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Enrollment, Graduate, and Dropout Definitions

California Department of Education
California Basic Educational Data System (CBEDS)

Table of Contents

Introduction and Purpose

Glossary

Criteria used to Aggregate Student-Level Data to School-Level

• Enrollment Data
• High School Graduate Data
• High School Graduates
• High School Graduates Meeting University of California (UC) or California State University (CSU) Entrance Requirements
• Dropout Data
• Reenrolled Dropouts
• Lost Transfers
• No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Dropout and Graduate Data
• NCLB Dropouts
• NCLB Graduates

Introduction and Purpose

In October 2006 the California Department of Education (CDE), in collaboration with the California School Information Services (CSIS) program, used the annual maintenance submission for Statewide Student Identifiers (SSIDs) to generate enrollment data at the school level by grade, gender, and racial/ethnic designation. The following school year, the student exit information included in the annual SSID maintenance data submission was also used to generate graduate and dropout data at the school level by grade, gender, and racial/ethnic designation. Prior to the use of SSIDs to collect enrollment, graduate, and dropout data, the CDE collected these data by grade, gender, and racial/ethnic designation as aggregates for each public K-12 school as part of the California Basic Educational Data System (CBEDS) data collection. In 2009-10, the collection of student-level data was transitioned to the Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS).

The purpose of this document is to provide definitions of terms used in generating enrollment, graduate, and dropout data from student-level data, as this information is no longer maintained in the CBEDS Administrative Manual. This document also provides the criteria used to aggregate student level enrollment, graduate, and dropout data.

Glossary

Adults in K-12 Programs

Adults in K-12 programs include students 21 years of age or older and students 19 years of age or older who have not been continuously enrolled in kindergarten or any of grades one to twelve, inclusive, since their 18th birthday. It does not include adult education students, adults in correctional programs (inmates), or adults in special education.

California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE)

The primary purpose of the CAHSEE is to significantly improve pupil achievement in public high schools and to ensure that pupils who graduate from public high schools can demonstrate grade-level competency in reading, writing, and mathematics. The CAHSEE helps identify students who are not developing skills that are essential for life after high school and encourages districts to give these students the attention and resources needed to help them achieve these skills during their high school years. Beginning in the 2005-06 school year, no student will receive a public high school diploma without having passed the CAHSEE as well as having met the district’s requirements for graduation.

Senate Bill 517, signed into law on January 30, 2006, provides a one-year exemption of the requirement to pass the CAHSEE for certain students with disabilities in the class of 2006. Senate Bill 267 extended that exemption until December 31, 2007. (See graduate and dropout definitions and instructions for impact of CAHSEE on these sections.)

Dropout

The CDE defines a dropout for a specific school year as a student who meets the following criteria:

• [ Was enrolled in grades seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, or twelve at some time during the school year AND left school prior to completing the year

OR

• Successfully completed the prior school year but did not begin attending the next grade (seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, or twelve) to which he or she was assigned, preregistered, or expected to attend ]

AND

• Was not enrolled and attending school as of Information Day following the specified school year

Exclusionary Conditions
The student is not a dropout if he or she meets any of the conditions noted below:

• The student has transferred to and is attending another public or private educational institution leading toward a high school diploma or its equivalent. This definition does not include adult education programs. See “Transfers to Adult Education Programs” for further explanation.

• The student has received a high school diploma or its equivalent (General Educational Development [GED] exam, California High School Proficiency Examination [CHSPE], or adult education high school diploma program).

• The student has transferred to and is attending a college offering a baccalaureate or associate's program.

• The student has moved out of the United States.

• The student has a temporary school-recognized absence due to suspension or illness.

• The school has verified that the student is planning to enroll late (e.g., extended family vacation, seasonal work).

• The student has died.

Transfers to Adult Education Programs
Students under the age of 21 who enroll in adult education programs during the school year are counted as dropouts unless the school system remains responsible for the student. In that case it is the high school's responsibility to check the status of those students on Information Day, during the reporting year. At that time the following determination is made:

The high school does not count students as dropouts if:

• They are enrolled and attending the adult education program.
• They have received a GED or adult education high school diploma.

The high school must count students as dropouts if:

• They are "no-shows" at the adult school.
• They have stopped attending the adult school before completion of the program.

This stipulation ensures that students who do not complete a program but for whom the district no longer takes responsibility are counted as dropouts.

Other Considerations
The CDE maintains a policy on dropout verification that accepts documentation other than transcripts as evidence that students who have left school are enrolled in institutions of higher learning or have received a high school diploma or its equivalent. The documentation must be received from a responsible adult having knowledge of the student’s status.

Districts are responsible for determining the status of their “no-show” students. “No-shows” are students who completed any of grades six through eleven during the prior year academic school year but who did not begin attending the next grade in the school to which they were assigned or in which they had preregistered or were expected to attend in the fall of the reporting year. It is important to verify whether “no- shows” are dropouts or merely attending a school other than the school they were expected to attend. If you establish that a fall “no-show” student assigned to your school is a dropout, you are responsible for reporting that student as a dropout on the reporting academic school year.

Dropouts enrolled in “ungraded secondary” or “adults in K–12 programs” are counted in the grade closest to their age group.

The following is a checklist to assist in determining whether a student is a dropout.

Dropout Checklist

Graduate

A high school graduate is an individual who received a diploma since the last Information Day by meeting all high school graduation requirements reported in the graduation requirement section on the County/District Information Form (CDIF) (including passing the CAHSEE if required.) Students with high school equivalencies (i.e., GED, CHSPE, or adult education high school diploma program) or special education students completing an IEP are not included in the high school graduate count.

Graduates through Independent Study

"Number of students who took one or more high school classes through independent study and graduated or passed the GED or CHSPE" is the number of students who were engaged in independent study and who either graduated from high school or successfully completed a high school equivalency exam (i.e., GED or CHSPE) during the prior school year. The count includes only those students who took one or more classes through independent study during high school.

Information Day

On this day, personnel in schools, districts, and county offices of education are requested to provide information regarding school staff, enrollment, and accountability indicators.

Limited-English-Proficient (LEP) for NCLB

A student will be considered LEP for NCLB purposes if the student is either (1) an English learner; or (2) a re-designated fluent-English proficient student and the student has not scored PRO (proficient) or ADV (advanced) three times on the English-language arts California Standards Test.

Migrant Education

Migrant students are eligible for funding if they have moved during the last 36 months because they or members of their family were trying to obtain temporary or seasonal employment in agricultural, dairy, fishing, or logging activities

Nonpublic Nonsectarian

A nonpublic, nonsectarian school is a private, nonsectarian school that enrolls individuals with exceptional needs pursuant to an IEP and is certified by the CDE. It does not include an organization or agency that operates as a public agency or offers public service, including, but not limited to, a state or local agency, an affiliate of a state or local agency, including a private, nonprofit corporation established or operated by a state or local agency, or a public university or college. A nonpublic, nonsectarian school also shall meet standards as prescribed by the superintendent and the board.

Racial/Ethnic Designations

The racial/ethnic designation that most closely reflects the individual’s recognition in the community should be used for the purposes of this report. For each certificated staff member, the district may report one or more racial/ethnic designations.

American Indian or Alaska Native: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) and who maintains cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community recognition.

Asian: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent (e.g., Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam). On the PAIF, the racial/ethnic designation of Asian is further broken into subcategories.

African American, Not of Hispanic Origin: A non- Hispanic person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.

Filipino: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Philippine Islands.

Hispanic or Latino: A person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race.

Pacific Islander: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands (excludes the Philippine Islands). On the PAIF, the racial/ethnic designation of Pacific Islander is further broken into subcategories.

White, Not of Hispanic Origin: A non-Hispanic person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East (e.g., England, Portugal, Egypt, and Iran).

Multiple or No Response: This is not a designation that should be used for local collection of racial/ethnic data from individuals. This designation, probably an interim measure, should be used to report aggregated data from districts that have decided to allow parents or students to identify more than one race or ethnicity or to not make any identification. This designation has been added to provide reporting flexibility to districts that may already be implementing the federal standards. There is no requirement that districts change their racial/ethnic data collection at this time.

Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Students

According to the definition adopted by the State Board of Education, the "socioeconomically disadvantaged” subgroup consists of pupils who meet one of three criteria:

• Neither of the pupil's parents has received a high school diploma;

• The student is participating and receiving free or reduced-price meals in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) or School Breakfast Program (SBP);

• The student has met one or more of the following eligibility criteria for receipt of free or reduced-price meals in the NSLP and/or SBP:

• The student’s household meets the United States Department of Agriculture’s income eligibility criteria (at or below 185 percent of the applicable family household size and income levels in the federal income poverty guidelines), whether or not they have submitted a program application;

• The student has applied and met the income eligibility criteria for free or reduced-price meals in the NSLP or SBP;

• The student is eligible by way of schoolwide eligibility as outlined in 7 Code of Federal Regulations, Section 245.9, provisions 2 and 3;

• The student is “directly certified” on the basis of his/her receipt of benefits in one or more of the following federal programs:
  
• Food Stamp Program
• California Work Opportunities and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) Program;
• Kinship Guardian Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP) Program; or
• Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR).

• The student is “directly certified” by an appropriate district liaison to be one of the following:
  
• Eligible for the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Program;
  
• Eligible for the Runaway and Homeless Youth Grant Program (42 U.S. Code 5701 et seq); or
  
• A “migratory child” as defined in Section 1309 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. This does not mean that the student is actually receiving meals.

Special Education

A child is counted as receiving special education when that child has a written IEP, individualized family service plan, or individual service plan and is enrolled in a school or program operated or supported by a public agency that provides the child with special education and/or related services that meet state standards.

Ungraded Elementary (K–8)

Ungraded elementary means any student in kindergarten through grade 8 in an ungraded program. This category may include special education students in special day classes.

Ungraded Secondary (9–12)

Ungraded secondary means any student in grades 9 through 12 (excluding adults in a K–12 program) in an ungraded program. This category may include special education students in special day classes (including special education adults under 23 years of age).

Criteria used to Aggregate Student-Level Data to School-Level

Enrollment Data

All students that are enrolled in and attending a school or program leading to a high school diploma or its equivalent on Information Day, as well as, those absent on Information Day are counted in the enrollment aggregates. If a student attends more than one school, the student is reported as primarily enrolled in the school where most of his/her time is spent (primary school of attendance). If special education students are sent to one or more nonpublic nonsectarian school(s) for instruction the district is unable to provide, these students are counted for enrollment purposes.

Special education students under 23 years of age who are mainstreamed into the regular school program are to be reported in the grade appropriate to their level. Special day class students are to be reported in either “Ungraded Elementary” or “Ungraded Secondary” if a grade level cannot be determined. Preschool special education students are not to be included in this count. Special education adults, ages 19-23, are to be reported under “Ungraded Secondary.”

Adults who are enrolled in a K-12 program leading to a regular high school diploma are to be reported in the “Adults in K-12 Programs” category, not in a specific grade level.

High School Graduate Data

High School Graduates

Graduate data for each public high school are maintained throughout the school year and are reported the following school year on Information Day. Graduate data are collected at the student level by gender and racial/ethnic designation. The CALPADS Data Guide, Appendix D: Student Exit Reason Code and Student School Completion Status Descriptions identifies each exit code and identifies each code used to generate graduate aggregate counts. This document is posted on the CALPADS System Documentation Web page.

For purposes of creating high school graduate counts for an academic school year, only those students who received a high school diploma since the last Information Day by meeting all state and local high school graduation requirements and by passing the CAHSEE are counted in the school-level aggregates. Those students who require additional time to obtain required credits or to pass the CAHSEE are reported with an appropriate exit record and the exit date the required credits were completed or the date that CAHSEE was passed. The exit date will be used to determine which school year to count the student in.

Students with high school equivalencies (i.e., GED, CHSPE, or adult education high school diploma) or special education students completing an IEP are not counted in the high school graduate counts. Graduates are to be reported at the school from which they graduated, even if the school is closed. In the case of a unification or merger of two or more school districts into a new district, or a school moving from one school district to a new school district, dropouts will be reported under the original school district.

High School Graduates Meeting University of California (UC) or California State University (CSU) Entrance Requirements

As a subset of graduates reported by gender and racial/ethnic designation, the CDE also reports the number of students who graduated since the last Information Day and met the UC or CSU a-g course entrance requirements for admission.

Those students who received a high school diploma since the last Information Day by meeting all state and local high school graduation requirements and who met the UC or CSU a-g course entrance requirements as outlined below are included in this count.

The sequence of 15 courses required for UC/CSU admissions is known as the “a-g” requirements. Courses approved for your high school by the University of California to satisfy the “a-g” subject matter requirements must contain rigorous subject matter content as well as be academically challenging to ensure that the student attains essential critical thinking and study skills. The list of approved “a-g” courses is updated annually by the UC Office of the President on the basis of information provided by each high school and can be found on the University of California a-g Course Lists Web page.

The UC/CSU chart below gives a brief summary of the respective course requirements for UC and CSU admissions.

University of California/California State University Course Entrance Requirements

Dropout Data

Dropout data for public schools serving any of grades seven through twelve are maintained throughout the school year and are reported the following school year on Information Day. Student-level exit data are collected at the student level by gender, grade level, and racial/ethnic designation and are used to derive school-level dropout aggregates. The CALPADS Data Guide, Appendix D: Student Exit Reason Code and Student School Completion Status Descriptions identifies each exit code and identifies each code used to generate graduate aggregate counts. This document is posted on the CALPADS System Documentation Web page.

The reporting period for an academic school dropout count is between July 1 and June 30 of the subsequent year.

Only those students who meet the definition of a dropout and have not graduated, have not completed an approved program, have not passed the CAHSEE, have not died, and are not known to be in an educational program leading toward a high school diploma or its equivalent are included in the aggregate dropout counts. Refer to the Glossary for the definition of a dropout and further clarification.

Dropouts are to be reported at the school from which they dropped out, even if the school is closed. In the case of a unification or merger of two or more school districts into a new district, or a school moving from one school district to a new school district, dropouts will be reported under the original school district.

Reenrolled Dropouts

For state-level reporting purposes, any one student that drops out during a school year will only be counted once, even though the student may have “dropped out” multiple times from one or more school. Therefore, if a student drops out from one school and reenrolls in another school, the dropout will not be counted in the first school. Any student reported as a dropout by a school district, will not be counted as a dropout if a subsequent enrollment in another school is found in the statewide data. For purposes of reporting a count of dropouts during an academic school year, students who have dropped out and have re-enrolled by the start of the following school year (on or before Information Day) will not be counted as a dropout.

Lost Transfers

For state-level reporting purposes, any student that is reported by an LEA as transferring to another California public school district and cannot be found subsequently enrolled in a California public school district on or before Information Day is considered a lost transfer and will be counted as a dropout.

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Dropout and Graduate Data

NCLB Dropouts

NCLB dropout data for public schools serving any of grades nine through twelve are maintained throughout the school year and are reported the following school year on Information Day. NCLB dropout data are reported by school, grade level, and NCLB subgroup. The NCLB subgroup categories include migrant education, limited-English-proficient, special education, and socioeconomically disadvantaged.

Those students who fall under the NCLB subgroups categories and who meet the definition of a dropout and have not graduated, have not completed an approved program, have not passed the CAHSEE (if required), have not died, and are not known to be in an educational program leading toward a high school diploma or its equivalent are included in the aggregate NCLB dropout count. Students are to be reported in any one or more of the NCLB subgroup categories, however, since the count of NCLB dropouts is a subset of dropouts, the counts of NCLB dropouts by grade and category must be less than or equal to the total number of dropouts by grade.

NCLB Graduates

NCLB graduate data for each public high school are maintained throughout the school year and are reported the following school year on Information Day. NCLB graduate data are reported by school and by NCLB subgroup. The NCLB subgroup categories include migrant education, limited-English-proficient, special education, and socioeconomically disadvantaged.

Those students who fall under the NCLB subgroups categories and who received a high school diploma since the last Information Day by meeting all state and local high school graduation requirements are included in the aggregate NCLB graduate count. Students are to be reported in any one or more of the NCLB subgroup categories, however, since the count of NCLB graduates is a subset of graduates, the counts of NCLB graduates by category must be less than or equal to the total number of graduates.