CALPADS error brief · SELA
SELA0589
Official CALPADS rule
What CALPADS is rejecting
Focus fields
Fields validated
12.13 English Language Acquisition Status Code 12.14 English Language Acquisition Status Start DateRecommended correction path
Suggested resolution
SELA0589: RFEP Submitted Before a Required Summative Assessment
A student identified as EL during the current academic year cannot be reclassified before receiving the applicable Summative ELPAC or Summative Alternate ELPAC. An Initial ELPAC result identifies the student; it is not the Summative result required for reclassification Criterion 1.
Focus fields: ELAS Code (12.13), ELAS Start Date (12.14), Initial/Summative ELPAC history, and RFEP effective date
Recommended correction path
- 1
Confirm the EL identification date
Review the ELAS history and Initial ELPAC result. If the student became EL on or after July 1 of the current academic year, identify the first Summative administration for which the student is eligible.
- 2
Verify Summative completion and score
In TOMS, confirm the correct SSID, test type, administration year, completion status, and official result. Do not treat scheduling, partial testing, or the Initial ELPAC as a completed Summative assessment.
- 3
Apply all four reclassification criteria
The statewide ELP criterion is only one part of reclassification. Confirm the locally approved process also documents teacher evaluation, parent opinion and consultation, and comparison of basic skills.
- 4
Correct or hold the RFEP record
If Summative testing has not occurred, withdraw the premature RFEP transaction and keep the student EL. If testing and all criteria are complete, correct any inaccurate ELAS/RFEP dates using the supporting record.
- 5
Verify testing and status systems together
Confirm CALPADS retains EL until the approved RFEP date, TOMS eligibility is correct, and the final RFEP record reaches all instructional, assessment, and monitoring systems.
Deeper dive: Summative ELPAC and reclassification
What the Summative ELPAC does
It measures the annual progress of students already identified as English learners in Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. Eligible EL students are assessed annually until they exit EL services through reclassification.
The annual window
The statewide annual window is February 1 through May 31; for 2025–26, the operational calendar runs February 2 through May 31, 2026. Check the current-year calendar before scheduling because operational dates can shift.
Why it is required for RFEP
A student without a Summative ELPAC or Summative Alternate ELPAC score is not eligible for reclassification even if the student meets locally determined criteria. For the regular Summative ELPAC, Overall Performance Level 4 satisfies statewide Criterion 1; for the Summative Alternate ELPAC, the statewide criterion is Overall PL 3.
It is one criterion—not the whole decision
California requires four criteria: an objective English-proficiency assessment, teacher evaluation, parent opinion and consultation, and comparison of basic skills. The LEA’s locally approved process must document all four.
Assessment coordinators cannot test an invisible student
CALPADS ELAS data drives TOMS eligibility. Before and during the window, data and assessment teams should reconcile EL rosters, new enrollments, SSIDs, grade levels, school assignments, testing type, and RFEP changes. A delayed correction can consume the limited time needed to schedule domains, address absences, complete makeups, and resolve further system errors.
Recommended operating rhythm
- Before the window: reconcile CALPADS and TOMS EL rosters; assign named owners for exceptions.
- Weekly during the window: review newly enrolled EL students, untested/partially tested students, transfers, and data mismatches.
- Before reclassification: verify the official Summative result and all three locally determined criteria; preserve the decision record.
- Near the close: coordinate RFEP uploads and remaining testing so eligible students are not incorrectly removed from—or left on—the test roster.
- After RFEP: begin the required four-year academic monitoring process and reconcile downstream systems.
Integration opportunity: Ellevation and the district data ecosystem
Ellevation is widely used as an English learner program-management platform and can import data from leading student information systems, Initial and Summative ELP assessments—including ELPAC—and records for former EL students. California districts also use it to support reclassification and monitoring workflows.
The exact integration is district-specific. Do not assume ELAS changes safely flow in both directions. Establish an approved field-level contract identifying the authoritative source, direction, frequency, owner, and reconciliation rule for each element.
Minimum integration checklist
- SSID and local student ID matching
- Enrollment, school, grade, and exit dates
- ELAS code and effective date
- Initial and Summative ELPAC administration year, test type, completion, and results
- RFEP effective date and evidence that all four criteria were completed
- Four annual monitoring checkpoints, forms, interventions, and completion status
- Controls preventing an EL-program platform from silently overwriting authoritative SIS or CALPADS history
Review Ellevation’s published data and assessment integration information
Before closing the ticket
- Preserve the evidence and approval supporting the correction.
- Verify the result in CALPADS, not only the SIS.
- When testing or RFEP is affected, reconcile TOMS and the assessment team’s roster.
Official references
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