What's New in DataEngine Version 1.35

You can now read about all the new features in DataEngine each time you log into your system after an update. The scroll bar on your right will help you navigate through this information.   

 

This document covers each of the enhancements and fixes incorporated into version 1.35. Once you have finished reading the What's New in Version 1.35 information, click on the Close button to launch DataEngine.  

 

This information will display each time you log into DataEngine until you check the Don't show this again until the next update box.  If you would like to access this information from within DataEngine, just click on the Help menu and select What's New.

2008-2009 PIR

This release of ChildPlus DataEngine includes numerous changes and enhancements that were made for the 2008-2009 PIR.  You can view non-PIR related changes and enhancements in the Non-PIR Enhancements and Fixes section of this document.  You can refer to the DataEngine PIR Calculation Guide for details on how ChildPlus calculates each PIR question and, if applicable, which PIR Audit Report you can use to verify PIR calculations.  This document is available for download on the ChildPlus website at: www.childplus.com/document/DE_PIR_Calculations_Guide.pdf.

 

For more information about changes to this year’s PIR, to download a copy of the PIR, or if you need assistance interpreting PIR questions, refer to the Office of Head Start Program Information Report Homepage  at www.eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/pir.  

 

Since this year's PIR has substantial changes, your ChildPlus Administrator should make an archive, if they haven't done so since last year's PIR, to preserve last year's PIR. Once your version of ChildPlus DataEngine has been updated, it will no longer be possible to create or view an accurate PIR for previous years other than by accessing an archive.

New Questions

The following new questions were added to the PIR for the 2008-2009 school year:

 

 

Question #

Description

A.26

Does your program use a management information system to track enrollees, program services, characteristics of families, and information on program staff?  

B.5.a.2

An advanced degree in “any field and coursework equivalent to a major relating to early childhood education, with experience teaching preschool-age children”.

B.5.b.2

A baccalaureate degree in “any field and coursework equivalent to a major relating to early childhood education, with experience teaching preschool-age children”.

B.5.b.3

A baccalaureate degree in “any field and admitted to Teach for America and passed early childhood content exam”.

B.5.c.2

An associate degree in “any field and coursework equivalent to a major relating to early childhood education, with experience teaching preschool-age children”.

B.20

Comments on staff shared by Head Start and Early Head Start programs.

C.31.b

What curriculum does your program use: for family child care services.

C.31.d

What curriculum does your program use: for pregnant women services.

Changes in ChildPlus DataEngine for the 2008-2009 PIR

PIR Question B.5

 

ChildPlus updated the Personnel module so that the fields on the screen reflect the changes to question B.5 in the 2008-2009 PIR.

 

 

PIR Question C.8

Due to the revised wording of question C.8 (formerly C.9) on the PIR, ChildPlus revised the way this question is calculated. ChildPlus DataEngine now counts participants for question C.8 if:

 

  • they have met all requirements that are marked to count for C.8 AND

  • the expiration date for each event that fulfills these requirements is set to occur after the classroom End Date or the participant's Termination Date.

 

In addition, ChildPlus added a new audit report, 9711 – Children Not Counted for C.8, that allows you to quickly see which children are not being counted for question number C.8 and why.

Report 9711 – Children Not Counted for C.8

ChildPlus added a new audit report that allows you to quickly see which children are not being counted for question number C.8 (formerly C.9) and why. To run this report:

 

  1. Click on the Reports menu.

  2. Click PIR.

  3. Select 9711 - Children Not Counted for C.8.

  4. Specify your setup criteria for the report.

  5. Click Preview.

Classroom Begin and End Dates

For the purpose of calculating PIR question C.8, ChildPlus now requires that you to track the End Date for each of your classrooms. ChildPlus DataEngine uses each classroom End Date you specify to calculate question C.8 on the PIR. To be counted as up-to-date for Enrollment Health Requirements, the child needs to have all required activities complete with an expiration date that occurs on or after the end of the child’s enrollment or classroom End Date.

 

By default, the End Date for classrooms will automatically be set to the same date as the End Date used for the program term they are associated with. If you don't want a classroom to have the same End Date as the program term, you can modify the classroom's End Date on the Program Information screen (accessed by clicking on the System menu Configuration Program Information).

 

PIR Question C.12

Due to the revised wording of question C.12 (formerly C.13) on the PIR, ChildPlus revised the way this question is tracked and calculated. To address these changes, a new field named Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment was added to the Pregnancy module. If, in a previous version of ChildPlus DataEngine, you had selected Yes for the Mental Health Intervention and follow up field, then Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment will automatically be set to Yes as well.

 

 

PIR Fields

The following fields are no longer used for PIR calculations and, therefore, now appear on DataEngine screens in black instead of red:

 

  • Enrollment Received Services

  • System Configuration Agency Information Sites Federal Interest Established

  • Navigator PIR Childcare

  • Navigator PIR   Transportation

PIR Addendum

Because they are no longer part of the PIR, the Childcare questions that formerly displayed on the PIR Addendum screen have been removed and no longer display unless you adjust your security settings. If you were using these fields to track data and would like to continue to use them, you can view these fields in ChildPlus DataEngine again via the following steps:

 

  1. Click on the System menu and choosing Admin Utilities.

  2. Click User Security Groups.

  3. Choose a security group and click Edit.

  4. Drill down to the Navigator PIR Addendum Childcare field.

  5. Right click on Childcare and choose Full Access.


     

  6. Click Save Changes.

  7. Repeat steps 3 - 6 for each security group that you want to be able to access the Childcare questions.

 

Keep in mind that if you create a new security group in the future and want them to have access to the childcare fields, you will need to manually go into the security group's setup and grant them access.

 

Changes to the PIR Setup

Date Last Year's PIR Was Reported  

Due to changes in 2008-2009 PIR, numerous questions are now calculated based on the date your PIR was submitted last year (versus the operating period that was used to calculate these questions during previous PIR years). To address this calculation change, you will now be asked to provide the date last year's PIR was reported when you set up this year's PIR. Make sure to provide a date because you will not be able to run your PIR or access PIR Audit Reports without it.

 

 

This change impacts the following PIR questions: B.1.b, B.1.b(1), B.12, C.8.a, C.8.b, C.17, C.17.a, C.17.a(1), C.18, C.19, C.28.

 

General Information Section

The General Information section is no longer part of the PIR and has also been removed from the PIR module in ChildPlus DataEngine. When you submit your 2008-2009 PIR electronically, this information will now be automatically gathered from the HSES system.

 

Additional PIR Fixes and Enhancements

 

The following table lists each of the additional enhancements and fixes that ChildPlus incorporated into this release of DataEngine:

 

 

Question/Report

Description

Questions A.3 - A.8, A.9, A.17 and A.18

The PIR will no longer count classrooms where each child enrolled in it has a termination code of W.

Questions A.22 & A.22.a

 

ChildPlus now only counts double session classrooms once for these questions. In previous versions of ChildPlus DataEngine, double sessions were being counted twice; however, most of our clients already split their double sessions up because each session can have different participants.

Question A.23

If you answer No to question A.23 (formerly A.56), then ChildPlus will no longer calculate and export question A.23.a on the PIR.

Questions C.3 & C.4

Due to the revised wording of questions C.3 and C.4 on the PIR, ChildPlus revised the way these questions are calculated. You can refer to the DataEngine PIR Calculation Guide for more specific information.

Question C.8

Due to the revised wording of question C.8 (formerly C.9) on the PIR, ChildPlus revised the way this question is calculated. You can refer to the DataEngine PIR Calculation Guide for more specific information.

Question C.18

Due to the revised wording of question C.18 on the PIR, ChildPlus revised the way this question is calculated. You can refer to the DataEngine PIR Calculation Guide for more specific information.

Questions C.23 & C.24

Due to the revised wording on the PIR, ChildPlus revised the way these questions are calculated. You can refer to the DataEngine PIR Calculation Guide for more specific information.

Question C.34

ChildPlus DataEngine is now calculating this question correctly when you have one parent families where the secondary adult has their Employment Status mapped to Unemployed and Training.

PIR Audit Report 9701

ChildPlus updated this report for the 2008-2009 PIR.  In addition, this report no longer excludes participants who have a termination reason that is checked on the Mapping tab for question A.16 (formerly A.23).

PIR Audit Report 9710

All PIR questions referenced on this report were updated to reflect their new question numbers.

PIR Audit Report 9720

This report was renamed "Program Staff - Count, Ethnicity, 2nd Language" and all PIR questions referenced on it were updated to reflect their new question numbers. In addition, the Teacher Turnover section was removed and is now available on report 9725.

PIR Audit Report 9721

This report was renamed "Program Staff - Associate Degree" and all PIR questions referenced on it were updated to reflect their new question numbers.

PIR Audit Report 9722

This report was renamed "Program Staff - Baccalaureate Degree" and all PIR questions referenced on it were updated to reflect their new question numbers.

PIR Audit Report 9723

This report was renamed "Program Staff - CDA, Advanced Degree" and all PIR questions referenced on it were updated to reflect their new question numbers.

PIR Audit Report 9724

 

This report was renamed "Program Staff - No Degree" and all PIR questions referenced on it were updated to reflect their new question numbers.

PIR Audit Report 9725

This report was renamed "Program Staff - Teacher Turnover" and all PIR questions referenced on it were updated to reflect their new question numbers.

PIR Audit Report 9726

This report was renamed "Program Staff - Family Workers and FCP Supervisory Staff" and all PIR questions referenced on it were updated to reflect their new question numbers.

PIR Audit Report 9740

This report now tracks questions C.12.c, C.3, and C.4. In addition, all PIR question numbers referenced on this report were updated for the 2008-2009 PIR.

PIR Audit Report 9910

All questions that are no longer part of the PIR were removed from this report and each of the remaining PIR question numbers referenced on it were updated for the 2008-2009 PIR.

Non-PIR Enhancements and Fixes

 

The following table lists each of the fixes and enhancements unrelated to the PIR that ChildPlus incorporated into this release of DataEngine:

 

Enhancement/Fix

Description

Application Forms

You will no longer periodically receive low memory errors when you print paper applications from Family Intake.

LiveReport

You can now export LiveReports to an XML format.

Report 1310 - Individual Training Record

Each event will now print separately on this report, even in cases where different events have the same name.

Report 2310 - Daily Attendance by Classroom

This report now handles transfers properly.  It will correctly display participants who start the week in one class, transfer to another class, but then transfer back to the original class.

Report 3010 - Health History

If you are running this report for a specific requirement set and decide to uncheck one of the requirements on the Report Setup screen, then ChildPlus DataEngine will no longer uncheck all of the requirements in the set.

Report 3410 - Growth Charts

This report now prints the enrollment date for both male and female participants.

Report 5450 - Group Profile Comparison

You can now run this report for all sites without receiving an error message.