Data Instrument Revisions by Page Number

Page 8 - Active Loans and Active Loan Amount

Reason for change: This data element is consistently reported incorrectly and needs to 

be simplified. The way it is currently reported is not applicable to some states given the 

loan structure they use and creates inequitable application to grantees. 

Description of change: The two active loan data elements have been deleted. 

Financial loan programs will only report the current number of loans that defaulted 

during the reporting period and the net loss of those loans as have been reported 

previously. In addition, the instructions have been clarified to allow financial loan 

programs to “defer” reporting a default to the next fiscal year if they think they can 

“recoup” some of the loan amount during the next 12 months and thus would have a 

more accurate net loss amount to report. This is simply acknowledging how many 

already report defaults.

Page 11 and 12– Description of Individuals Excluded from Performance Measure

Reason for change: There has been considerable confusion about when it is legitimate 

for individuals to be excluded from the performance measure. Additional description is 

needed to support review and data consistency across grantees.

Description of change: A text box has been added that must be completed when

individuals are excluded from the performance measure (a positive number is reported 

in line 2.D on page 11 and on page 12).

Page 13 – Anecdotes (State Financing)

Reason for Change: To streamline the narrative text entered for anecdotes. 

Description of change: All of the text entry places for anecdotes will have a 1000 word 

limit for the text that will be pulled via the MIS ad hoc system. Additional text may be 

entered but will not be displayed in a data download. A place has also been added for 

grantees to indicate if they have a picture to accompany the anecdote narrative entered. 

These changes have been made for all anecdote sections 

Page 17 - Description of Individuals Excluded from Performance Measure

Same change as above, text box must be completed when individuals are excluded 

from the performance measure (a positive number is reported in line A.F on page 17.

Page 16 – Reuse Open-ended Loans

Reason for Change: To clarify the difference between reuse open-ended loan and short 

term device loan. 

Description of change: Language was added to support better understanding of the 

distinction between reuse open-ended loan (generally a device is placed with a 

consumer on a permanent basis via loan rather than ownership transferring to the 

consumer) and short term device loan (generally a short-term loan period and transfer 

of ownership is never a consideration.)

Page 19 – Anecdotes (Reuse)

Same change as above.
Page 22, 24 & 25 – Device Loan Performance Measure Expansion 

Reason for Change: The current Access performance measure only applies to device 

loans made for a decision-making purpose which leaves many device loans without any 

performance measure reported. 

Description of change: To include more device loans in the performance measures the 

acquisition performance measure was applied to the other device loan purposes: those 

made for the purpose of short-term accommodation, using the device during a repair 

period or while waiting for funding, and training or other personnel development 

activities. The device loan section has been revised to include reporting of both access 

and acquisition performance measures as appropriate given the purpose of the loan. 

The acquisition performance measures for device loans will be included in the overall 

acquisition performance measure percentages (along with state financing and reuse).

Page 23 & 24 – Deletion of IT/Telecommunications from Access Performance 

Measure

Reason for Change: The inclusion of IT/Telecommunications as an area of the access

performance measure was a consistent problem because it was not comparable to the 

other areas of education, employment and community living that are environments of 

AT use. IT/Telecommunications is actually more of a type of AT but is included in the 

AT Act so a performance measure is required for that area. 

Description of change: The IT/Telecommunications area has been deleted from the 

access performance measure and instead a new performance measure has been 

established for the IT/Telecommunications area within the Training activity (see below).

Page 23 & 24 – Anecdotes (Device Loan) 

Same change as above. 

Page 28 – Anecdotes (Device Demo)

Same change as above. 

Page 30 – Overall Performance Measure Tables

Reason for Change: Many grantees have total performance measure numbers within 

areas (Education, Employment, etc.) that are too small to calculate valid percentages or 

are zero which mean no performance measure can be calculated at all. 

Description of change: To address the small N issue, the data instrument has been 

revised to include two new overall performance measure tables which use the overall 

total performance measure numbers instead of each area (Education, Employment, 

etc.) to compute the performance measure ratios. These tables will be auto-populated 

from the individual performance measure data reported by activity and will allow 

grantees to see their access and acquisition performance measure percentages as they 

submit their Annual Progress Report (572) rather than waiting for the State Plan to be 

auto-populated. (Some entities who implement the program and do the data reporting 

do not complete the State Plan and as a result do not have direct access to the 

performance measure calculations.)
Page 34 – Training Narratives 

Reason for Change: To streamline the narrative text entered for training data. 

Description of change: All of the text entry places for description of innovation or high 

impact training and transition training will have a 1000 word limit for the text that will be 

pulled via the MIS ad hoc system. Additional text may be entered but will not be 

displayed in a data download.

Page 34 – Performance Measure for IT/Telecommunications Training

Reason for Change: Because it is highly unlikely that the AT Act will be reauthorized or 

amended in the near future, an alternative for addressing the statute requirement for a 

performance measure for IT/Telecommunications was needed.

Description of change: A performance measure has been developed for Training in the 

topical area of IT/Telecommunications. Data on training provided in this topic area is 

already reported. A performance measure has been added for training provided in the 

topical area of IT/Telecommunications and will be collected from the individuals 

reported as participants in those trainings.

Page 37 – Technical Assistance Narratives

Reason for Change: To streamline the narrative text entered for technical assistance 

data. 

Description of change: All of the text entry places for description of innovation or high 

impact technical assistance and transition technical assistance will have a 1000 word 

limit for the text that will be pulled via the MIS ad hoc system. Additional text may be 

entered but will not be displayed in a data download.

Page 41 & 42 – Leveraged Funding (Activities not reported previously)

Reason for Change: To clarify the difference between activities reported in Section A 

and B. 

Description of change: Revisions have been made in the narrative description of 

leveraged funding that should be reported in Section B to clarify the difference between 

the two Sections.

Forms:

Edited Acquisition Performance Measure data collection form (SFA and Reuse) – p. 44

Added new Device Loan Acquisition Performance Measure data collection form – p. 45

Added new Training IT/Telecommunications Performance Measure data collection 

form–p 46