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US DOE Approves some Accountability Waivers for 2020-21

The United States Department of Education on Tuesday April 6, 2021 approved in writing a request from the California Department of Education to waive some accountablity, school identificiation, and related reporting requirements for the 2020-21 school year due to challenges related to the Covid-19 pandemic.   Please note that these accountabilty requirement waivers did NOT extend reporting or testing deadlines nor did they waive the administration of any CAASPP, CAST, CAA, ELPAC, or related state tests.  In addition no extension to testing deadlines were issued. You can read the full report below: 

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CA State releases official guidance on school re-openings

Editor's note:  Still not sure if they understand schools or not.  Keeping students 6 feet apart from each other is clearly not a viable option in schools where 40 students are crammed into a single classroom.  Unclear what resources, if any, will actually flow to schools to enable these recommendations to lead to actual implementation.  But here they are . . . . California Releases Guidance on Re-Opening of Schools Stronger Together -  Published June 8, 2020. https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/he/hn/documents/strongertogether.pdf

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FlashUpdate

CALPADS Update FLASH #169

Disabling of the Student Discipline File on February 25, 2020 In preparation for implementing the new student incident files for the 2019–20 End-of-Year (EOY) 3 submission, the current Student Discipline (SDIS) file and User Interface will be disabled on February 25, 2020. Therefore, beginning February 25, 2020, LEAs will not be able to: Update historical SDIS information through batch or online.View Student Detail Discipline and historical Incident Discipline data in the CALPADS User Interface.Access Operational Data Store (ODS) versions of the discipline reports (reports 7.xx). Therefore, any updates to student discipline data in prior years in the CALPADS Operational Data Store must be ma...

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CALPADS Flash Update #168 - December 17, 2019

Important Reminder to update the Student English Language Acquisition Status in CALPADS Prior to Summative Testing for the English Language Proficiency Assessment for California All English learners must be assessed annually with the Summative English Language Proficiency Assessment for California (ELPAC). In order to be tested, students must have an English Language Acquisition Status (ELAS) of English Learner (EL) in CALPADS. Therefore, it is critical that students' ELAS are up-to-date in CALPADS before the Summative ELPAC testing opens on February 3, 2020, in order that students may be tested. In addition, any students' initial ELAS statuses that have been corrected through one of the all...

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CALPADS Flash Update #167

When to Use an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP), Individualized Education Program (IEP), or an Individualized Service Plan (ISP) This Flash provides further specificity to Flash 161 regarding which plan types students with disabilities (SWD) should have. Individuals: Birth to 35 months should have an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP). Ages 3 to 5, should have an Individualized Education Program (IEP), even if the child is attending a private preschool, private transitional kindergarten, or private kindergarten (that is not a nonpublic, nonsectarian certified school). LEAs should enroll students ages 3 to 5 who are attending a private school at the district level, with the Re...

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Assessment Spotlight Issue #72 - December 4, 2019

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. Summative ELPAC Assessment Results in the California Educator Reporting System The California Educator Reporting System (CERS) now includes Summative ELPAC results from the 2017–18 and 2018–19 school years. Local educational agency (LEA) staff who have Test Operations Management System (TOMS) logon credentials can enter CERS through the CAASPP Portal or ELPAC Portal to access student assessment results. Over the next two years, CERS will become the single so...

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FlashUpdate

CALPADS Update FLASH #165

Topics include: 2019-20 Fall 1 submission requirements modification; viewing Fall 1 SPED certification errors. 2019–20 Fall 1 Submission Requirements Modification The CDE recognizes the hard work of LEA staff to incorporate additional data into the Fall 1 submission, and that doing so requires more collaboration both within and external to the LEA. To enable LEAs to focus on certifying the most critical Fall 1 data, the CDE is making the following adjustments to the 2019–20 Fall 1 submission: Report 16.5 – Students with Disabilities – Student Services by Primary Disability  will be excluded from the set of certification reports that LEAs must approve as part of Fall 1. LEAs, howeve...

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2019 CAASPP Scores Announced

California Department of Education News Release

California Department of EducationNews Release Release: #19-68October 9, 2019 Contact: Scott RoarkE-mail: communications@cde.ca.govPhone: 916-319-0818 SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced today the statewide results of the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) summative assessments for English language arts/literacy (ELA) and mathematics. School districts have had access to their own results since May. For CAASPP, performance continues to improve slightly overall within grades as measured by the Smarter Balanced ELA and mathematics assessments. Statewide results in all tested grades showed that 50.87 percent of students met or exceeded standards in ELA, a .99 percentage point increase from 2018 and a 6.87 percentage point increase from 2015. In mathematics, 39.73 percent of students met or exceeded standards, a 1.08 percentage point increase from 2018 and a 6.73 percentage point increase from 2015. Thurmond acknowledged the slight score increases but expressed deep concern that improvement is less consistent across the score range in the later grades of 7, 8, and 11, with a persistent percentage of students of color not meeting standards and, in several grades, showing declining scores from last year. “Disparities between students of color and their white and Asian peers continue from year to year and demonstrate the importance of our priority initiative of closing the achievement gap. Education equity should mean equity for all students and right now, we are not there,” said Thurmond. “All students should have an equal opportunity to succeed academically and enter the workforce prepared with the needed skills to compete in the industries that drive our state forward.” One plan to address disparities that Thurmond supports is working with data experts to interpret the declining scores and evaluate what is causing the results. Strategies can then be identified for how local educational agencies (LEAs) and educators can improve test scores. “The CDE can work with all educational stakeholders to identify strategies and then explore legislative efforts to support the needs of local districts and provide resources to improve test scores,” Thurmond said. Performance gaps have narrowed (based on tracking the same cohort over time and different cohorts over time) in ELA in most grades between Hispanic or Latino students and white students, Ever-English Learner students and English Only students, and Reclassified Fluent English Proficient students and English Only students. The CAASPP Smarter Balanced ELA and mathematics results are the basis for the academic indicator, and the Summative ELPAC contributes to the English Learner Progress indicator of the California School Dashboard. Thurmond reinforced that test results are only one measurement out of many that the state uses to evaluate schools on the California School Dashboard, which allows educators and parents to identify strengths and weaknesses. Schools and districts that are struggling across Dashboard indicators are flagged for state assistance. This is the fifth year of the computer-based tests, which use California’s challenging academic standards and ask students to write clearly, think critically, and solve complex problems, as they will need to do in college and future careers. During this time period, less...

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Flash163

CALPADS Update Flash #163

Changes in reporting for Multilingual and English Learner ProgramsThe attached CALPADS Update FLASH #163 (3 page PDF file) provides information about the following topics: New Language Instruction Program Codes for Native and Non-Native English SpeakersReporting English Learner Participation in Language Acquisition ProgramsReporting English Learner Services File Name: calpadsupdflash16_20190926-191911_1 File Size: 145 kb Download File

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Assessment Spotlight Issue #62

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. Survey for LEA Coordinators! On September 17, the California Department of Education (CDE) opened its annual local educational agency (LEA) coordinator survey with a link to the survey emailed to a sampling of LEA coordinators. If you received the email, we hope you will take a few minutes to tell us about the resources and training you need to be successful in your role as an LEA coordinator. This short survey asks about your awareness and use of sever...

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Flash161

CALPADS Update Flash #161

Special Education Data Collection in CALPADS  Beginning September 10, 2019, CALPADS will accept data related to Students with Disabilities (SWD) that were previously submitted to the CDE through the California Special Education Management Information System (CASEMIS). 14 page PDF file. File Name: calpadsupdflash161 File Size: 404 kb Download File

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English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) Monthly Communication

Dear LEA ELPAC Coordinator: As you administer the 2018–19 and 2019–20 Initial and Summative ELPAC, Educational Testing Service (ETS) is helping to support you and your local educational agency (LEA) by providing key information. URGENT: Actions Required 2018–19 Post-Test—Summative ELPAC Test Materials Return Instructions In order to ensure that your test materials arrive in time for scoring, all Answer Books must be picked up by United Parcel Service (UPS) from your location by June 14, 2019; therefore, requests for pick up must be made prior to that day. Consider this date when planning to return your test materials, and allow enough time to account for shipping so that test materials arriv...

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CALPADS Update FLASH #153

End-of-Year 3 Updates and Reminders CERT125 Will Be Disabled and CERT127 Will Become Fatal In analyzing the 2017–18 End-of-Year (EOY) 3 certified data, the California Department of Education (CDE) found that a significant number of local educational agencies (LEAs) did not report suspension records in the Student Discipline (SDIS) file for students who were reported as attending in-house suspension or absent due to an out-of-school suspension in the Student Absence Summary (STAS) file. To further enforce the alignment of discipline incidents to absence summary data, the CDE will implement for the 2018–19 EOY 3 submission, the following changes to existing validations: Disable certification v...

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CALPADS Update FLASH #152

Data Collection in CALPADS for Adult-age Students In California, public K–12 local educational agencies (LEAs) serve three types of adult-age students: Students with disabilities in postsecondary/transition programs enrolled in K–12 schools and programs.Adult-age students attending charter schools with exclusive partnerships with one of the following programs:Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)JobCorpsCalifornia Conservation CorpsYouthBuildAdult-age students attending Adult Education Programs (AEPs) funded with Adult Education Program funding. Recently, there has been confusion about which of these adult-age students should be reported to CALPADS. The purpose of this communicatio...

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CALPADS Flash #150 - February 15th, 2019

 Spring 2019 Training Offered:CALPADS Course Codes, Assignment Monitoring and LCAP Federal Addendum Equity Data Training Beginning in March 2019, California Department of Education (CDE) and Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) staff will be conducting training sessions at county offices of education (COEs) throughout California. The training sessions will cover: The new State Assignment Accountability System (CalSAAS)Changes in the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS)Changes to the state course codes and descriptions The CalSAAS will use data from the CTC and the CDE to identify potential misassignments and provide a communication platform for counties a...

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CALPADS Flash #149 - February 14, 2019

File Name: calpadsupdflash14_20190214-213924_1 File Size: 142 kb Download File Date: February14,2019 To: Local Educational Agency (LEA) Representatives From: California Department of Education (CDE) — California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) Team Guidance for Assigning Statewide Student Identifiers (SSIDs) for Adults Students in CALPADS Beginning in 2019–20, public K–12 local educational agencies (LEAs) that administer Adult Education Programs (AEPs) are responsible for acquiring statewide student identifiers (SSIDs) for adult students who do not have an SSID, or who do not have a social security number (SSN) in the California Community College Adult Education Data Sys...

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CALPADS Flash # 143

CALPADS Status and Common Problems As of Monday, October 8th, CALPADS has been up and running. The CALPADS team has mitigated the issue of users suddenly receiving an error message when working in the system; until the issue is fully resolved, we estimate that approximately 10% of users may experience an instance where CALPADS momentarily presents an error message.Should this occur, the user should log back into CALPADS. Our number one priority continues to be to fully address this problem, but note that this may take a few days. All CALPADS LEA Administrators with a current application on file with the CDE have now been issued an account. If you submitted an LEA Administrator application an...

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