CALPADS Update FLASH #259

To:           Local Educational Agency (LEA) Representatives

From:      California Department of Education (CDE) –
                California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) Team

Date:      September 7, 2023

Subject:  CALPADS Update FLASH #259

2023−24 Fall 1 and 2 Submission Deadlines Posted

The Fall 1 and Fall 2 submission deadlines for 2023−24 are now posted on the California Department of Education (CDE) CALPADS calendar web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sp/cl/rptcalendar.asp. The deadlines are as follows:

Table 1
2023−24 CALPADS Fall 1 and Fall 2 Deadlines

*SELPA approval is strongly encouraged but not required.

2023−24 and Future End-of-Year Submission Deadlines

This section re-iterates, but in more detail, the information provided to superintendents and charter school administrators in a letter dated September 5, 2023, entitled “New California School Dashboard Deadlines and Impact on Current and Future End-of-Year Data Submission Deadlines.” The September 5 letter is posted on the CDE CALPADS Communications page under the “Letters to Superintendents” heading at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sp/cl/communications.asp. Here is a direct link to that letter: https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sp/cl/cadashdeadlines20230905.asp.

The 2023−24 K-12 Education Omnibus Trailer Bill, Senate Bill 114 (Chapter 48, Statues of 2023), includes language that requires the California Department of Education to release the California School Dashboard (Dashboard) earlier in 2023−24, and each of the subsequent three years as follows:

• 2023 Dashboard (based on 2022−23 data) must be released by December 15, 2023.
• 2024 Dashboard (based on 2023−24 data) must be released by December 1, 2024.
• 2025 Dashboard (based on 2024−25 data) must be released by November 15, 2025.
• 2026 Dashboard (based on 2025−26 data) and beyond must be released by October 15, 2026.

The majority of the accountability indicators on the Dashboard are based on data that local educational agencies (LEAs) certify as part of their End-of-Year (EOY) data submissions. Therefore, beginning in 2023−24, the EOY deadlines will need to be earlier in order to provide sufficient time for the EOY certified data to be processed and used to develop the Dashboard indicators by the required Dashboard dates.

The CDE recognizes that the proposed deadlines will make it more challenging for school site staff who leave once school ends to review certification reports, and that it will provide less time for LEAs that end their school year in late June or July to submit their data. Recognizing that the earlier EOY deadlines may impact LEA business practices, the scheduling of staff resources, and potentially school calendars, the CDE plans to post final EOY deadlines for 2023−24 and the subsequent two years this fall, in order to give LEAs time to adjust.

Change in Graduate Cut-Off Date

For the past years, the EOY deadline has been set to enable the inclusion of students who graduate in the summer in the 4-year Adjusted Cohort Graduate Rate (ACGR). Students who exited school with an Exit Date on or before August 15, and a Student Exit Category Code of 230 – CompleterExit, and a School Completion Status Code of 100 – Graduated, standard HS diploma, were included in the prior school year ACGR.

In order to accommodate earlier EOY deadlines, the graduate cut-off date must be earlier. Accordingly, the graduate cut-off date will move to June 30, beginning in 2023−24. This means that “summer graduates” will no longer count as four-year graduates in the prior school year, but will be included as five-year graduates in the subsequent school year. In other words, for 2023−24:

• Students who graduate on or before June 30, 2024 will be included in the 4-year ACGR and in the one-year graduate count for the 2023−24 school year.
• Students who graduate between July 1, 2024 and August 15, 2024 will no longer be included as graduates in the 4-year ACGR for 2023−24, but will be counted as 5th year graduates in 2024−25.

The number of summer graduates statewide is minimal, and the CDE will account for this change on the 2024 Dashboard in the calculation of the graduation rate indicator so that LEAs are not adversely impacted for accountability purposes by this shift in the graduate cut-off date.

Proposed EOY Deadlines

To accommodate the new statutorily required Dashboard posting dates, and with the change in the graduate cut-off date, the CDE is considering the following EOY deadlines. Dashboard deadlines are provided in Table 2 below, for reference.

Table 2
Proposed EOY Deadlines

*These dates would be ongoing – i.e., the same dates every year.

The proposed deadlines currently being considered in Table 2 above will be finalized following LEA input. Please submit any comments or concerns regarding these proposed EOY deadlines to CALPADS@cde.ca.gov by September 22, 2023. The CDE will review and consider any input received prior to finalizing the deadlines.

No Deadline Extensions for EOY

It will be critical that LEAs certify their EOY submissions by the specified deadlines in order to provide sufficient time for the EOY certified data to be processed and used to develop the Dashboard indicators by the required Dashboard dates. Therefore, there will no longer be deadline extensions for EOY.

New Technical Assistance Requirements

Education Code (EC) Section 60900 requires LEAs to "submit data according to the processes and timelines established by the department." In order to support LEAs that fail to certify their CALPADS submissions by the deadline, SB 114 amended EC Section 52071(d) to specify that "For any school district that fails to meet the requirements of Section 60900, the county superintendent of schools shall provide technical assistance focused on the school district's data management processes." EC Section 52071(d)(6) further specifies that this may include "A review of the school district's data management policies, collection, and submission processes, including monitoring and oversight of the student information system, to ensure the submission of accurate data according to the processes and timelines established by the department pursuant to Section 60900."

This requirement is effective beginning in 2023−24 for all CALPADS data submissions. As expressed in statute, the technical assistance will focus on improving the school district’s data management processes in order that they are able to certify by the deadlines in the future. More information will be provided on the process as it is available.

The CDE also understands the importance of ensuring a stable, well-functioning system and is continuing to make improvements to enhance system usability and performance. The CALPADS Operations Office and California School Information Services (CSIS) will also be working with the County Office of Education (COE) User Group to identify strategies for enhancing LEA support.