Editor's Note:  We routinely repost messages from the CDE that are marked as "Please share with educators"  Focusing on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) System and English Language Proficiency Assessments of California (ELPAC)—and including, when timely, updates on California’s other statewide assessments. August’s Featured Digital Library Resource—“Exploring Pi with ‘Sir Cumference’” This month’s featured Digital Library resource, “Exploring Pi with ‘Sir Cumference,’” is a mathematics lesson intended for students in grade seven. It uses the fictional story Sir C...

Dear Dashboard Coordinators: The purpose of this e-mail is to remind you that the California Department of Education (CDE) will be requiring a new submission of the Dashboard Coordinator Application for the 2018­–19 school year in order to gain access as the coordinator for your local educational agency (LEA). Even if the coordinator information has not changed from the previous year, the application must be submitted and approved by the LEA superintendent or charter school administrator to receive the login credentials. The CDE will be resetting the 2017–18 Dashboard Coordinator data base at 5 p.m. on August 17, 2018. During this time, there will be no access to the Dashboard Coordinator We...

Below is a PDF of pages 55 through 69 of the CALPADS Data Guide Version 9.3 that explains various program eligibilty and participation guidelines.   

Dear DataQuest Users: This message is to notify you that the 2016–17 Four-Year Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate (ACGR) and Outcome data reports are now publicly available on the California Department of Education (CDE) DataQuest website at http://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/. These reports are based on data submitted to the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) by districts and charter schools. New Methodology Beginning with the 2016–17 ACGR and Outcome data, the CDE has made several changes to the business rules and methodology for calculating the four-year ACGR pursuant to new federal guidance and audit recommendations from the U.S. Department Education Office of Inspe...

Published June 25, 2018.  The entire PDF file is below:    Download PDF File Here

The English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) Update, from the California Department of Education (CDE), is a monthly e-mail for K–12 educators, including testing coordinators. The ELPAC, when it becomes operational, will replace the California English Language Development Test (CELDT). Individualized Education Programs and the New Matrix 4 The new Matrix Four displays the universal tools, designated supports, and accommodations (non-embedded) allowed as part of the ELPAC. For students who have an individualized education program (IEP) that identifies the use of accommodations listed in Matrix Four, an addendum is not necessary. For students whose IEP identifies differe...

The English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) Update, from the California Department of Education (CDE), is an e-mail for K-12 educators, including testing coordinators, which focuses on the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California. When the ELPAC is operational, it will replace the California English Language Development Test (CELDT). The ELPAC Update will be sent once per month beginning March 2017. Please forward this e-mail to any educators in your local educational agency (LEA) who would be interested in or benefit from this information. ELPAC Regulations Approved! Have you heard the news? The ELPAC regulations have been approved and will become effe...

Here's a PDF of today's CALPADS Flash.      Download PDF File Here

A short 20 minute video explaining the "big picture" of the CALPADS end of year process. Reminder:  EOY deadline is July 31, 2018! 

​​Editor's note:  Below is a communication sent out by the CDE on April 26, 2018 detailing some of the information regarding the transition from paper distribution of CAASPP test scores to the electronic distribution (e.g. secure PDF files sent via email to parents).  The effort is being headed up by CDE and ETS and additional details are available in the CALPADS vendor notes. ​ Dear County and DistrictSuperintendents and Charter School Administrators: CALIFORNIA ASSESSMENT OF STUDENTPERFORMANCE AND PROGRESS TRANSITION TO ELECTRONIC STUDENT SCORE REPORTS In spring 2014, California tookthe bold step of transitioning almost completely from paper assessments toonline assessments with ...

 Dear DataQuest Users: This message is to notify you about several new staff data reports that are now publicly available on the California Department of Education (CDE) DataQuest Web site at https://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/. These reports are based on data submitted and certified in the California Basic Educational Data System (CBEDS) by districts and charter schools. These reports include: 2017–18 FTE of Classified Staff2018–19 Estimated Number of Teacher Hires You can access these reports by performing the following steps: 1.Navigate to the DataQuest home page at https://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/ 2.Select the desired Level (State, County, District, or School) 3.Select one of the follo...

In response to this afternoon's CALPADS listserv meme . . . .  Have a great weekend my fellow CALPADIANS.  You've earned it!

Editor's note:  This just came across the CSIS listserv: Dear LEA Representative: We have determined the recent slowdown in CALPADS is due to sheer volume in the last week of the deadline. We were not able to get more LEAs certified earlier and reduce the load on the system prior to the deadline. As of Monday, 12/11/2017 only 50% of the 1,906 LEAs in the state had certified Fall 1. While we work to encourage LEAs to certify throughout the submission window we were unsuccessful to encourage more to complete sooner. So, due to this high volume causing extreme slowness with rendering reports and related screens, and the closure of some number of districts due to fires, the 2017 Fall 1 cert...

Dear LEA Representative: The attached CALPADS Update FLASH #132 provides information about the following topics: · Aligning Guidance Regarding When to Disenroll Truants to Support Practices to Reduce Chronic Absenteeism, Truancy, and Dropoutso When should an LEA disenroll a student who has been enrolled and attending school and then becomes habitually truant and appears to have dropped out?o Statutory steps for addressing truancy; exit optionso Are LEAs responsible for students who are expected to return the following school year, but who do not show up ("no shows")?o When should a student be exited with E400 – OtherOrUnknown?· Changes to CALPADS Field and Code Definitions to Support Guidanc...

This is a truly fascinating use of "big data."   Kudos to Daniel Willis over at EdSource for creating a map that highlights where student homelessness is greatest throughout the state.  You can see the map here at this link:  https://edsource.org/2017/california-map-shows-hot-spots-of-homeless-students/588165.  To my memory this is the first time I have seen an actual "heat map" of the geographical locations where student homelessness is more pervasive than other areas.  Hopefully with the LCFF process additional resources will flow to these students and these schools to have a positive impact on their learning and continuity of educational services. &...

(Editor's Note:  I copied this directly from the PDF file that was distributed on the listserv.  A few folks were having issues with the attachment not coming through, so here is the raw text:) California Department of Education – CALPADS Team and Special Education Division Subject: CASEMIS to CALPADS (C2C) TRANSITION UPDATES END-OF-YEAR (EOY) SUBMISSION CERTIFICATION DEADLINE MOVED TO AUGUST 25, 2017 Per the CALPADS Update Flash #129 that was released on July 21, 2017, the final August 11th EOY certification deadline (the close of the amendment window) for EOY 1, 2, and 3 has been moved to August 25th, in order to accommodate a defect fix. Special Education Local Plan Areas (SELPA...

2017–18 BACK-TO-SCHOOL LETTER The California Department of Education (CDE) would first like to thank local educational agencies (LEAs) for their dedication and hard work in certifying the 2016–17 End-of- Year (EOY) submissions. LEAs are to be congratulated for meeting the challenge of submitting student absence summary data for the first time and certifying all EOY submissions in August. The CDE also recognizes that the school year has already started and LEAs are busy enrolling students and scheduling them into classes. The CDE has sent Superintendents and Charter School Administrators the annual Back-to-School letter for data collections, and in that letter we emphasize the importance of e...

Focusing on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) System, including the Smarter Balanced assessments—a major component of CAASPP—and the California Alternate Assessments and science assessments. Accessibility Last month, the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium passed eight motions to update the Usability, Accessibility, and Accommodations Guidelines (UAAG). The changes, which apply only to specific CAASPP assessments, are as follows: New universal tools - Embedded thesaurus - Embedded line reader
New designated supports - Non-embedded amplification - Embedded mouse pointer size and color New accommodations - Embedded braille transcript ...

CALPADS LEA ADMINISTRATOR AUTHORIZATION INTERIM PROCESS To implement best practices and enhance overall CALPADS security, the process for authorizing CALPADS LEA Administrators has been modified. If the CALPADS Administrator application on file at the California Department of Education (CDE) is over one year old, a new application is now required upon an LEA Administrator account password reset request. This process will continue until the completion of the 2017–18 End-of-Year (EOY) data submission, and will not begin this August as stated in the April 2017 CALPADS Information Meeting. A new process will begin with the rollout of the changes to the CALPADS security model and upgraded user in...

(Editor's Note - From an email distributed today to all CA Accountablity Coordinators) Dear Accountability Coordinators:  The purpose of this e-mail is to inform you of two important notifications announcing the opening of the 2016–17 End-of-Year (EOY) data submission to the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS).  These notifications are attached and are also available online on the California Department of Education’s Web site at: 2016–17 Data Collections:  Mid-Year Update (May 5, 2017 Letter to Superintendents and Charter Administrators): http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sp/cl/data1617midyearupdate.asp  CALPADS Update FLASH #127: http://www.cde.ca.gov/...