In the California Department of Education’s (CDEs) efforts to collect accurate data, we have found that several areas of the Language Census data collection are often misunderstood by school and district staff when reporting their data. Clarifications of common misunderstandings are listed below.
All fluent-English-proficient students are reported in part 1, not just reclassified students.
All fluent-English-proficient (FEP) students are to be counted in part 1, whether they were reclassified this year or in previous years (RFEP), or were initially identified as FEP (IFEP). As long as FEP students are enrolled in the school, they are counted in part 1. Districts often incorrectly report only English learners (ELs) who were reclassified in the past year in the part 1 count of FEPs. Refer to page 6 of the Instructions for the Spring Language Census (Form R30-LC).
Parental exception waivers reported in part 4 are not the same as parental requests.
A parental exception waiver (part 4, rows 12-13) 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 and 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). Refer to page 9 of the Instructions for the Spring Language Census (Form R30-LC).
Teachers providing more than one type of instruction to English learners are to be counted in only one section of part 5.
Teachers who provide primary language instruction, as well as English language development (ELD), and/or specially designed academic instruction in English (SDAIE), are to be counted in part 5, section A only. Districts often incorrectly report these teachers in both section A and B in part 5. However, this is not the correct way to report these data, as part 5 represents an unduplicated count of teachers. Refer to page 10 of the Instructions for the Spring Language Census (Form R30-LC).
Only teachers providing services to English learners are reported on the Language Census.
Only teachers who provide direct instruction to ELs in ELD, language arts, mathematics, science, and/or social science and hold, a California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC) bilingual, ELD, or SDAIE authorization are reported on the Language Census. Districts often incorrectly report all of their teachers who hold, an authorization listed above on the Language Census, whether or not the teachers provide EL instruction. Refer to page 10 of the Instructions for the Spring Language Census (Form R30-LC).
Also, if a teacher has an EL student in his/her class, the teacher is only reported on the Language Census if he/she provides EL services in ELD, language arts, mathematics, science, and/or social science to the student. Districts often incorrectly report teachers who have EL students in their class, even if they do not provide direct EL instruction to the students. Refer to page 10 of the Instructions for the Spring Language Census (Form R30-LC).
Reporting Language Census data is not optional.
All traditional public schools, California Education Authority schools, charter schools, juvenile hall/court schools, county community schools, community day schools, continuation schools, alternative schools of choice, and opportunity schools are required by California Education Code Section 62002 (52164) and federal case law to complete Language Census data. LEAs are also required to report data for special education students who are sent to one or more nonpublic, nonsectarian school The CDE requires that all charter schools submit their data through their authorizing district, as the Language Census is a district-level data collection. Preschools, children centers, adult schools, regional occupational centers, State Special Schools, and private schools do not submit Language Census data. Refer to page 1 of the Instructions for the Spring Language Census (Form R30-LC).
