BEDS-IMF Online Application User Manual
This document is meant to provide information on how to access the Basic Educational Data System (BEDS) Institutional Master File (IMF) online application. Historical information can be found through this system concerning your school district and information can be entered for the current 2007-2008 school year.
During the initial sign-on to this system you may encounter the following screen:
Simply click on the <Yes> button to continue. These are informational messages within this system that should not alarm you. Anytime a ‘Security Alert’ message appears using this system simply click on the <Yes> button to continue.
For questions concerning data issues or adding additional users to the system you may contact the Office of Information and Reporting Services at (518) 474-7965 or email emscbedsonline@mail.nysed.gov .
For problems concerning the technical operation of the system you may contact
Rebecca Stark at (518) 402-5635 rstark@mail.nysed.gov
Jack Bouton at (518) 486-4964 jbouton@mail.nysed.gov .
To get started, open a WEB browser and type in http://portal.nysed.gov/ on the address line and press the <Enter> key and skip to page 6 of these instructions or you may http://www.nysed.gov/ on the address line and press the <Enter> key. On the left side of the screen you will find a link titled <PORTAL - SED Online Services >. Click on that link.
After clicking on the < PORTAL - SED Online Services > link the following page will be displayed. You should now click on the <Log On> link that can be found in the UPPER RIGHT CORNER of the page beneath the NYS Education Department’s seal.
The following single sign-on page will be displayed where you may enter your user name and password and then click the <Login> button or press the <Enter> key. You will now be returned back to the NYSED Portal page.
If this is the first time that you have logged into the system you should change your password immediately. Click on the ‘Change Password’ link, which can be found next to the ‘Log On’ link.
When changing your password you will need to enter your old password and then
the new password twice. Your password
must contain a number in it and be at least 6 characters long.
After clicking ‘OK’ you will receive the following screen where you should click ‘Yes’.
After successfully logging in, a box titled ‘My Applications’ should appear
with links to any secure applications that you are approved to use. A <BEDS-IMF Application> link should
now be available in this ‘My Applications’ area. Click on this link to have access to the BEDS
forms for data entry.
Note: “My Applications” will display any online applications
that your username is authorized to access, such as SAMS or Exam Ordering. You will simple select, by clicking on, the
BEDS-IMF Application.
This page will now be displayed which allows for the selection of any BEDS forms,
including VADIR, pertaining to your district.
Select an institution that you would like to enter information by clicking
anywhere on the line for that building.
You will be working on either “BEDS data for school year 2007-08” or on “VADIR data for school year 2006-07”. To change between BEDS and VADIR, click on the appropriate line in the dropdown menu. You may also view prior year BEDS and VADIR forms by clicking on the appropriate line in the dropdown menu. After you have selected a line in the dropdown menu, you will have to hit the SUBMIT button to make the desired forms appear.
Page 3, Question 3 of the
Page and question numbers are synchronized and color coordinated. For example, if Page 3 and Question 4 are both highlighted, it means you are on Page 3 and Question 4. When you change page numbers, you will first jump to the first question on that page. You can then change the question number if you wish by clicking on the one you wish to appear.
IMPORTANT
After you have
finished entering information for any question be sure to click on the <Save
Question> button before moving to a new question. If you
move to another question without saving new or changed data, you will lose the
new or changed data.
When the <Save Question> button is clicked, a series of edit checks will be performed to check the validity of the data. In the example depicted below 30 was entered for the enrollment of white males in Pre-Kindergarten. This is a warning drawing attention to the fact that this exceeds last year’s value for this field by more than 100%. If the data are valid, simply click the box that is now present above the value that has been entered, then click the <Save Question> button again. The error message will now go away.
When you have finished entering data for an entire form, you may click on the <Submit Form> button that can be found at the top of any page. You will then be prompted with the following screen. If you have completed the data entry simply click on the <OK> button.
All edit checks will be performed for the entire form and any errors will be displayed in a window towards the top of the page as explained previously.
The menu page will display the status of all forms pertaining to your school district in the far right column titled Form Status. All school buildings must have a Form Status of ‘Submitted’ before you can successfully submit the form for your district summary.
Anyone with online access may enter data for and SAVE a District Summary Form. However, only the School Superintendent’s account is authorized to SUBMIT the District Summary Form. Additionally, the District Summary Form must be submitted from the Page 1, Question 1 location so that the School Superintendent can certify the enrollment data.
The printer icon to the right of a school or district name can be used to print the entire form. Individual questions may be printed using the “File” and “Print” method.