FDOE Bureau of School Improvement

SIP Survey How-to Guide An Introduction to Using the School Improvement Plan Survey in CIMS

SIP Survey How-to Guide

FDOE BSI 8/4/14 Page 1

Welcome to the SIP Survey How-to Guide. The purpose of this guide is to provide step-by-step

directions for opening an existing School Improvement Plan (SIP), navigating it and creating a

new SIP.

Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 2

Opening a SIP .......................................................................................................................................... 2

Navigating a SIP ...................................................................................................................................... 4

Creating a SIP .......................................................................................................................................... 5

Next Steps in Learning ............................................................................................................................ 8

SIP Survey How-to Guide

FDOE BSI 8/4/14 Page 2

SIP Survey How-to Guide

Introduction

The SIP Survey* provides the tools and resources to view existing School Improvement Plans (SIPs) and

to create new ones. Follow the steps to learn about the features and functions of the SIP Survey as well

as how to open and create a SIP.

* The term Survey is used to denote a repository within CIMS to collect information for a specific plan.

Opening an Existing SIP

1. Go to https://www.floridacims.com and click Login to sign in to the CIMS platform.

2. Click Plans to view and create School Improvement Plans. First, let’s open an existing SIP.

3. Use the drop-down filters to narrow the choices. To view a SIP, first start by selecting your

district under District. Then select the correct SIP under Survey.

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NOTE: If your access level allows you to create plans, you will see a green +New Plan button. You will

learn how to create a new plan later in this guide.

4. Locate the school and review the Actions, which include Open, Track and Export. Click the teal

Open button to view the SIP, click the orange Track button to view SIP history or click the black

Export button to view, save and/or print a SIP.

NOTE: A recent version of Adobe Acrobat Reader (version 8+) should be installed to allow for viewing

application-generated PDFs.

Once you open the SIP, you will be directed to the first section of the plan. From there you can

navigate through the plan to edit any incomplete sections.

5. There are three options in viewing the SIP, Read Only, Preview and Export. Read only locks the

plan to prevent unnecessary edits. You can turn this option on and off by clicking the gray or red

button respectively. Click the blue Preview button to open a preview version of the plan in a

new tab. Click the black Export button to generate a PDF that can be viewed, saved and printed

within the browser window.

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Navigating a SIP

You can always tell what plan you are in by looking at the top of the SIP Navigation Tree, where the

district and school names are highlighted.

You can navigate the SIP using the following three options.

1. The first is the set of blue buttons at the top-right of the page, labeled Prev and Next. Clicking

these buttons will take you step-by-step through the plan.

2. Next, you will notice the Navigation Tree to the left of the page. This is a table of contents for

the entire survey. Clicking an item in the tree will either take you to that topic, or expand the

tree to reveal the subtopics under that item, if any exist. Here the user has opened the 2013-14

SIP and clicked Expected Improvements, then C. Area 3: Mathematics, then 1. Elementary and

Middle School.

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For example, clicking an item under Elementary and Middle School, such as a. AMOs, takes the

user to that section of the survey.

3. The third navigation option is using Breadcrumbs at the top of the page, which allow you to

move backwards through a hierarchy of survey links from where you are currently. Click

anywhere along the Breadcrumb trail to return to the selected section.

WARNING: Using any other means of navigation, including your browser’s Back and/or Forward buttons,

will NOT save any changes you have made.

Creating a SIP

1. To create a new plan, click the green +New Plan button under Plans.

TIP: Only Level 2 and 4 users can create a new SIP. After the SIP has been initially created, Level 1 and 3

users can edit the plan as well.

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2. Select 1) a Survey, then 2) a District, then 3) a School and click the blue Create Plan button.

NOTE: Your options will be scoped to your particular access level and rights. The application will only

allow the creation of one plan for each combination of District, School and Survey.

3. Once your plan is created, you will be directed to the first section and can begin editing by

clicking in each text box. Some information may be prepopulated for you, if available.

TIP: To find information and tips about the content on the current page, click the blue Guidance tab to

open the Guidance window.

Click the Guidance tab again to retract it.

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4. As you complete each section, you will notice an orange Pending button under the heading, This

section is: at the top-right of the page. You can indicate that you have completed a section of

the survey by clicking the green Complete button. You can also click the red N/A button in the

same area, if the section does not apply to the school.

As you work through the survey, your status for each section will be highlighted via marker icons

in the Navigation Tree. These markers will roll up to their headers, meaning once you have

marked all sections under a header as Complete or N/A, the header will be marked or .

5. Click the green Save button to save your work. While the sections are saved automatically, it is

a good practice to save periodically when a large amount of information is entered.

NOTE: You will notice that occasionally the application will display important information about the

section you are viewing, at the top of the page, highlighted in red and/or blue.

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6. Complete the remaining sections of the SIP by following the Navigation Tree (i.e., II. Needs

Assessment and III. 8-Step Planning and Problem Solving).

TIME SAVER: Parts IV through VI (i.e., Professional Development, Technical Assistance and Budget Rollup)

will be prepopulated with information entered in III. 8-Step Planning and Problem Solving.

7. Review the entire SIP survey to ensure all sections are completed. Again, you can check the

Navigation Tree for green checkmarks to indicate completion.

Next Steps in Learning

1. To develop your understanding of Step Zero, required to complete II. Needs Assessment, it is

recommended you review the Step Zero Quick Guides located in the Toolkit.

2. To develop your understanding of 8-step planning and problem solving and how to capture your

work in CIMS, it is recommended you review the Problem Solving How-to Guide located in the

Toolkit. This information will help you complete Part III. 8-Step Planning and Problem Solving.