July 17, 2012

Dear California Basic Educational Data System Coordinators:

CALIFORNIA BASIC EDUCATIONAL DATA SYSTEM
FALL 2012 DATA COLLECTION INFORMATION AND CONTACT SURVEY

The California Department of Education (CDE) is preparing for the fall 2012 California Basic Educational Data System (CBEDS) data collection. This letter is to notify local educational agencies (LEAs) of the significant dates, changes to the data collection, and the CBEDS coordinator’s responsibilities. Enclosed with this letter is the CBEDS Coordinator Contact Survey that includes your LEA’s 2012 CBEDS user name and password, and instructions on verifying and updating the CBEDS contact information.

Dates and Resources

The CBEDS data collection day is Wednesday, October 3, 2012. On this day each LEA is responsible for collecting aggregate classified staff, school, and district demographic data. These data are to be submitted through the CBEDS online reporting application (ORA) by October 31, 2012. The application contains formatted School Information Form (SIF) and County/District Information Form (CDIF) data entry screens, the ability to import and export data, built-in edit checks, and the capability to print school and district forms and reports.

The CBEDS ORA will be available for use in early October. The application, Web-based training, and other resources will be available on the CDE CBEDS Web page at: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/dc/cb/.

2012 California Basic Educational Data System Data Collection Changes

Following are details on changes to the School Information Form (SIF) and the CBEDS Administrative Manual. No changes were made to the County/District Information Form (CDIF).

Educational Options/Independent Study/Online Education

Additional detailed instruction has been added to the CBEDS Administrative Manual to assist LEAs in reporting data for Educational Options, Independent Study, and Online Education.

Technology

In reporting the number of computers owned or leased by the school, LEAs should not include thin clients or tablet computers in the count (e.g. iPads). These instructions have been added to the CBEDS Administrative Manual.

Truancy

Beginning this year, LEAs are to report on CBEDS the total unduplicated number of students who were truant in the 2011-12 school year (July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012).

Contact Information

Additional CDE program office contacts have been included in the CBEDS Administrative Manual to assist LEAs in completing the following sections of the SIF: Educational Options, Independent Study, Online Education, Truancy, and School Improvement Grants (SIG).

California Basic Educational Data System Coordinator Responsibilities

Each LEA must designate a CBEDS coordinator. The coordinator’s responsibilities include distributing materials to schools, holding training sessions, verifying data, and ensuring that data for every school in the LEA (including charter schools reporting through their authorizing agency) are electronically submitted to the CDE by October 31, 2012. The coordinator will be our point of contact for any questions about the data submitted by the LEA.

Charter schools that elect to report their data independently will be responsible for submitting all data for their charter school directly to the CDE. For more information, please visit the CDE CALPADS Charter Schools Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sp/cl/charterschools.asp.

California Basic Educational Data System Coordinator Contact Survey

It is important to keep your CBEDS coordinator information current as it will be used to disseminate notifications and updates related to the CBEDS data collection. Please review the contact information provided. If you have changes to the contact information, please logon to the CDE 2012-13 CBEDS - Online Reporting Application at http://www3.cde.ca.gov/opuscbeds/login.aspx. Enter the user name and password and select “Logon.” Select the “Update User Information” option from the Main Menu. All updates are due to the CDE by July 31, 2012. Remember to keep your user name and password for future use.

If you have any questions regarding the above information, please contact the Educational Demographics Office by phone at 916-327-0219 or by e-mail at eddemo@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Keric Ashley, Director
Educational Data Management Division

KA:ks