Reporting early education students to the Minnesota Department of Education through jmc is crucial for securing appropriate funding. In Minnesota, most preschool students are enrolled in Early Childhood and Family Education (EFCE) or School Readiness (SR) early education programs, which are not funded through MARSS. Some early education programs, however, are MARSS funded, such as Voluntary PreKindergarten (VPK), School Readiness Plus (SRP), and Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE). The methods for reporting your early education students in jmc depends on whether they're enrolled in a Non-MARSS or MARSS funded program.
Defining Minnesota Early Education Subgroups
On the Edit School Data page in jmc Office, assign "Grade 0" subgroups, such as "EC" or "KA", to the corresponding state-defined "Preschool Group" to easily identify eligible students for early education funding. These subgroups will be assigned to students enrolled in MARSS funded and Non-MARSS funded programs.
"Grade 0" Subgroups: In jmc, all students in Kindergarten and preschool are categorized as "Grade 0". Users can further define "Grade 0" subgroups (e.g., KG, KA, KB, KC, KD, EC, and HK) to differentiate between students in Kindergarten programs (such as AM/PM) and those in early education programs.
Preschool Subgroups: Grade 0 subgroups identified as Preschool can then be assigned to a specific preschool program using the "Preschool Groups" drop-down list. The "EE" indicator identifies ECFE and SR preschool groups, while "RA-RJ" identifies SRP and "PA-PJ" identifies VPK.
Non-MARSS Funded Early Education Reporting
In jmc Office, creating an early education program record on the Edit Student Early Education page allows you to specify the funding source for ECFE and SR early education students, providing essential details to the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) for funding allocation. These records are then seamlessly shared with the MDE through the standard Ed-Fi Update Student process.
Program Name drop-down list: the School Readiness (SR) and Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) programs provide funding to early education students through the MDE and are identified in jmc as "SR" and "ECFE" with the "Program Name" drop-down list on the Edit Student Early Education page.
Funding Sources checkboxes: scholarships, programs or parental contributions to a student's early education are identified with the funding sources checkboxes on the Edit Student Early Education page.
Marking ECFE and SR students reportable to the MDE
After defining the "Grade 0" subgroups, students can be assigned to the relevant subgroup and marked as eligible for early education funding on the View Student Data page in jmc Office. This designation allows their records to be submitted to the state, distinguishing them from K-12 students who receive general funding.
The Grade drop-down list: by selecting "0" from the "Grade" drop-down list on the View Student Data page in jmc Office, a "Kdg Group" drop-down list becomes available, allowing you to assign the appropriate subgroup to early education students.
General Tab: in the "General" tab of the View Student Data page in jmc Office, you will find the MARSS checkbox, which enables the sending of student information to the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE).
MARSS Tab: the "MARSS" tab on the View Student Data page provides the ability to remove the early education student from the K-12 group that receives general MARSS funding and places them in the appropriate early education cohort as defined by the "Grade 0" subgroup.
MARSS Funded Early Education Reporting
There are a few, less common situations in which early education students are funded through MARSS. This can be achieved by accurately filling out the necessary information on a student's MARSS tab, which indicates that the student is enrolled in School Readiness Plus (SRP), Voluntary Preschool (VPK), or Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE).
State Aid Category: indicates the type of preschool program in which a student is enrolled, or it identifies a record as an early childhood screening record only. Appropriate state aid codes can be found in the MARSS Reference Guide provided by the MDE.
Grade Level: the grade level field on a student's MARSS status line must match the grade level assigned on the student's data page.