CALPADS Update Flash #275
2023 Dashboard Technical Guide and Clarifications for Use of CALPADS Data in the College/Career Indicator.To: Local Educational Agency (LEA) Representatives
From: California Department of Education (CDE) –
California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System
(CALPADS) Team
Date: June 11, 2024
Subject: CALPADS Update FLASH #275
2023 Dashboard Technical Guide Posted
In December 2023, the CDE posted the 2023 Dashboard Technical Guide. It can be accessed on the CDE 2023 Dashboard Technical Guide web page at: https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/cm/dashboardguide23.asp.
NOTE that the Dashboard Technical Guide is now comprised of “mini guides” (smaller documents) that are focused on each of the six statewide indicators and one of the Dashboard Local Indicators. So, rather than one large comprehensive guide, this guide is now published in the form of smaller mini guides. You will find the mini guides under the “Dashboard State Indicators” heading on the CDE 2023 Dashboard Technical Guide web page that is cited above. This new mini-guide format facilitates access to the content for each indicator.
Clarifications for Use of CALPADS Data in the College/Career Indicator
The College/Career mini guide in the 2023 Dashboard Technical Guide provides information on the data used for the CCI. This section of the Flash highlights clarifications regarding which college courses Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) should submit to CALPADS and how CALPADS course data are used in the College/Career Indicator for the Career Technical Education (CTE) Pathway criteria.
Clarification on which college courses LEAs should submit to CALPADS
LEAs submit college-level courses that students complete as part of their End-of-Year (EOY) 1 data submission. LEAs indicate that a course is a college level course by either:
- Specifying a specific State Course Code for college credit courses, or
- Populating Field 9.19 – Course Section Instructional Level Code, with Course Non-Standard Instructional Level Code 23 – College Credit Only, or Code 24 – Dual Credit.
Completion of these college-level courses are one metric used to determine whether a student is “prepared” for college/career and included in a school’s CCI on the California School Dashboard (Dashboard).
It appears that some LEAs are submitting college courses that students took and completed independently, and which have no association or oversight by the school. Since the CCI is a measure of the school’s effectiveness in preparing students for college or career, the CDE clarifies in the technical guide that the completion of such courses will not contribute to a school’s CCI. While these courses may be included on a student’s transcript, they should not be submitted to CALPADS. The relevant, clarifying section can be found on page 8 of the College/Career mini guide: 2023 Dashboard Technical Guide: College/Career Indicator (CCI) – and is provided in the table below.
Excerpt from the College/Career mini guide:
2023 Dashboard Technical Guide: College/Career Indicator (CCI)
| CCI Measure | Definition | Data Source |
|---|---|---|
| College Credit Courses (formerly known as Dual Enrollment) | Students are considered for completing a college credit course if they:
College-level courses are those where the LEA/school has courses open for students to enroll in. This is not when a student takes a college course independently on their own that has no association or oversight with the school/LEA. These courses may be in either academic disciplines (e.g., English) or Career and Technical Education (CTE) disciplines (e.g., welding). Physical education courses are not counted. The courses do not have to be taken in sequential order. For example, three classes taken during one fall quarter will be counted as completing three quarters of college coursework. One class taken during the fall semester and one class taken during the spring semester will be counted as completing two semesters of college coursework. Year-long and summer courses are also included in this measure. One full year term is equivalent to one semester. One summer term is equivalent to one quarter. |
Both current and retired course codes are used to determine if graduates completed college credit courses. Please refer to Appendix A (of the CCI mini guide: the 2023 Dashboard Technical Guide’s College/Career Indicator mini guide) for further details. |
This guidance is also captured in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section of the 2023 Dashboard Technical Guide: College/Career Indicator (CCI), on page 23 of that College/Career Indicator mini guide:
Question: If a student takes a college course independently without oversight by the school or LEA, can the school/LEA receive credit for this course?
Answer: No. The purpose of the CCI is to determine how LEAs and schools are preparing students in a broad course of study to pursue postsecondary options once they graduate high school. The college courses should be those where the LEA/school has courses open for students to enroll in. Therefore, courses and endeavors that students carry out on their own cannot be counted in the CCI, and this data should not be collected in CALPADS (such as CALPADS field “Course Section Instructional Level Code 23-College Credit only”).
The 2023 Dashboard Technical Guide: College/Career Indicator (CCI) (mini guide) provides the criteria that graduates must meet to be placed in the “Prepared” level on the CCI. To be placed in the Prepared level, graduates must meet at least one of 12 criteria described in Table 2 in the CCI mini guide, in the table entitled Prepared Criteria for Current CCI Measures.
The CTE Pathway criteria are:
CTE Pathway: Complete with a grade of C- or better in capstone course AND:
- Score Level 3 or higher in one Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments subject area (ELA or math) and Level 2 or higher in the other, OR
- Complete one semester/two quarters/two-trimesters of College Credit Courses with a grade of C- or better in academic/CTE subjects where college credits are awarded for each course.
For the CTE Pathway criteria, students cannot receive college credit for any of the courses within the completed CTE Pathway. Students must complete one semester/two quarters/two-trimesters of College Credit Courses outside of the CTE Pathway they are credited with completing with a grade of C- or better in academic/CTE subjects where college credits are awarded for each course.
Review “school examples” in CCI Guide
The CCI mini guide, entitled 2023 Dashboard Technical Guide: College/Career Indicator (CCI), includes a section entitled “School Examples.” LEAs may want to refer to this section for examples regarding how the CCI is calculated. The examples also include “student examples” that illustrate which college courses are used. (Refer to School Examples, Example 1, Step 2, Example Student 4, in the CCI mini guide.)
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