Dear Accountability Coordinators:
March 13, 2017
INFORMATION REGARDING THE UPDATED DATA FILES FOR THE DASHBOARD AND 5-BY-5 GRID PLACEMENT REPORTS
On Wednesday, March 8, 2017, an e-mail was sent notifying that updates were made to: (1) the data files for the Suspension, Graduation, and English Learner Progress Indicators, (2) the California School Dashboard, and (3) the Five-by-Five Placement Reports. This is a follow-up to that communication to inform you of the specific revisions made and to notify you that the Academic Indicator will be updated by the end of the day. The specific updates are as follows:
- Suspension Rate Indicator: The local educational agency (LEA)-level data now exclude charter and alternative schools’ data. Prior to the update, the LEA-level data included these schools’ data. This update impacted most LEAs’ suspension rate data.
- Graduation Rate Indicator: The LEA-level data now exclude all alternative schools’ data. Prior to the update, only Alternative Schools Accountability Model (ASAM) schools’ data were excluded. The revisions now exclude both ASAM schools’ data and schools that meet the alternative school definition in the California Education Code (EC) (i.e., continuation, community day, opportunity, juvenile court, county community, etc.). This update impacted a limited number of LEAs only.
- English Learner Progress Indicator: Prior to the update, LEAs and schools received an automatic assignment of an Orange performance level if they did not test at least 50 percent of their annual California English Language Development Test (CELDT) test takers. The calculation of the 50 percent has been revised to include all CELDT test takers, not just annual test takers. This update reduced the number of schools that were assigned the Orange performance level. (There are no LEAs that received an assignment of an Orange performance level.)
- Academic Indicator:Determining the N size of “30 or more” for the Students with Disabilities (SWD) student group has been revised to be based only on students who have a valid primary disability code in the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS). Therefore, the SWD student group will receive a performance level (color) if the group has 30 or more students with a valid primary disability code in both the current and prior years of data. However, this student group also includes students who exited special education and have not received special education services for up to two years. These students are not used to determine the “30 or more” N size. But, both current and exited SWDs are included in the calculation for Status and Change. For example, a school that has 28 students with a valid primary disability code and two students who exited special education within the past two years would not receive a performance level because students with a valid primary disability code is less than 30. Because the N size is above ten, Status and Change will be reported based on all 30 students.
This update reduced the number of SWD student groups that receive a performance level.
If you have any questions regarding this e-mail, please contact the Academic Accountability Unit (AAU) by e-mail at