California Planning, Accountability & Public Reporting
Plan, document, adopt, and communicate California’s major accountability requirements, including the LCAP, School Plan for Student Achievement, School Accountability Report Card, California School Dashboard, and required public notices.
Aligning the LCAP and SPSA
Reference
Explains how California LEAs can connect district-level LCAP goals, actions, services, metrics, and funding with school-level SPSA strategies, expenditures, monitoring, and stakeholder participation.
California School Dashboard Overview
Reference
Introduces the California School Dashboard, including state and local indicators, performance colors, student-group reporting, status and change, and how results support local planning and continuous improvement.
California’s Compliance and Improvement Monitoring (CIM)
Reference
Explains California’s Compliance and Improvement Monitoring process, how LEAs may be identified, and how data review, root-cause analysis, improvement planning, implementation, and evidence work together.
LCAP Overview
Reference
Introduces the Local Control and Accountability Plan as California’s three-year planning framework connecting community priorities, student outcomes, actions, services, funding, and annual review.
LCAP Requirements
Reference
Summarizes major LCAP requirements, including required sections, goals, metrics, actions, expenditures, educational-partner engagement, public hearings, governing-board adoption, submission, and posting.
Major Planning, Accountability & Public-Reporting Outputs
Reference
Maps the major plans, reports, notices, dashboards, submissions, and public-facing documents California LEAs produce, showing their purposes, audiences, timing, ownership, and relationships.
Public Notice, Hearing, Adoption, Submission & Posting Requirements
Guide
Organizes common public-notice, hearing, adoption, submission, and website-posting requirements so LEAs can assign responsibility, sequence approvals, document completion, and retain evidence.
School Accountability Report Card (SARC)
Walkthrough
Explains the School Accountability Report Card, its required data and narrative elements, annual preparation and publication responsibilities, public access, and relationship to other accountability information.
School Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA)
Reference
Explains the School Plan for Student Achievement, including needs assessment, goals, evidence-based strategies, expenditures, Schoolsite Council responsibilities, approval, implementation, and monitoring.
Student Online Accountability Record Status (SOARS)
Reference
Introduces CDE’s Student Online Accountability Record Status system and explains how authorized LEA users review student-level accountability information, investigate status issues, and coordinate corrections.
Federal Programs, Grants & Monitoring
Navigate federal program requirements from application and implementation through documentation, monitoring, findings, and corrective action. Resources support coordinated programs, grant compliance, and Federal Program Monitoring readiness.
Federal Program Monitoring Explained
Guide
Explains California Federal Program Monitoring as a structured review of whether LEAs meet federal and state program requirements, including evidence requests, interviews, findings, corrective action, and closure.
Preparing for a Federal Program Monitoring Review
Guide
Provides a practical approach to Federal Program Monitoring preparation: confirm instruments and scope, assign owners, organize current evidence, test access, identify gaps, coordinate interviews, and track corrective actions.
Fiscal Compliance & Grant Administration
Manage fiscal certifications, expenditure requirements, grant conditions, reporting deadlines, and audit-ready documentation. Use these resources to connect program activity with allowable costs, funding restrictions, and financial oversight.
How California Public Schools Are Funded
Guide
Explains how California public schools are funded through the Local Control Funding Formula and other state, federal, and local sources, and how restrictions, reporting, oversight, and local decisions shap
Civil Rights, Equity & Complaint Procedures
Support equitable access and consistent responses to discrimination, harassment, complaints, and other protected-rights concerns. Resources clarify responsibilities, procedural safeguards, documentation, notices, and resolution pathways.
Civil Rights Compliance in California Schools
Reference
Introduces the civil-rights obligations California schools must operationalize across access, nondiscrimination, harassment response, disability accommodations, language access, complaints, notices, records, and staff responsibilities.
Understanding California’s Uniform Complaint Procedures
Guide
Explains California’s Uniform Complaint Procedures, including covered complaints, local filing and investigation steps, timelines, written decisions, appeal routes, confidentiality, nonretaliation, and recordkeeping.
Williams Complaints: Fixing Basic School Conditions
Guide
Explains Williams complaints concerning instructional materials, teacher vacancies or misassignments, and unsafe or unhealthy facilities, including filing, investigation, correction, timelines, notices, and appeals.
Student Records, Attendance & Educational Access
Address requirements affecting enrollment, attendance, student records, transfers, residency, educational rights, and access to instruction. Resources help districts apply rules consistently while protecting students and maintaining reliable documentation.
California School District Document Retention Requirements
Guide
Explains how California school districts classify and retain records, connect retention schedules to legal and operational requirements, authorize destruction, suspend disposal when necessary, and document decisions.
Definition of Continuous Enrollment
Guide
Clarifies continuous enrollment as used in California education reporting and accountability, including how enrollment dates, exits, transfers, and gaps affect whether a student is considered continuously enrolled.
Legal Reasons for Student Absences in California
Guide
Summarizes legally excused student absences in California and distinguishes excused absence, attendance accounting, make-up work, verification, local procedures, and documentation responsibilities.
Overview of CCR Title 5, Section 432
Reference
Explains California Code of Regulations, Title 5, section 432, which classifies school district records and establishes permanent, optional, and disposable record categories for retention and destruction decisions.
School Attendance Review Board (SARB)
Reference
Explains the School Attendance Review Board process as a coordinated intervention for persistent attendance or behavior concerns, including referrals, family participation, service coordination, agreements, documentation, and escalation.
Privacy, Security & Digital Compliance
Protect student and staff information across records, applications, vendors, communications, and digital services. Resources address privacy obligations, data-sharing practices, security safeguards, accessibility, and responsible technology use.
Are Ads OK To Show in Your Classroom?
Walkthrough
Examines when classroom advertising, sponsored content, or ad-supported digital services may create instructional, privacy, safety, accessibility, procurement, or endorsement concerns and what educators should check before use.
California Student Data Privacy Laws
Guide
Introduces California laws governing student data, including limits on collection, use, disclosure, advertising, profiling, vendor practices, contract requirements, security safeguards, deletion, and local oversight responsibilities.
Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA)
Guide
Explains the Children’s Internet Protection Act requirements tied to certain federal connectivity discounts, including internet-safety policies, technology protection measures, public notice, education, and local implementation.
Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)
Reference
Explains how the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act affects online services collecting information from children under 13, including operator duties, school authorization, parental consent, data practices, and vendor review.
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
Guide
Introduces FERPA protections for education records, including access rights, consent, disclosure exceptions, directory information, recordkeeping, complaints, and practical responsibilities for schools and staff.
Personally Identifiable Information
Reference
Explains personally identifiable information in education records, including direct and indirect identifiers, reidentification risk, appropriate access, secure sharing, minimum-necessary use, retention, and incident response.
Student Safety & Health Protection
Coordinate legal and operational requirements that protect students’ physical health, mental health, and safety. Resources cover prevention, emergency readiness, mandated procedures, staff responsibilities, notifications, and required records.
California Minor Privacy Laws
Guide
Explains California privacy protections affecting minors, including consent, confidentiality, parental access, sensitive services, information sharing, and the responsibilities of schools and staff when handling protected information.
Child Abuse Identification and Reporting Guidelines
Guide
Explains how school employees identify possible child abuse or neglect and fulfill mandated-reporter duties, including immediate reporting, required documentation, confidentiality, staff training, and the distinction between reporting and investigating.
Data Reporting & Submission Systems
Prepare accurate, timely submissions to California and federal reporting systems. Resources connect source data, validation, certification, correction, reconciliation, and retained evidence across CALPADS and other required platforms.
Appropriate Credentials for CALPADS Course Codes
Guide
Explains how course content, state course codes, teacher assignments, credentials, authorizations, and local records must align so CALPADS reporting accurately reflects who is teaching each course.
Event, Status, Plan, and Service Records Are Different
Reference
Distinguishes event, status, plan, and service records in student information and special education reporting, showing why each represents a different fact, date, responsibility, and correction workflow.
Golden State Seal Merit Diploma Eligibility (2026)
Reference
Summarizes 2026 Golden State Seal Merit Diploma eligibility, qualifying academic evidence, local verification and award processes, CALPADS or assessment data considerations, and documentation responsibilities.
How CALPADS Special Education Records Work Together
Reference
Explains how CALPADS special education records connect students, plans, meetings, services, statuses, and dates, and how coordinated source-system ownership and validation prevent incomplete or contradictory reporting.
The EOY Special Education Reporting Window
Reference
Explains the CALPADS End-of-Year special education reporting window, including applicable records, reporting periods, validation, certification, correction, reconciliation, and retained evidence.
When to close program records in CALPADS
Reference
Explains when CALPADS program records should—and should not—be closed, using the actual end of eligibility or participation, authoritative local documentation, reporting rules, and downstream effects.
Who Owns a Special Education Correction?
Guide
Provides a practical method for assigning ownership of a special education data correction across the SIS, special education system, CALPADS, program staff, and vendors while preserving authoritative records and verification.
Charter School Authorization and Oversight
Support charter petition review, authorization decisions, ongoing oversight, renewal, material revision, intervention, and closure responsibilities. Resources translate statutory requirements into practical governance, monitoring, and documentation steps.
Assembly Bill 1505 and California Charter Schools
Guide
Explains major changes Assembly Bill 1505 made to California charter-school petition review, authorization, renewal, appeal, oversight, credentialing, and related decision-making responsibilities.
California Charter Petition Requirements
Guide
Organizes the required elements of a California charter petition and the evidence authorizers examine, including educational design, governance, finance, operations, student services, staffing, facilities, and legal assurances.
California Education Code Section 47605
Guide
Provides an operational overview of California Education Code section 47605, including charter petition submission, review standards, public hearings, findings, approval or denial, terms, and authorizer responsibilities.
Charter Authorization in California
Reference
Introduces California charter authorization as a continuing public responsibility spanning petition review, legally supportable decisions, oversight, renewal, material revision, intervention, closure, and transparent records.
Find practical tools for organizing requirements and completing compliance work, including calendars, checklists, templates, decision guides, and reference materials. Use this collection to track deadlines, assign responsibility, and preserve evidence across reporting cycles.
