Dear County and District Superintendents, Special Education Local Plan Area Directors, California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System Administrators, and Local Educational Agency Dashboard Coordinators:

CALPADS Differentiated Assistance, Legislation, and Eligibility

The purpose of this letter is to provide an overview of California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) Differentiated Assistance (DA), including relevant legislation, eligibility criteria, as well as resources available to support Local Educational Agencies (LEAs).

Senate Bill (SB) 114 (Chapter 48, Statutes of 2023) requires that districts and County Offices of Education (COEs) who do not meet the requirements for submitting data to CALPADS be provided with technical assistance focused on the district’s or COE’s data management processes. The release of the 2024 California School Dashboard (Dashboard) marked the first year of DA based on CALPADS reporting, and based on the criteria, no districts or COEs met the CALPADS DA eligibility requirements this year. As we approach the closing of the first collection for the 2024–25 school year in CALPADS, we want to continue to highlight the importance for districts and COEs to submit accurate and complete data by each certification deadline or risk being eligible based on these criteria for DA.

Eligibility Criteria for Differentiated Assistance

Pursuant to California Education Code (EC) Section 52071 and 52071.5, districts and COEs (excluding charter schools) that do not submit data to CALPADS according to the processes and timelines established by the California Department of Education (CDE) will be eligible for support. Note that while charter schools are not specified in this requirement, districts and COEs are encouraged to support charter schools to certify accurate data in a timely manner. In working with key educational partners, the CDE refined the eligibility criteria and developed a phased-in approach to implementing CALPADS DA by moving from a focus on certification to a focus on certifying accurate data by final deadlines.

The 2023–24 academic year marked the first year of implementation for CALPADS DA. For this year, any district or COE that did not certify any End of Year (EOY) CALPADS data submission would have been eligible for CALPADS DA. Based on these criteria, no districts or COEs were eligible for DA in this academic year.

For the 2024–25 academic year, any LEA that fails to meet a CALPADS certification deadline for the Fall 1, Fall 2, or EOY 1, 2, 3, or 4 data submissions may be eligible for CALPADS DA.

For the 2025–26 academic year, in addition to the eligibility requirements for districts and COEs that did not certify any one or more of the CALPADS data submissions by the certification deadline, districts and COEs that are identified as having a data quality issue will be eligible for CALPADS DA. The CDE and California School Information Services (CSIS) are currently identifying the parameters regarding when a district or COE would become eligible for CALPADS DA based on data quality. This information will be released prior to the opening of the 2025–26 academic year CALPADS submission window.

The following is a high-level overview of the timelines and phased-in eligibility requirements for CALPADS DA.

CALPADS DA Eligibility Requirements: Timeline (Phased In)

2023–24 Academic Year

• Districts and COEs that failed to certify EOY data submissions.
• NO districts or COEs were eligible for DA in this academic year.

2024–25 Academic Year

• Districts and COEs that fail to certify data by final certification deadlines will be eligible for DA.

2025–26 Academic Year

• Districts and COEs that fail to certify data by final certification deadlines will be eligible for DA.
• Districts and COEs identified with a data quality issue will be eligible for DA.

Data Submission Best Practices

To support best practices around data management, submission, verification, and certification, the CDE now publishes target dates by which LEAs should have zero fatal errors prior to the certification deadlines for each CALPADS submission. The CDE strongly encourages LEAs to meet these zero fatal error target dates to ensure that LEA staff and leadership have sufficient time to review their data, make any necessary corrections, and certify accurate data by the final certification deadlines.

Resources

Together, the CDE and CSIS have created a Universal Supports Toolkit to serve as a proactive universal support for all LEAs, regardless whether they are eligible for CALPADS DA. This toolkit can also serve as a remediation plan template for use when any district or COE becomes eligible for CALPADS DA. The toolkit includes:

• A data management needs assessment.
• A data management practices evaluation tool.
• A root cause analysis template to address reasons for any district or COE that becomes eligible for CALPADS DA.
• Ideas for integrating goals and objectives into local accountability practices which address the reason(s) a district or COE became eligible for CALPADS DA.

CDE CALPADS Calendar web page: https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sp/cl/rptcalendar.asp

CALPADS Universal Support Toolkit on the CSIS website: https://csis.fcmat.org/calpads/universal-supports-toolkit

CDE System of Support web page (maintained by the CDE Analysis Measurement & Accountability Reporting Division), which includes a link to Criteria for DA: https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/cm/sysofsupport.asp

CDE California's System of Support web page (maintained by the CDE Student Achievement and Support Division): https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/sw/t1/csss.asp 

Should you have any questions about CALPADS DA as it pertains to your LEA, please contact the Education Data Management Division by phone at 916-324-6738 or by email at calpads@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Liberty Van Natten, Director
Education Data Management Division