Parrascope

Level One Technologies has recently released new training materials for Q1 2010 reporting. These materials are directed primarily toward the vendors and sub-recipients of the Wyoming Department of Education.

Additional materials, including training videos, will be released throughout the rest of the quarter. Many features within the site will receive upgrades, and support materials will likely be withheld until those upgrades are completed.

These new materials may be accessed at on the Training page.

The Level One team has successfully validated its XML files with FederalReporting.gov for all WDE federal awards.

Wyoming will conduct a final review of all reporting data before generating the files and uploading the reports for 4th quarter of 2009. By all accounts, this has been a very smooth launch and exciting first step for WDE and Level One.

FederalReporting.gov is still improving their XML reporting capabilities, and we look forward to even more automation in the future.

Nearly all WDE school districts have followed the instructions and completed their reporting responsibilites for the 4th quarter of 2009, well in advance of the deadline.

The training and reporting process was remarkably smooth. The districts reponded rapidly to all requests from Level One Technologies and WDE making the launch of Parrascope almost effortless.

The 1st quarter of 2010 will see quite a bit more activity than was experienced in this quarter. Funds will be distributed, projects will be started, and jobs will be created and retained. Additional support and training materials will be released in early January to ensure that reporting is as easy as possible for the districts.

The OMB has re-evaluated the FTE jobs calculation to display quarterly FTE's rather than cumulative.

This modification will simplify reporting for all parties as cumulative job reporting proved to be inaccurate, inconsistent and unreliable. The move to quarterly FTE calculations is good news for Parrascope users, since this is how our FTE calculator collects job data.

For more information on how to report jobs, please review Part 2 OMB Memo M-10-08 starting on page 10.

Since responsibilities are very minimal this quarter, it is recommended that members complete their reporting immediately. The entire process should take less than 10 minutes, as demonstrated during the training.

Members will be completing the entire “Progress” block on the Quarterly Jobs/Progress page for each State Project on their Active list, as illustrated by these instructions. Members may find it helpful to print this document and follow the graphical instructions.

Login above with the username and password created during initial registration.

January 5, 2010 is the final day to submit information for Q4 2009, but with the holidays fast approaching your time to report may be limited. If you have enough information to complete your report today, please do so

JJ Kirkpatrick will be available to handle all support questions via email or at 800.240.1824 x 138.

Training sessions are provided daily for WDE users from December 15-23 at 8:30, 12:00, and 2:30.

These are group conference calls moderated by JJ Kirkpatrick of Level One Technologies. JJ will show WDE's sub-recipients all of the Parrascope features available for the 4th Quarter of 2009, and ensure that all required reporting is correctly completed on time.

Early registration for Wyoming Department of Education sub-recipients is expected to begin this week. All school districts will complete the short registration form and await the official launch, which is planned for December 18-21.

Coinciding with pre-registration will be multiple training sessions where WDE sub-recipients can get acquainted with Parrascope. Those are tentatively scheduled to begin during the week of December 14th.

Now that issues regarding FTE calculations and expenditure allocations are resolved, an initial beta version of the site has been launched. It has been made available to Wyoming in limited release for testing and review. Development will continue through December 18th, when the final reporting version for Q4 2009 will be released.

The system will be fully completed in early 2010 and ready for customization requests and additional functionality.

Dianne Bailey, a Departmental Accounting Supervisor, has confirmed that the Wyoming Department of Education will perform the first beta test of Parrascope within Wyoming. The department is expected to use Parrascope to report on 5 of its 6 federal awards, with up to 48 sub-recipient school districts for each.

Level One is excited and honored to have this opportunity, and we look forward to delivering the final reports.