Entering students' names on SIMS and NCWISE
*PLEASE NOTE: Be sure to check with your local school system attorney if you have questions about legal names, birth certificates, etc. Also, check with your NC WISE Director for more information. This page is meant to be simple guidance to assist districts but is not legal advice.
When a new language minority student enrolls, and all initial information is being entered into SIMS or NCWISE, be sure to do the following:
1) Be sure to enter the paternal surname correctly since that is the last name under which that child should be filed. If you are unsure about which name it is, check with someone from that language group.
*For Spanish names, the paternal surname is listed as the first surname, which makes it appear to be a middle name. For example, Manuel Antonio Gomez Velazquez would be entered into SIMS or NCWISE under Gomez because Gomez is Manuel's paternal surname; Velazquez is Manuel's maternal surname.
*For students of Asian origin, the paternal surname is usually listed first so it appears to be the child's first name when in fact it isn't. For example, Chen Li Zhong would be entered into SIMS or NCWISE under Chen because Chen is his patenral surname. If we were to write his name to fit our American cultural norms, it would be: Li Zhong Chen.
*For other language groups, be sure to find out what their paternal surnames are and how they should be entered into SIMS or NCWISE.
2) Enter the student's ID number (SIMS SS #) from the previous NC school or district, and use the same ID number that he or she had in the previous school. When new ID numbers are created, it is hard to track students in our accountability system, and their data can be lost. THIS ID NUMBER IS THE MOST IMPORTANT!
3) Be sure to create a new ID number for a student who is brand new to a NC school system or charter school. In other words, do not recycle ID numbers that other students once had. When a recycled number is used and data are run, the information for two different students may come up, which creates major problems in our accountability system.
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