Security

Profiles

School Selection

Select Profiles to Create Files

Scheduled Process

Extracted Files

CERS Student Groups Extract Files - File Layout

CERS API Integration


Overview 

Navigate to School Info > Imports and Exports > CERS Student Groups


CERS Student Groups is used to create comma-delimited student group files for uploading into CERS (California Educator Reporting System). These student groups are used to aid in analyzing the assessment results. The files can be manually uploaded into CERS or can be uploaded to CERS through an API-based method using security similar to the State Electronic Score Reports. For the 2023-24 school year the CERS API Integration method will be hidden behind a feature flag as we begin a slow rollout of this feature. If you are interested in uploading the CERS Extract files via the API please submit a ticket to Support@aeries.com requesting that the CERS API Integration be turned on for your district and please review the CERS API Integration section of this documentation.


The CERS Student Groups extract can be run at the District level or the School level and includes several levels of options to customize the student group rosters. We will be removing the Beta designation in a future update.  


CERS Student Groups Configuration Page

CERS Student Groups Configuration Page


Security  


Table
Permission
Description
CERS Student GroupsAdministerAllows non-Admin users to access the CERS Student Groups page and create Profiles and extracts.


Please view this article:  Security  for more detailed information on how to set up permissions for users and groups.



Profiles  

Click on the Profiles tab.


A profile is a collection of settings that will determine the data that is provided in the CERS Student Groups extract. Admin user types will be able to create, edit or delete their own profiles, and they will be able to view, edit and delete any other user's profiles. Non-admin User types will be able to create, edit or delete only their own profiles.


The User column displays the account that created the profile. The Scheduled Process column displays whether or not the profile is automatically processed on a regular schedule based on the selections made in the Scheduled Processes tab.


CERS Student Groups - Profiles tab

 

Add New Profile 


To create a new profile, click on the New Profile button.


CERS Student Groups - Profile - New Profile


After clicking on New Profile you are directed to the School Selection tab to select the schools that will be included in the profile. 




NOTE The Profile and all other options are stored in the User Options (USO) table, so all CERS Student Group Extract settings are set by the individual user and cannot be shared between Non-admin users. Admin users, however, are able to update other users' profiles.



Edit Profile


To edit an existing Profile, click on a profile name in the list and then on Edit Profile. The Filter option at the top of the list is used to filter the profiles in the list so that you can quickly find the one to modify. After clicking on Edit Profile you are directed to the Extract Configuration Options tab. 



Delete Profile


To delete an existing Profile, click on a profile name in the list and then on Delete Profile. Admin users can delete their own profiles and any other user's profile. Non-admin users can only delete their own profiles. The Filter option at the top of the list is used to filter the profiles in the list so that you can quickly find the profile to delete. After clicking on Delete Profile a confirmation pop-up will appear. Click on OK to continue the deletion, or Cancel to not delete the profile. After the profile is deleted the list of profiles will refresh


School Selection  

When the CERS Student Groups is run at the District level at least one school must be selected. When run at the School level the school that you are logged into will be selected by default, however other schools can also be selected. By default only active schools are displayed in the list, but temporarily all schools can be displayed by un-checking the Show active schools only option. There is a Filter at the top of the school list as well as Select All Schools and Clear All buttons at the bottom of the school list to make selections quicker.


Once the school(s) have been selected click on the Extract Configuration Options tab to continue.



Extract Configuration Options  



  • Subject Area - Select the Subject Area in the state reporting system that this student group roster is for. The available options are ELA, Math or All.


  • Type - Select the type of student group roster. This selection will affect the filtering options in the Extract Configurations Options tab.
  • Secondary Master Schedule Classes - provides Course filters for Department Code, Subject Area and Courses
  • Elementary Teachers - provides a Teacher/Counselor Code or Name filter
  • Elementary Grade Level - provides a Filter by Grade
  • Counselor  - provides a Teacher/Counselor Code or Name filter
  • Student Group - provides a filter of Student Groups by Group Code or Name


  • Group Name Pattern - select the naming scheme for the StudentGroup Name that will be sent up to CERS. Each student group can have at most 200 students. If a group contains more than 200 students the number at the end will be incremented for the next set of 200 students.
  • Teacher Name + Period - Student Group Name will be in the format  School Number+Teacher Last Name First Name+Period+number.  CERS Student Groups page - Teacher Name+Period Student Group Name example
  • Teacher Name + Section - Student Group Name will be in the format  School Number+Teacher Last Name First Name+Section Number+number CERS Student Groups page - Teacher Name+Section Student Group Name example
  • Teacher Name + Course Title - Student Group Name will be in the format  School Number+Teacher Last Name First Name+Course Title+number
    CERS Student Groups page - Teacher Name+Course Title Student Group Name example
  • Include only Primary Classes - This option is available when logged into the District or into a school using Tracking Primary Classes, and the Type is Secondary Master Schedule Classes.  If the Include only Primary Classes is selected with NO course or teacher filters, then ALL schools selected in the profile need to be Tracking Primary Classes.  Otherwise, the extract will have no data. When limiting to Primary Classes, if the other filters (Department, Subject, Course, and Teacher) were selected in the profile, they will also be applied. 
  • Include in Scheduled Process - This option will automatically include this profile in the consolidated extract that is created as part of the scheduled process. 


Course Filters

The Course Filters are available when the CERS Student Group Type is set to Secondary Master Schedule Classes and allows you to create rosters of students based on one or more Department Codes, Subject Areas or Courses. The Allow selection on Department and Subject Areas allows you to select courses using both criteria.


Filters are available at the top of each list to help limit the lists for easier selection. Select All and Clear All buttons are also available for each list. The selections build upon each other.


In the below example selecting the English Subject Area limits the list of courses to only those with that subject area. The filter was used in the Courses list to only display English courses that include the characters 030.


CERS Student Groups page - Extract Configuration Options tab - Department Code, Subject Area and Courses options 


NOTE:  At this time, the teacher is NOT currently being limited by the selections made in the other filter boxes.


Teachers to Include in the Extract to Access the Assessment Results 

This list is available when the CERS Student Group Type is set to Secondary Master Schedule Classes or Elementary Teacher and allows you to create rosters of students for one or more teachers. For elementary schools with no Master Schedule the list of teachers is based off the the Teachers (TCH) table. For school that use a Master Schedule bur are not flex, it is based off of Master Schedule in conjunction with the Teachers table. For flex schools it is based off of the Master Scheduled in conjunction with the Staff table.


A Filter is available at the top to help limit the list for easier selection. Select All Teachers and Clear All buttons are also available. 

NOTE: the fields that hold the teacher selection is limited to 255 characters and may not hold more than 30 teachers. A pop up message will display if too many teachers are selected. If this occurs click OK in the pop up and deselect teachers until the message no longer appears. You will need to create another profile to select the remaining teachers.


In order for the extract to include the elementary teacher's email address, the Email field in the Teachers table  (TCH.EM) needs to be populated with the email address. 


In the below example the filter is being used to quickly select the English teachers by typing in the teacher number, selecting the teacher and then typing in the next teacher number. Once all of the teachers were selected clicking on the Only show selected teachers displayed the list concisely.


CERS Student Groups page - Extract Configuration Options tab - Teachers to Include options

  • Filter by Grade - The Filter by Grade is available when the CERS Student Group Type is set to Elementary Grade Level and allows you to create rosters of students based on one or more grades. A Filter is available at the top to help limit the list for easier selection. Select All Grade Levels and Clear All buttons are also available. The selections build upon each other.

In the below example the filter is being used to list all grade levels that begin with F so that the fourth and fifth grades can be quickly selected.


CERS Student Groups page - Extract Configuration Options tab - Grades options

  • Filter by Group Code or Name - The Filter by Group Code or Name is available when the CERS Student Group Type is set to Student Group and allows you to create rosters of students based on one or more student groups defined in the Aeries Student Groups page. Please see the Student Groups documentation for more information on how to create and maintain student groups in Aeries. A Filter is available at the top to help limit the list for easier selection. Select All Groups and Clear All buttons are also available. The selections build upon each other.

In the below example the filter is being used to list all student groups that contain "Re" so that the elementary Reading groups in school 990 can be quickly selected.


CERS Student Groups page - Extract Configuration Options tab - Student Groups options

  • Filter by Counselor Code or Name  - The Filter by Counselor Code or Name is available when the CERS Student Group Type is set to Counselor and allows you to create rosters of students based on one or more counselors in the Student Counselor (STU.CU) field. In order for the extract to include the counselor's email address, the Email field in the Teachers table  (TCH.EM) needs to be populated with the email address.


CERS Student Groups page - Extract Configuration Options tab - Counselors options


Additional Users With Permissions to Access the Assessment Results 

Select additional staff that the CERS Student Group is being created for. At this time all active records in the Staff (STF) table that have a State Educator ID (STF.SID) and Staff Email (STF.EM) populate the list.


NOTE: CERS requires that the staff members have a valid email address. Make sure that any staff members that are selected to receive student groups have a valid email address in the Staff Email (STF.EM) field.


The table includes a Filter at the top of the list to quickly search for individual staff members. Multiple records can be selected by filtering for a staff member, clicking on the Staff record, then filtering for the next staff member. The Select All Staff button can also be used to select all records in the filtered list. 

NOTE: the fields that hold the staff selection is limited to 255 characters and may not hold a large number of staff. A pop up message will display if too many staff are selected. If this occurs click OK in the pop up and deselect staff until the message no longer appears.  


In the below example two counselors from school 994 have been selected. These counselors will be able to log into the CERS system and create assessment reports for the student groups that are created in the extract.

CERS Student Groups page - Extract Configuration Options tab - Additional Users option

NOTE: When creating a new CERS Student Groups extract click on the Clear All button to ensure that no default Staff are selected prior to making your selections


Save

After all selections have been made enter a name for the profile and click on Save. A confirmation message will display indicating that the profile has been saved. The CERS Student Groups page will refresh with the new profile in the  Profiles tab.



Select Profiles to Create Files  


Select Profiles to Extract - The list of profiles for Admin users will contain all of their own profiles and the profiles from the other users. Non-admin users will only be able to view and select their own profiles.  A Filter is available at the top of the list to quickly limit the selections. Select All and Clear All buttons are also available to quickly edit the selection. Click on a profile to select it. 


Select the Consolidate selected profiles into one file in order for the system to merge the results of the selected profiles into one larger file.


Click on the Create CERS Student Groups File to create the CERS Student Groups roster file. A popup message will display when the file creation has completed.


CERS Student Groups - Select Profiles & Create Files tab



Scheduled Process  


This tab allows users with Administer rights to the CERS Student Groups to set up a Scheduled Process to create one consolidated extract on a regular basis. 



Options: 

  • Days to Run Process - Select the days of the week the scheduled process should run.
  • Status- The button will toggle the process ON and OFF. Click the green Enable Scheduled Process button to enable the scheduled process to run. Once enabled, the button will change to red, with the label Disable Scheduled Process.
  • Time - Select the time of day the scheduled process should run.
  • Email Address - Enter at least one email address to be notified when the scheduled process is completed. Multiple email addresses should be separated by a comma.

The Last Processed field will display the last date and time a scheduled extract was created. 


Be sure to click the blue Save Scheduled Process Settings button to lock in your selections. 



Extracted Files  

This tab lists the CERS Student Group extract files along with the date and time they were created, the logged in user that created them, and the number of records in the file. Click on the Download icon to download the file. On your computer the file may open immediately, or it may download and display at the bottom of the browser. This file can then be taken from your computer's Downloads folder and imported into the CERS system.




CERS Student Groups Extract Files - File Layout  

The CERS Student Groups Extract files follow the template specifications outlined in the 2019-20 California Educator Reporting System User Guide.  The records are sorted by the School_Natural_ID (i.e., CDS code) first so that any profiles that share the same CDS code will be listed one after the other. Below is a screenshot of what the file looks like. Please follow the guidelines in the CERS User Guide for importing the Student Groups file into CERS.


CERS Student Groups - Screenshot of data in an extracted file


NOTE: If TRM dates have passed, the extract will pull zero records.




CERS API Integration  

The CERS API Integration allows users to create CERS Extract files and upload them via an API to CERS. This process can be performed "on demand" by the user, or as a scheduled task as part of the CERS Student Groups > Scheduled Process. For the 2023-24 school year the CERS API Integration method will be hidden behind a feature flag as we begin a slow rollout of this feature. If you are interested in uploading the CERS Extract files via the API please submit a ticket to Support@aeries.com requesting that the CERS API Integration be turned on for your district and please review this section of the documentation. 


NOTE:  The CERS API Integration is a feature that needs to be turned on before it is available to the district. Please submit a ticket to Support@aeries.com to request that this feature be turned on. 


Once the CERS API Integration is turned on an Upload Extracted Files to TOMS via API option will be available in the Select Profiles & Create Files tab and in the Scheduled Processes tab.


In the Select Profiles & Create Files tab users can select one or more Profiles to upload immediately (i.e., "on demand"). The Consolidate selected profiles into one file option will  merge the results of the selected profiles into one larger file. The Upload Extracted Files to TOMS via API will send the extract(s) to TOMS via an API after the Create CERS Student Groups File button is clicked. Pop up messages will appear after the files are created and after the files are uploaded to TOMS.



In the Scheduled Processes tab select the Upload Extracted Files to TOMS via API option to automatically upload the CERS Extract file to TOMS on a scheduled basis after it has been created. In the below example the CERS Extract will be created for all Profiles that are tagged Include in Scheduled Process every Friday evening at 10:30 pm. Once the files are created they will be uploaded to TOMS via the API. An email will be sent to the email address in the Scheduled Processes notifying them of the upload results. 



Prior to enabling the CERS API Integration we suggest that LEA's review and clean up their CERS Profiles. Here are a few things to check for:

  • Duplicate profiles or overlapping profiles from multiple users should be deleted
  • If not done already, profiles should be updated for the 2023-24 school year and/or new profiles should be created for the 2023-24 school year.
  • Prior year profiles that are not updated for the current school year should be deleted