MDE-EdFi-Documentation

MCCC Certification Scenarios - API Resources

The Minnesota Common Course Catalog (MCCC) is a course classification and data collection system intended to provide uniform information about courses that are taught by Minnesota teachers and completed by Minnesota students. This document contains sandbox certification scenarios for this collection.

Resource: Students

Description

This entity represents an individual for whom instruction, services, and/or care are provided in an early childhood, elementary, or secondary educational program under the jurisdiction of a school, education agency, or other institution or program. A student is a person who has been enrolled in a school or other educational institution.

Prerequisite Data

Scenarios

  1. Create 12 student records including the following elements.
    • studentUniqueID
    • birthdate
    • birthSexDescriptor
    • firstName
    • generationCodeSuffix
    • lastSurname
    • middleName

Resource: StudentSchoolAssociations

Description

This association represents the School in which a student is enrolled. The semantics of enrollment may differ slightly by state. Non-enrollment relationships between a student and an education organization may be described using the StudentEducationOrganizationAssociation.

Prerequisite Data

Scenarios

  1. Enroll the 12 students (spread across elementary, middle and high school)

Resource: ClassPeriod

Description

Ed-Fi Description: This entity represents the designation of a regularly scheduled series of class meetings at designated times and days of the week. MDE will be collecting the MCCC PeriodInfo Data in this resource. This data must be submitted for each school.

Prerequisite Data

Scenarios

  1. Create a series of Class Periods for elementary, middle and high school. Each Period must include:
    • ClassPeriodName
    • ClassPeriodTypeDescriptor
    • SchoolID
    • StartTime
    • EndTime

Notes:

  1. Times should be formatted as “HH:MM”, i.e. “09:00”, “14:00”, which should be contained within the “meetingTimes” element.
  2. Each class period record should only contain one set of meeting times (one start time and one end time).
  3. ClassPeriodTypeDescriptor is expected on each record. Each class period is only expected to be described with one ClassPeriodTypeDescriptor (i.e. “DS” for “DURING_SCHOOL”).
  4. Note that the name of the period should be placed within the ClassPeriodName element, and we are no longer using the ClassPeriodDescription element.
  5. Also note that the name of the Class Period should be unique enough to fit your scheduling needs; when assigning class periods to sections, ClassPeriodName and SchoolID will form the composite key to reference each class period.

Resource: GradingPeriod

Description

Ed-Fi Description: This entity represents the time span for which grades are reported. MCCC collection in Ed-Fi requires the creation of GradingPeriods in order to allow submission of grades. Grading Periods are defined at the School Level.

Prerequisite Data

Scenarios

  1. Create a series of GradingPeriods for elementary, middle and high school. Each Period must include:
    • GradingPeriodDescriptor
    • PeriodSequence
    • SchoolId
    • SchoolYear
    • BeginDate
    • EndDate

Note: you may notice the totalInstructionalDays element in the API for the gradingPeriods resource. This exists because it is a required field by the Ed-Fi model. But MDE is not using it for MCCC, so please submit zero as the value and provide total instructional days as part of the Session resource.

Resource: Session

Description

Ed-Fi Description: A term in the school year, generally a unit of time into which courses are scheduled, instruction occurs and by which credits are awarded. Sessions may be interrupted by vacations or other events. The MCCC collection in Ed-Fi will use Session for collection of TermInfo.

Prerequisite Data

Scenarios

  1. Create Sessions for elementary, middle and high school (Fall, Spring, and non-scheduled). Each Period must include:
    • TermDescriptor (i.e. “Non-Scheduled”, “Fall Semester”, etc. See TermDescriptor table)
    • School Year
    • SchoolId
    • DaysInSession
    • TotalInstructionalDays
    • SessionName
    • BeginDate
    • EndDate

Resource: Course

Description

Ed-Fi Description: This educational entity represents the organization of subject matter and related learning experiences provided for the instruction of students on a regular or systematic basis. The MCCC collection in Ed-Fi will use Course for collection of District, College and State Courses. For more information on the course resource, see the Course Records for MCCC section of the Descriptors and Resources document. MCCC data is collected by “course work types” that include scheduled, independent study and direct pay PSEO. The certification will verify that the MCCC data for each of the course work types is loaded correctly.

Important Note on College Course Codes: To ensure uniqueness, the College Course Code must include a district’s LocalEducationAgencyId followed by a hyphen with no spaces, then followed by the College’s Course Identifier for that course. For example, a college course code submitted by Saint Paul Public School District would be submitted as 10625000-ENG1000.

Prerequisite Data

Scenarios

  1. Create 3 District Courses (set up at least 1 course per school type - Elementary, Middle and High School)
    • Course 1 Course Level Type = (B or G or E) Elementary
    • Course 2 Course Level Type = (D or A) HS
    • Course 3 Course Level Type = (C or X or N) Middle

Including the following elements:

  1. Create an EE District Course Elements that must have valid values:
    • Course Description (only required when associated with Unclassified State Course)
    • Course Code (local)
    • Course level Type (P)
    • Number of Parts (1)
    • StandardId (State)
    • High School Course Requirement (False)
    • Must NOT include CourseLevelCharacteristic for End of Course Indicator
    • CurriculumUsed
      • CurriculumUsedDescriptor (CRCUE, HWOT)
      • ImplementationStatusDescriptor (FULL, CEXP)
    • AssessmentTool
      • AssessmentToolDescriptor
      • ImplementationStatusDescriptor
    • CourseDefinedByDescriptorId = ‘LEA’
      • CourseIdentificationCode - repeat the CourseCode (this is an ed-fi requirement)
      • CourseIdentificationSystemDescriptor = ‘LEA course code’
    • LearningStandardid 99.E5.1 (see details)
  2. Prepare District Course 2 (as described in Scenario 1 above) to associate with College courses
    • Review data for District Course 2 (levels D or A) to prepare for the next section (and the CourseCourseAssociation scenarios).
  3. Create 2 College Courses
    • 1 with Course Level Type = D
    • 1 college courses to be used for Direct Pay PSEO. Each college course should include the following elements:
      • EducationOrganizationId for the college (use the PostSecondaryInstitutionId as detailed in the College Courses section)
      • MaximumAvailableCredits
      • CourseCode (District ID plus ‘-‘ and College Course Identifier - generally dept letters & course number)
      • CourseTitle
      • CourseDefinedByDescriptorId = ‘College’
      • CourseIdentificationCode - repeat the CourseCode (this is an ed-fi requirement)
      • CourseIdentificationSystemDescriptor = ‘LEA course code’ for the first two, ‘University Course Code’ for the PSEO courses

  4. Create a District Course for Independent Study NOTE: Independent Study course section enrollments did not previously require the setup of a course section - the Ed-Fi Model enforces the full set of master schedule entities (course, course offering and section) in order to associate a student with a course and record grades for that course.

    • Separate course, course offering and section records are required for your district to report ALC Independent Study records; however Course Offering and Section will not be used by MDE for reporting. (The Ed-Fi Model requires an entry in Course Offering linked to the non-scheduled term, and a section default.)

    Please also note the validation rules described in the Level Characteristics section of the Descriptors and Resources document.

    Include the following elements:

    • Course Code
    • CourseDescription
    • HighSchoolCourseRequirement
    • Number of Parts
    • LocalEducationAgencyId
    • CourseTitle
    • CourseDefinedByDescriptorId = ‘LEA’
    • CourseIdentificationCode - repeat the CourseCode (this is an ed-fi requirement)
    • CourseIdentificationSystemDescriptor = ‘LEA course code’
  5. Create a course for Direct Pay PSEO section enrollments - the Ed-Fi Model requires course, course offering and section. At minimum, a single Placeholder course, course offering, and section will be required for your district to report Direct Pay PSEO Student Section Association records. Ed-Fi required elements:
    • Course Code: Direct Pay PSEO
    • Course Title
    • Course Identification Code
    • Number of Parts
    • CourseDefinedByDescriptor = ‘LEA’
    • Please note the following elements (many optional in the API) will be required for this placeholder course by 2022-12-31:
      • Course Level Type Descriptor of ‘X’
      • Standards Addressed Descriptor of ‘None’
      • High School Course Requirement of ‘0’ (false)
      • Number of Parts = 1.
  6. (UNDER DEVELOPMENT) Scenario for Project-Based Student enrollment record. (_The data model for Project Based learning is still under development, and vendors will not be tested.) Create a course for Project Based section enrollments - While these types of enrollments do not include MDE course, course offering or section requirements - the Ed-Fi Model enforces these entities in the Master Schedule. At minimum, a single Placeholder course, course offering, and section will be required for your district to report Project Based Student Section Association records. Please also note the validation rules described in the Level Characteristics section of the Descriptors and Resources document. Ed-Fi required elements:
    • Course Code: Project Based
    • Course Title
    • Course Identification Code
    • Number of Parts
    • CourseDefinedByDescriptor = ‘LEA’

Resource: CourseCourseAssociation

Note: The following scenarios directly reference the Courses created above. For example, “College Course A” below references the “Course Level Type A” created above under “Create College Courses”. Vendors may find it useful to track the courses created above with their own labels and identifiers before continuing with the section below.

Description

CourseCourseAssociations connect various Course records to one another, to support situations such as:

Scenarios

  1. Create CourseCourseAssociation records between the district Courses and State Level Courses (including IS, and Project Based if applicable)
    • EducationOrganizationId = District ID
    • CourseCode = District Course Code
    • ToCourseEducationOrganizationId = State Education Agency ID (999999000)
    • ToCourseCode = State Course Code
      • IS can only be related to state courses with CourseLevelCharacteristicDescription = IS and Project Based can be related to state courses with CourseLevelCharacteristicDescription = PBL. See the Level Characteristics section for validation details.
      • Scheduled course work type cannot use CourseLevelCharacteristicDescription = PBL.
  2. Create CourseCourseAssociation records between the College Courses D or A and the District Course 2, which were created for this association.
    • EducationOrganizationId = District ID
    • CourseCode = District Course Code
    • ToCourseEducationOrganizationId = College Course’s PostSecondaryInstitutionId
    • ToCourseCode = College Course Code
  3. Create CourseCourseAssociation records between the 1 Direct Pay College Courses and the applicable State Course (PSEO Direct Pay)
    • EducationOrganizationId = College Education Organization ID
    • CourseCode = College Course Code
    • ToCourseEducationOrganizationId = State Education Agency ID (999999000)
    • ToCourseCode = 23010 ONLY

Note: CourseCourseAssociation records are not required between the District Direct Pay PSEO course and the PSEO college courses.

Learning Standards

Learning Standard elements are only required on the Early Education (EE) courses. These standards are validated on course records as they are loaded through the API, at the top of the course record. Only the identifier should be used in the reference (not the description):

  "learningStandards": [
    {
        "learningStandardReference": {
            "learningStandardId": "99.E5.4"
        }
    }
  ]

They change relatively infrequently, so they are being documented here for vendors to build local tables. While this data exists within the API for validation, it is hidden from most users via a security configuration. Nevertheless, using a code that is not in the table below will result in a record rejection from the API.

ID Description
99.E5.All All eight domains in ages birth through five
99.E5.1 1. Social and Emotional Domain
99.E5.2 2. Approaches to Learning Domain
99.E5.3 3. Language, Literacy and Communication
99.E5.4 4. The Arts Domain
99.E5.5 5. Social Systems- Cognitive Domain
99.E5.6 6. Physical and Movement Development Domain
99.E5.7 7. Mathematics Domain
99.E5.8 8. Scientific Thinking Domain

Resource: CourseOffering

Description

Ed-Fi Description: This entity represents an entry in the course catalog of available courses offered by the school during a session. The MCCC collection in Ed-Fi will use Course Offering for collection of LocalCourseInformation that is not captured within the Ed-Fi Course record. The CourseOffering also links up the Course to the term and section, student and staff allowing grades and staff assignments to be captured.

Prerequisite Data

Scenarios

Create the following CourseOffering Records:

  1. CourseOffering 1 References the District Course with Level Type = B or G or E
    • CourseReference
    • LocalCourseCode (this can match the District Course’s Course Code - at the discretion of district)
    • SchoolId
    • SessionReference (SchoolYear, SchoolId, SessionName)
  2. CourseOffering 2 References the District Course with Course Level Type = D or A
    • CourseReference
    • LocalCourseCode (District Course’s Code - at discretion of district)
    • SchoolId
    • SessionReference (SchoolYear, SchoolId, SessionName)
  3. CourseOffering 3 References the District Course Associated with Course Level Type = C or X or N
    • CourseReference
    • LocalCourseCode (this can match the District Course’s Course Code - at the discretion of district)
    • SchoolId
    • SessionReference (SchoolYear, SchoolId, SessionName)
  4. CourseOffering 4 References the District Course Associated with Course Level Type = P
    • CourseReference
    • LocalCourseCode (District Course’s Code - at discretion of district)
    • SchoolId
    • SessionReference (SchoolYear, SchoolId, SessionName)
    • InstructionalApproach
      • InstructionalApproachDescriptor
      • ImplementationStatusDescriptor
    • siteBasedInitiative
      • siteBasedInitiativeDescriptor
      • ImplementationStatusDescriptor
  5. CourseOffering 5 for Independent Study (you will have one course offering for every Independent Study district course)
    • CourseReference (reference to district course)
    • LocalCourseCode (District Course’s Code - at discretion of district)
    • Schoolid
    • SessionReference (SchoolYear, SchoolId, SessionName. Should reference a session with TermDescriptor ‘Non-Scheduled’.)
  6. CourseOffering 6 for Direct Pay PSEO (you will have a single course offering linked to a single district course set up as a placeholder)
    • CourseReference (reference to district course)
    • LocalCourseCode (District Course’s Code - at discretion of district)
    • Schoolid
    • SessionReference (SchoolYear, SchoolId, SessionName. Should reference a session with TermDescriptor ‘Non-Scheduled’.)
  7. *CourseOffering 7 for Project Based (not submitted by SIS vendors) - (Requiresa single course offering linked to a single course which is associated to all project-based college courses)
    • CourseReference (reference to district course)
    • LocalCourseCode (District Course’s Code - at discretion of district)
    • Schoolid
    • SessionReference (SchoolYear, SchoolId, SessionName. Should reference a session with TermDescriptor ‘Non-Scheduled’.) *

Resource: Section

Description

Ed-Fi Description: This entity represents a setting in which organized instruction of course content is provided, in-person or otherwise, to one or more students for a given period of time. A course offering may be offered to more than one section. Most MCCC CourseSectionInfo elements will be collected in the Ed-Fi Section Entity. Note: in late 2021, the instructionMinutesPerTerm element was moved from the courseOffering resource to the section resource. Sandbox instances created prior to 12/22/2021 will not include this change, requiring vendors to initialize new sandbox instances in order to work with the latest configuration.

Prerequisite Data

Scenarios

  1. Create 4 Section Records to associate with the first 9 course offerings (not the IS, Project Based or Direct Pay PSEO courses yet - those will be done in step 2). Include the following elements:
    • SectionIdentifier
    • CourseOfferingReference
    • ClassPeriod (for Scheduled Section Enrollments)*
    • SectionCharacteristicDescriptor (FP ‘Fixed Period Indicator’ for courses associated to a fixed period, or MA ‘Marking Indicator’ for sections where grades are recorded)
    • InstructionLanguageDescriptor (only for non-English, using MARSS language descriptor)
    • MediumOfInstructionDescriptor (required)
    • SequenceOfCourse (must be less than or equal to ‘Number of Parts’ of course referenced)
    • InstructionMinutesPerTerm
  2. Create 3 Section Records, 1 for each of the following course offerings:
    • Independent Study (a section is required for every course offering)
      • SectionIdentifier: IS_<LocalCourseCode>_Section
      • CourseOfferingReference
    • Direct Pay PSEO (a single placeholder section is required all Direct Pay PSEO)
      • SectionIdentifier: DirectPayPSEO_Section
      • CourseOfferingReference
    • Project Based (a single placeholder section is required all Project Based)
      • SectionIdentifier: ProjectBased_Section
      • CourseOfferingReference

*Note that more than one ClassPeriod can be contained within the classPeriods element, enabling a 1:M relationship between Section and Class Period if necessary.

Resource: StaffSectionAssociation

Description

Ed-Fi Description: This association indicates the class sections to which a staff member is assigned.

Prerequisite Data

Scenarios

  1. Create StaffSectionAssociation for sections created for each of the 5 sections (Direct Pay PSEO does not get a staff reported). Include the following elements:
    • StaffReference.staffUniqueId (FFN)
    • ClassroomPositionDescriptor = ‘TOR’
    • SectionReference

Resource: StudentSectionAssociation

Description

Ed-Fi Description: This association indicates the course sections to which a student is assigned.

Prerequisite Data

Scenarios

  1. Create at least 1 StudentSectionAssociation Record for each Section loaded. Include the following elements:
    • StudentReference.studentUniqueId
    • SectionReference
    • BeginDate
    • College Course Reference (only applicable to Direct Pay PSEO)
    • Early Education fields (only for Couse Level Type ‘P’)
      • instructionalApproachDescriptor (if different than the course offering)
      • implementationStatusDescriptor
      • siteBasedInitiativeDescriptor (if different than the course offering)
      • implementationStatusDescriptor
    • SectionEnrollmentType Descriptor
      • Match the enrollment type with the appropriate course/section:
        • SC: Scheduled
        • AI: Independent Study
        • DP: Direct Pay PSEO
        • PB: Project Based (if available)

Please note the importance of the SectionEnrollmentType Descriptor in validating Project-Based and Independent Study courses as describe in the Level Characteristics section of the Descriptors and Resources document.

Resource: Grade

Description

Ed-Fi Description: This educational entity represents an overall score or assessment tied to a course over a period of time (i.e., the grading period). Student grades are usually a compilation of marks and other scores. Most MCCC StudentSectionMark elements in Ed-Fi will be collected in the Ed-Fi Grade Entity.

Prerequisite Data

Scenarios

  1. Create 1 Grade Record for each StudentSectionAssociation loaded. Include the following elements:
    • GradeTypeDescriptor
    • GradingPeriodReference
    • StudentSectionAssociationReference
    • CollegeCreditsEarned (applicable only to Direct Pay PSEO Enrollments)
    • CollegeGradeEarned (applicable only to Direct Pay PSEO Enrollments)
    • LocalCreditEarned
    • LetterGradeEarned

Notes:

  1. Letter Grades can also contain numeric codes, such as those on a 0-4 (Failing-Outstanding) scale. Note that ‘numeric grade earned’ was removed from the sandbox API on June 7, 2021, reflecting the MCCC program desire to limit grade submissions to the LetterGradeEarned element.
  2. As of April 2021, LocalCreditEarned has an erroneous label/definition in Swagger of ““College credit earned”. It should say “LEA credit earned”.

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