprehensive edit logic for all data elements based on both keyboard entry and importing operations.
Support components:
Regional system, public high school, and area vocational center users have access to a variety of training options and comprehensive technical support.
Communication vehicles include periodic correspondence, technical bulletins, and Web resources.