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CALPADS Update Flash #231

Statewide Student Identifier (SSID) Matching Tool; SSID Matching Criteria and Match Scoring.

To:           Local Educational Agency (LEA) Representatives

From:      California Department of Education (CDE) –
                California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) Team

Date:      August 1, 2022

SubjectCALPADS Update FLASH #231


SSID Matching Tool

As referenced in CALPADS Flash #221, as a planned short-term solution to replace Report 0.0 – SSID Candidate List, the CDE is developing a new SSID Matching Tool which will allow local educational agencies (LEAs) to upload a batch Student Enrollment (SENR) file with blank Statewide Student Identifiers (SSIDs) and receive a list of potential SSID matches in a new SSID Match Results file. This tool is expected to be released the second week in August. A communication will be sent when it is available.

The new tool will be located in the Online Maintenance>Student Data tab in CALPADS. Along with the “Search by SSID,” “Search by Demographics/Request SSID,” and “Search by Enrollment” tabs, there will be a new tab for the SSID Matching Tool. This tool is separate from the file submission process in CALPADS and is solely for the purposes of helping LEAs determine whether or not a student already has an existing SSID, and to avoid the creation of Multiple Identifiers (MIDs) for students.

Training will be provided on the new SSID Matching Tool, and will be announced prior to the release of the new tool.

SSID Matching Criteria and Match Scoring

Any possible matches returned on the SSID Match Result file are returned with a Match Score. Scoring of a possible SSID match is based on matching these submitted SENR fields:

  • Legal and alias names
  • Gender
  • Date of Birth
  • Birth Country
  • Birth State

Matching is done using both the legal and alias names, in addition to the other demographic elements, with the legal names taking a higher precedence. The sequencing for matching on the name fields is:

  1. Perfect match of submitted legal names to legal or alias names in the Operational Data Store (ODS)
  2. Perfect match of submitted Alias names to legal or alias names

Perfect matches maximize the match score, and variations reduce the match score. The further away the potential match student’s birth date is from the submitted student’s birth date, the lower the score.

Probabilistic matching (e.g., “Nick” for Nicolas, or “Bill” for William) is not currently part of the SSID match logic, but will be added as a future enhancement in late August or early September 2022.

Obtaining the SSID Match Results File

The process for obtaining the SSID Match Results File is as follows:

  1. LEAs should work with vendors to generate a SENR file for new or incoming transfer students whose SSID field are blank in the student information system (SIS).
  2. Log in to CALPADS, and go to Online Maintenance>Student Data>SSID Matching Tool.
  3. Upload the SENR file.
  4. The following fields must be populated or the file will fail: Reporting LEA, SchoolofAttendance, Student LegalLastname, Student LegalFirstName, Gender, BirthDate, BirthCountry.
  5. All of the SSID matching criteria fields submitted in the file will be validated (see previous section) to ensure proper formatting and length (size and shape validations).
  6. If errors exist, the full file will fail upload and the LEA should resolve the errors and resubmit the file.
  7. If no errors exist, the following fields in the file will be compared against those same fields in the ODS to determine if the student already has an existing SSID
    1. Legal and alias names
    2. Gender
    3. Date of Birth
    4. Birth Country
    5. Birth State
  8. The SSID Match Results will then be made available in a report in the user interface and as a downloadable file.
  9. The results file will return the following:
    1. For students with no full or partial match, a record is returned with the user-submitted data and a Result Category of “No Match.”
    2. For students with single or multiple matches, records are returned with the user-submitted criteria and a Result Category of “Single Match” or “Multiple Match” along with the match score and additional demographic criteria to use for match verification and import into the SIS (see Table A:  SSID Match Results File Layout).

Next Steps after Retrieving the SSID Match Results

Once the SSID Match Results file is downloaded, the user must review the results to determine which of the matches (if any) provided for a student match the submitted student. A blank “Selection” field is provided in the file to allow the user to indicate which of the matches is correct and to facilitate loading the file into the local SIS.

LEAs will then be expected to populate the matched students’ SSIDs (either manually or by import) in the SIS before sending up a SENR file through the file submission process. This will ensure that only students who do not have existing SSIDs are assigned new SSIDs.

SSID Match Results File Layout

The SSID Match Results File Layout is displayed in Table A. The CDE has provided a copy of this SSID Match Results File Layout to SIS vendors.

Table A:  SSID Match Results File Layout

Report Attributes Attribute Definition and Format
Submitted_SENR_ReportingLEA The unique identifier assigned to the LEA requesting the SSID candidate list.
Submitted_SENR_SchoolofAttendance The unique identifier assigned to the school within the LEA that the submitted student is/will be enrolled at.
Selection This is a blank column that the user may use to indicate on hard copy which SSID matches the incoming SENR.
Submitted_SENR_LocalID LEA assigned local identification identifier for the submitted student.
Submitted_SENR_Student_LegalLastName Student’s legal last/surname for the submitted student.
Submitted_SENR_Student_LegalFirstName Student’s legal first name for the submitted student.
Submitted_SENR_Student_LegalMiddleName Student’s legal middle name for the submitted student.
Submitted_SENR_Gender Gender for the submitted student.
Format: M/F/X
Submitted_SENR_BirthDate Birth Date for the submitted student.
Format: Mm/dd/yyyy
Submitted_SENR_BirthCountry Abbreviation of the country in which the student was born.
Submitted_SENR_BirthState Abbreviation of the state or province in which the student was born.
Submitted_ SENR _GradeLevel Student’s most recent grade level.
Result_Category The category describing the result of the candidate match.
Values: No Match, Single Match, Multiple Match
Result_MatchPercentageScore The score representing the percentage of demographic criteria that were matched to the submitted student demographic criteria. Format: XXX%
Result_SENR_ReportingLEAName The Reporting LEA name for the match result student’s most recent enrollment.
Result_SENR_SchoolofAttendanceName The School of Attendance name for the match result student’s most recent enrollment.
Result_SENR_ReportingLEACountyDistricCode The Reporting LEA county-district code for the match result student’s most recent enrollment.
Result_SENR_SchoolofAttendanceSchoolCode The School of Attendance school code for the match result student’s most recent enrollment.
Result_ SENR_EnrollmentStartDate Match result student’s most recent enrollment start date.
Will be blank if submitted demographics have no match.
Result_SENR_EnrollmentExitDate Match result student’s exit date on most recent enrollment.
Will be blank if submitted demographics have no match.
Result_SINF_SSID The SSID that is returned for a potential match relating to most recent SENR record.
Will be blank if submitted demographics have no match.
Result_SENR_SSIDCreateDate Match result SSID Create Date.
Will be blank if submitted demographics have no match.
Result_SINF_Student_LegalLastName Match result student’s legal last/surname.
Will be blank if submitted demographics have no match.
Result_SINF_Student_LegalFirstName Match result student’s legal first name.
Will be blank if submitted demographics have no match.
Result_SINF_Student_LegalMiddleName Match result student’s legal middle name.
Will be blank if submitted demographics have no match.
Result_SINF_Student _AliasLastName Match result Student’s alias last name.
Will be blank if submitted demographics have no match.
Result_SINF_Student_AliasFirstName Match result student’s alias first name.
Will be blank if submitted demographics have no match.
Result_SINF_Gender Match result student’s gender.
Will be blank if submitted demographics have no match.
Result_SELA_ELASCode Match result student’s most recent ELAS Code.
Will be blank if submitted demographics have no match.
Result_SELA_ELASStartDate ELAS Start Date associated with match result student’s most recent ELAS Code.
Will be blank if submitted demographics have no match.
Result_SELA_PrimaryLanguage Primary language for the match result.
Will be blank if submitted demographics have no match.
Result_SINF_Parent/Guardian1FirstName Match result student’s parent/guardian 1 First Name.
Will be blank if submitted demographics have no match.
Result_SINF_Parent/Guardian1LastName Match result student’s Parent/Guardian 1 Last Name.
Will be blank if submitted demographics have no match.
Result_SINF_Parent/Guardian2FirstName Match result student’s Parent/Guardian 2 First Name.
Will be blank if submitted demographics have no match.
Result_SINF_Parent/Guardian2LastName Match result student’s Parent/Guardian2LastName.
Will be blank if submitted demographics have no match.
Result_SINF_ResidentialAddressLine1 Match result student’s residential address line 1.
Will be blank if submitted demographics have no match.
Result_SINF_ResidentialAddressLine2 Match result student’s residential address line 2.
Will be blank if submitted demographics have no match.
Result_SINF_ResidentialAddressCityName Match result student’s residential address city name.
Will be blank if submitted demographics have no match.
Result_SINF_ResidentialAddressStateProvinceCode Match result student’s residential address state/province code.
Will be blank if submitted demographics have no match.
Result_SINF_ResidentialAddressZipCode Match result student’s residential address zip code.
Will be blank if submitted demographics have no match.
Result_SINF_MailingAddressLine1 Match result student’s mailing address line 1.
Will be blank if submitted demographics have no match.
Result_SINF_MailingAddressLine2 Match result student’s mailing address line 2.
Will be blank if submitted demographics have no match.
Result_SINF_MailingAddressCityName Match result student’s mailing address city name.
Will be blank if submitted demographics have no match.
Result_SINF_MailingAddressStateProvinceCode Match result student’s mailing address state province.
Will be blank if submitted demographics have no match.
Result_SINF_MailingAddressZipCode Match result student’s mailing address zip code.
Will be blank if submitted demographics have no match.
Questions:   CALPADS/CBEDS/CDS Operations Office | calpads@cde.ca.gov | 916-324-6738
Service and Support: CALPADS-CSIS Service Desk | calpads-support@cde.ca.gov | 916-325-9210
Last Reviewed: Thursday, December 07, 2023
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