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General | CDIF | SIF | CBEDS-ORA
General CBEDS Questions
What changes were made to the 2012 CBEDS data collection?
A complete list of changes to the 2012 CBEDS data collection was sent to all CBEDS coordinators, district superintendents, and charter administrators in mid July. This email, as well as the CBEDS forms, materials, and trainings are available on the CBEDS [http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/dc/cb/index.asp] Web page.
How are the CDIF and SIF data reported?
Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) will use the CBEDS-ORA Internet based data collection software to
submit County/District Information Form (CDIF) and School Information Form (SIF) data.
If your LEA chooses to key enter the data, we suggest that you print blank CDIF and SIF forms so that district and school staff may gather the required information prior to Information Day (October 3, 2012).
If the data are available in an electronic format, the data may be imported into the CBEDS-ORA without data entry. To import, the data must be in the format specified for CBEDS-ORA, which is available under the advanced features menu in the application, and on the CBEDS ORA and Resources [http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/dc/cb/cbedsora.asp] Web page.
Instructions for completing the forms are in the CBEDS Administrative Manual. The Administrative Manual and blank CDIF and SIF forms are available on the CBEDS [http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/dc/cb/index.asp] Web page.
Where can I find the CBEDS Internet application to enter my SIF and CDIF data?
The CBEDS-ORA [http://www3.cde.ca.gov/opuscbeds/login.aspx] is available from the CBEDS [http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/dc/cb/index.asp] Web page.
CBEDS Coordinators will use a Web browser to navigate to the CBEDS-ORA where they will enter a unique user name and password to logon and report SIF/CDIF data. The ORA contains formatted data entry screens, the ability to import and export data, built-in edit checks, and the ability to print school and district forms and reports.
Where can I find my user name and password to logon to CBEDS-ORA?
CBEDS coordinators, district superintendents, and charter administrators were e-mailed their user name and password logon information in mid July. If you did not receive your logon information, please e-mail the CALPADS/CBEDS/CDS Operations Office at cbeds@cde.ca.gov or call 916-324-6738. Only authorized CBEDS coordinators will be given logon information.
I am a new CBEDS coordinator. Where can I get training on CBEDS?
Two online trainings are available for CBEDS coordinators to view at their leisure. The CBEDS Overview Training [http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/dc/cb/cbedstrng12.swf] (Flash) includes a general overview of CBEDS and instructions on submitting SIF and CDIF data to the CDE. The CBEDS-ORA Demonstration [http://staging.cde.ca.gov/ds/dc/cb/orademo12.swf] (Flash) demonstrates how to use the CBEDS-ORA to submit SIF and CDIF data to the CDE. Both trainings are posted on the CBEDS Web page [http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/dc/cb/index.asp].
Where can I get a copy of the 2012 CBEDS Administrative Manual?
The Administrative Manual, as well as the CBEDS forms and materials are available on the CBEDS [http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/dc/cb/index.asp] Web page.
Since enrollment, graduate, and dropout data are no longer collected through CBEDS, where can I view these data reports?
Work with your district's CALPADS administrator to access reports submitted through CALPADS. After the data are certified, the enrollment, graduate, and dropout reports will be posted on DataQuest [http://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/].
Do county and district offices report CBEDS-ORA data for their charter schools?
Charter schools may choose to report their CBEDS (and CALPADS) data to the California Department of Education (CDE) by one of the following options. The charter school’s funding type does not affect the charter school’s reporting choice.
(1) Report data independent of its authorizing agency and directly to the CDE. The independently reporting charter school will only complete the SIF, and will not complete a CDIF. On a supplemental SIF, independently reporting charter schools will report estimated teacher hires and high school graduation requirements (if applicable).
(2) Have the authorizing agency report the charter school data to the CDE. The charter school’s authorizing agency reports any applicable information about their charter schools on their CDIF. For example, if a charter school plans to hire teachers in the next school year, the estimated teacher hire data should be reported on the authorizing agency’s CDIF. The exception is that the authorizing agency should not report their charter school’s graduation requirements. Districts should report only the district's graduation requirements. Elementary districts that have authorized a charter school with graduation requirements should not report graduation requirements of the charter school.
Has the CBEDS-ORA file layout changed from last year?
Yes, the CBEDS-ORA file layout was modified to add a new section to the SIF. For complete details on the layout changes, refer to the 2012 CBEDS-ORA File Layout. Please note, the layout is also available within the CBEDS-ORA.
How do we obtain a county-district-school (CDS) code for a new school or make corrections for an existing school?
To request a CDS code for a new school, complete an Application for a County-District-School (CDS) Code (form CDS-01; formerly known as the TSD-01 form) [http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/si/ds/documents/cdsappnew.doc] and submit the application along with board minutes showing approval of the formation and establishment of the school, and another document verifying the operation of the school (for example, budget items or the appointment of the principal). Please review the CDE’s Definition of a School [http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/si/ds/dos.asp] to ensure that proposed new schools meet the requirements for receiving a CDS code.
To update information for existing schools, you may use the List of Expected Schools to notify the CDE if you have a “temporary” school closure or a school that does not have students enrolled as of Information Day. However, all other changes to existing schools (i.e. permanent school closures, grade span changes, personnel updates, address changes, etc.) must be submitted by your LEA’s CDS coordinator. The CDS coordinator’s contact information for your LEA was included on the 2012 CBEDS List of Expected Schools available within the CBEDS-ORA [http://www3.cde.ca.gov/opuscbeds/login.aspx].
After I submit my district's CBEDS-ORA data electronically, should I submit the back-up paper copies also?
No. Please do not submit the back-up copies for the CDIF or SIF.
If I find an error in the CBEDS-ORA data I submit in October, how do I correct the data?
To modify your CBEDS data, log back into the CBEDS-ORA, make your modification, and resubmit your data before the October 31, 2012 deadline.
County District Information Form (CDIF)
Which classified staff do I report in Section A of the CDIF?
Only report employees assigned to the county or district office and "other classified" staff who serve at more than one school site. Do not use this section to report the total number of classified staff reported at each of your school sites. Exclude regional occupational program (ROP), preschool, child care, or adult education classified employees in Section A.
Do independently reporting charter schools complete a CDIF?
No. The CDIF is only completed by districts and county offices of education. Independently reporting charter schools only report data on the SIF.
Does my district office report Section B, Teacher Hires and/or Section C, Graduation Requirements for the independently reporting charter schools (IRCs) in our district?
No. Do not report Section B and/or Section C for IRCs in your district. IRCs will report their High School Graduation Requirements (2012-2013) and Estimated Teacher Hires (2013-2014) on a Supplemental SIF.
Which graduation requirements do we report if the schools in our district (i.e. comprehensive high school, independent study, and other alternative high schools) have different requirements?
Report the graduation requirements for the majority of the students in your district. This will usually be the high school graduation requirements from the comprehensive high school. Elementary districts with a charter high school do not report graduation requirements.
School Information Form (SIF)
Where do I report a classified staff member who chooses not to report a race or ethnic designation?
Report the staff in the “Two or More Races, Not Hispanic” column.
Are the bilingual paraprofessionals reported in Section F also reported in Section A?
Yes, report the bilingual paraprofessionals in Section A, row 1 or 2, as well as in Section F.
Do I report classified staff who work in after school programs?
Yes, report all classified staff regardless of their assignment. However, do not report the classified staff that work in a regional occupational center/program (ROC/P), preschool, child care, or adult education center.
How do I print blank SIFs to distribute to the schools in my LEA?
Blank SIF forms (and the CDIF) are available from the CBEDS [http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/dc/cb/index.asp] Web page under the Forms section.
How do I report the classified staff who work half-time as paraprofessionals and half-time as office/clerical?
Report the employees as full-time and select either paraprofessional or office/clerical as the type of position.
When should I use the "Two or More Races, not Hispanic" column?
The racial designation titled "Two or More Races, not Hispanic" is aligned with the federal standards for collecting and reporting multiple races. This is not a designation that should be used for local collection of race data from individuals, but should be used to report aggregated data of more than one race.
If a student participates in a magnet program and a thematic program is he/she counted in each of these educational options in Section B?
Yes, report a student in each educational option in which he/she participates, but only once in the unduplicated total row.
Are students who attend Community day, Continuation, and/or Opportunity schools reported under independent study?
Community Day Schools cannot use independent study as a means of providing any part of the minimum instructional day. Therefore, community day students are not reported in this section.
When reporting continuation school and opportunity school students in this section please note that no more than 10% of the students participating in a continuation high school and/or opportunity schools or programs may be eligible for apportionment credit for independent study. A student who is pregnant or who is the primary caregiver for one or more of his or her children is not counted within the 10 percent cap.
If a student is out sick (not covered by home and hospital instruction) or on vacation for a couple weeks and placed on independent study, is the student counted in Section B, Independent Study in all School Types?
Yes, report the student if he/she has a signed Independent Study Written Agreement for five consecutive days or more (not applicable to charter schools), and plans to return to the classroom after the short term independent study. Additional questions regarding Independent Study or Types of Educational Options may be directed to the CALPADS/CBEDS/CDS Operations Office at 916-324-6738.
Are the students who are reported in online education also reported in independent study?
Students taking asynchronous online classes (not under the immediate supervision of a certificated employee of the LEA, students and teachers are online at different times) should be reported in both sections. Students taking synchronous online classes (under the immediate supervision of a certificated employee of the LEA) should only be reported under online education, and not independent study.
Why did I receive an error in Section B, Independent Study, when I reported all my students as “taking 50% or more of their classes through independent study?
The students reported as “Taking 50% or more of their classes,” must also be reported students as “Taking one or more classes.” Row 7 is a subset of row 6, and therefore must be less than or equal to row 6.
For the graduate count on line 11, Section B, do I include a student that completed one independent study class in the 9th grade?
Yes, count the student if he/she completed one or more high school classes through independent study during any of grades 9-12.
Should I include graduates who successfully completed a high school equivalency exam (i.e. General Education Development or California High School Proficiency Exam) on line 11, Section B?
No, only report the number of students who took one or more high school classes through independent study and graduated from high school during the 2011-12 school year.
On line 1, Section C, Technology, should I report the number of refurbished and/or donated computers that are used for direct instruction and curriculum development?
Yes, if the computers are less than 48 months old. If you are uncertain of the original year of manufacture, please use your best estimate.
Our district provides instruction through virtual computing, such as N-Computing or Cloud computing, supported with NetBooks. How is this reported?
For N-Computing, count each computing device used to access N-computer as one computer. For Cloud computing, count each NetBook accessing the Cloud as one computer. Do not include hand held devices in the count of computers.
Are thin clients, tablet computers (e.g. iPads), or word processing-only computers included in the computer counts?
No. Do not report thin clients, tablet computers (iPads), or word processing-only computers.
On line 2, Section C, Technology, does the term "Instructional Settings" apply to only classrooms?
In addition to classrooms, LEAs may now include school gymnasiums, media centers, as well as libraries used for instruction-related purposes. This information will be used to calculate the percent of instructional settings with high-speed Internet access and for facility related data.
How do I report the number of instructional settings if I have a virtual school?
Virtual schools should report 1 instructional setting.
The computer lab at our school has 18 computers connected to the Internet. Do I count this as 1 or 18 instructional settings on line 3 in Section C, Technology?
Count each instructional setting only once, even if the setting is utilizing more than one computer with Internet access. The count of instructional settings with Internet access cannot be greater than the total count of instructional settings.
How do I count the number of instructional settings where an Internet connection is being utilized if our school is wireless?
Count each instructional setting where the internet connection is being utilized for instruction once. If an instructional setting is not being used for this purpose, do not include that instructional setting in the count.
Our district does not have year-round schools, so how do I report this in Section D, Educational Calendar?
Only check "traditional" in part 1.
My school operates on both a "traditional" and "single-track" calendar. How do I complete Section D, Educational Calendar?
In part 1, check "traditional" and "single-track." In part 2, check the appropriate single-track, year-round calendar.
In Section E, Parental Exception Waiver from English-Language Classrooms, what is the difference between a parental exception waiver and a parental request?
A parental exception waiver is a petition submitted by parents or guardians to have their child enrolled in a bilingual education class or other generally recognized alternative course of study. Parental requests, on the other hand, are requests by parents or guardians to have their child transferred from a structured English immersion setting, placed in an English-language mainstream class, and provided with additional and appropriate instructional services as authorized by the California Code of Regulations, Title 5, Section 11301(b).
Are all bilingual paraprofessionals who provide primary language support to English learners (ELs) reported in Section F?
Yes. For CBEDS reporting purposes, bilingual paraprofessionals are reported if they provide primary language support to ELs in classrooms where the teacher is providing English Language Development (ELD), Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English (SDAIE), primary language instruction, or a combination of these EL services.
Please note, the bilingual paraprofessionals reported in this section should also be reported in Section A, Classified Staff.
Do I need to report 2011-12 School Improvement Grant (SIG) data?
To determine if your sites are SIG participants and required to submit data for SIG, review the 2012 CBEDS List of Expected Schools available within the CBEDS-ORA [http://www3.cde.ca.gov/opuscbeds/login.aspx]. SIG reporting instructions are on pages 12-14 of the CBEDS Administrative Manual.
In Section M, Truancy, what students should be considered truant?
A student is considered truant when the student has unexcused absences of more than 30 minutes on three or more days during the prior school year (July 1, 2011 – June 30, 2012).
If the student was considered truant more than once at the same school, do I count the student more than once in Section M?
No, this is an unduplicated count on the school level. The student is counted only once.
What if the student is truant at two different schools in the same LEA?
If a student is considered truant at two different schools, each school should count the student once.
If an LEA or school did not receive Title IV, Part A funds (Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act), are they still required to report the number of truancies?
Yes, the LEA or school is required to report the number of students who were truant.
What if a school that is required to report this data had no truancies?
Report zero.
The CBEDS Online Reporting Application
What is CBEDS-ORA?
CBEDS-ORA is a Web application used by authorized CBEDS LEA coordinators to report appropriate CDIF and SIF data to the California Department of Education (CDE). It also allows users to update coordinator contact information and contains a list of schools that are expected to submit CBEDS data.
Why do we need CALPADS and CBEDS-ORA? What is the difference between the two?
Each system (CALPADS and CBEDS-ORA) is used to report different types of data. CALPADS is a statewide longitudinal education data system used by LEAs to report student-level and staff-level data. CALPADS will house student-level enrollment, demographic, program, and assessment data for evaluation and research use, as well as course enrollment, course completion, and staff assignments.
CBEDS-ORA is the system used by LEAs to report aggregate data. Data reported through CBEDS-ORA include non-student data, such as aggregate counts of classified staff, estimated number of teacher hires, number of computers, school education calendar type, and high school graduation requirements. Select aggregate student counts are also included in CBEDS-ORA, such as aggregate counts of students in the SIG and Truancy sections as well as some educational options programs.
How do authorized LEA representatives complete the CBEDS-ORA? Is there training?
LEA representatives (CBEDS coordinators) will use a Web browser to navigate to the CBEDS-ORA [http://www3.cde.ca.gov/opuscbeds/login.aspx] logon page. Users will then logon using their unique username and password, which are issued by the CDE.
A CBEDS-ORA Demonstration [http://staging.cde.ca.gov/ds/dc/cb/orademo12.swf] (Flash) is available and demonstrates how to use the CBEDS-ORA to submit SIF and CDIF data to the CDE.
Can LEAs upload a data file into the CBEDS-ORA to meet the data reporting requirements?
Yes, the CDE provides a file upload option for LEAs that desire to do so. Your upload file must be in the specified format for CBEDS-ORA in order for data to be uploaded. You may view the 2012 CBEDS-ORA File Layout from the CBEDS ORA and Resources [http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/dc/cb/cbedsora.asp] Web page or within the CBEDS-ORA [http://www3.cde.ca.gov/opuscbeds/login.aspx].
How can I receive more information about the CBEDS-ORA?
Additional resources on the CBEDS-ORA are available on the CBEDS ORA and Resources [http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/dc/cb/cbedsora.asp] Web page.