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- Why are local educational agencies (LEAs) required
to publish School Accountability Report Cards (SARCs)?
In November 1988, California voters passed Proposition
98 [http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/sa/prop98.asp], also known as The Classroom Instructional Improvement
and Accountability Act. This ballot initiative provides
California's public schools with a stable source of funding.
In return, all public schools in California are required annually
to prepare SARCs and disseminate them to the public. SARCs are
intended to provide the public with important information about
each public school and to communicate a school's progress in
achieving its goals.
In the years since the passage of Proposition 98, additional
requirements for school accountability reporting and dissemination
have been established through legislation [http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/sa/legislation.asp].
Most SARC requirements are codified in California Education Code (EC) sections
33126 and 33126.1 [http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=edc&group=33001-34000&file=33110-33133] (Outside Source). In addition, similar requirements are
contained in the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation.
- Are LEA governing boards required to approve the
publication of a SARC?
Yes. EC Section 35256 states:
The governing board of each school district
maintaining an elementary or secondary school shall by September
30, 1989, or the beginning of the school year develop and
cause to be implemented for each school in the school district
a School Accountability Report Card.
(a) The School Accountability Report Card
shall include, but is not limited to, the conditions listed
in Education Code Section 33126.
(b) Not less than triennially, the governing
board of each school district shall compare the content of
the school district's School Accountability Report Card to
the model School Accountability Report Card adopted by the
State Board of Education. Variances among school districts
shall be permitted where necessary to account for local needs.
(c) The Governing Board of each school
district shall annually issue a School Accountability Report
Card for each school in the school district, publicize such
reports, and notify parents or guardians of students that
a copy will be provided upon request.
Preparation and Dissemination Requirements
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Are all schools required
to prepare and disseminate a SARC?
All public schools with enrollment reported in the California
Basic Educational Data System (CBEDS) are required to prepare
and disseminate a SARC. Pursuant to Proposition 98 and NCLB,
all charter schools are also required to prepare and disseminate
a SARC.
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Are charter schools required to prepare a SARC?
Although charter schools are required by the California
Constitution to prepare a SARC as a condition of receiving
state funds. Charter schools are not required to comply with
various SARC content and distribution requirements that are
contained in the California Education Code. Charter
schools receiving federal funds are required, however,
to prepare an annual report card that contains particular
reporting elements that are specified in the No Child Left
Behind (NCLB) legislation Public Law 107-110 Section 1111(h)(2) [http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/index.html/] (Outside Source).
For comparability purposes, all charter schools in California
are encouraged to prepare and distribute SARCs as provided
for in state law. The template
with data contains most of the data for completing a SARC,
and it can be accessed easily and quickly. Further information
about charter schools can be found on the Charter Schools Web page [http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cs/index.asp].
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Are LEAs required to prepare an accountability report
card at the LEA level to meet the requirements of NCLB?
No, as long as all NCLB reporting requirements are incorporated
into the school level SARC. The NCLB legislation [Section 1111(h)(3) of
Public Law 107-110] provides as follows:
PREEXISTING REPORT CARDS - A State educational
agency or local educational agency that was providing public
report cards on the performance of students, schools, local
educational agencies, or the state prior to the enactment
of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 may use those report
cards for the purpose of this subsection, so long as any such
report card is modified, as may be needed, to contain the
information required by this subsection.
The SARC template provided by the California Department of
Education (CDE) contains all NCLB requirements
at the school and LEA level. A thoroughly completed SARC serves as an LEA accountability report card as
well as a school accountability report card.
It is important to note that if an LEA has opted not to create a separate LEA accountability report card to meet NCLB reporting requirements and instead has included NCLB required information in the school accountability report card, district personnel must be able to explain that the school accountability report card meets both NCLB and State reporting requirements.
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Are LEAs required to disseminate SARCs to the public?
Yes. EC Section 33126.1(l) states:
Local educational agencies shall make
these school accountability report cards available through
the Internet or through paper copies.
In addition, EC Section 33126(d) states:
It is the intent of the Legislature that
schools make a concerted effort to notify parents of the purpose
of the school accountability report cards, as described in
this section, and ensure that all parents receive a copy of
the report card; to ensure that the report cards are easy
to read and understandable by parents.
These sections, when taken together, require that LEAs notify
all parents of the availability of a full report and provide
instructions regarding how this information can be obtained
both through the Internet and on paper (by request). LEAs
with access to the Internet are required to make SARCs available
through that medium.
In addition, the NCLB legislation [Public Law 107-110 Section
1111(h)(2)(E)] states:
The local educational agency shall, not
later than the beginning of the 2002-2003 school year, unless
the local educational agency has received a 1-year extension
pursuant to subparagraph (A), publicly disseminate the information
described in this paragraph to all schools in the school district
served by the local educational agency and to all parents
of students attending those schools in an understandable and
uniform format and, to the extent practicable, provided in
a language that the parents can understand, and make the information
widely available through public means, such as posting on
the Internet, distribution to the media, and distribution
through public agencies, except that if a local educational
agency issues a report card for all students, the local educational
agency may include the information under this section as part
of such report.
Although there are some differences in terminology, NCLB
requirements are essentially a reiteration of California's
existing SARC requirements related to report publication and
dissemination.
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Are LEAs required to provide the CDE with a copy
of the SARCs for each of the LEA's schools?
No. EC Section 33126 requires LEAs to provide the
CDE with an accurate link to the Web site address where the
LEA has posted its SARCs. EC Section 33126 also requires
the CDE to maintain a centralized set of links to these LEA
Web sites to facilitate public access to SARCs. SARC coordinators
can inform the CDE of the LEA's SARC Web site address by selecting
Update Your SARC Web Site Link [http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/sa/ap/updatelink1.asp].
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Are LEAs required to publish SARCs by a specific
date?
According to state and federal
law, LEAs must annually update and disseminate SARCs to provide
current information to parents and other members of the public.
The CDE interprets "annually" to mean "once in
each school year." In most years, some of the required
data may not be available until the end of October or later.
Therefore, the preparation of report cards that comply with State
Board of Education (SBE)-adopted requirements governing content
and definitions may not be complete until November.
Since SARCs must be prepared and disseminated before the end
of the school year to comply with the law, LEAs must prepare
and disseminate new SARCs sometime during the period of November
through May of each year. As a result, the most current reports
must continue to be available to the public until new reports
are prepared during the next year's publication cycle.
- Are SARCs required to be prepared and disseminated
in languages other than English?
According to EC Section 48985,
when 15 percent or more of the pupils enrolled in the school speak a single primary language other than English, all notices, reports, statements, or records sent by the school or district to the parent/guardian of any such pupil must, in addition to being written in English, be written in this primary language and may be responded to by the parent or guardian in English or in the primary language. These translation requirements apply to the SARC just as they apply to any other written communication that a district or school prepares for the purpose of informing a student’s parent or guardian. In addition, federal law requires that schools and districts effectively communicate with all parents and guardians, regardless of the percentage of students who speak a language other than English [Title III, Section 3122(c)].
- Does a translation of a shortened version of the SARC (i.e., a "SARC Summary") meet the legal requirements cited above?
No. A translation of a shortened version of the SARC into a language other than English does not constitute full compliance when a translation is required by law.
Content Requirements
- Are there specific items that
must be included in the SARC?
Yes.
State and federal laws require specific items to be reported in
the following categories: demographic information; school safety
and climate for learning; academic data; school completion; class
size; teacher and staff information; curriculum and instruction;
postsecondary preparation; and fiscal and expenditure data. A
summary of these requirements may be found in the "Specific
Requirements" section of the Data Element
Definitions and Sources.
- What are the reporting requirements related to facility inspections?
Schools are required to have annual facility inspections. Specifically, State law requires that the annual facility inspection be reflected on the SARC in accordance with Section 33126(b) of the Education Code. The Office of Public School Construction (OPSC) Facility Inspection Tool (FIT) or a locally developed instrument that meets the same legal requirements must be utilized during these inspections to determine if a school facility is in "good repair" and to rate the facility accordingly.
LEAs should ensure that information concerning school facility conditions and the "good repair status" of facilities should use the most recent available data collected by the LEA. The year and month in which the data were collected should also be identified.
- What level of detail must
the SARC provide relative to results from the California Standards
Test?
Both NCLB and California
law require that information be made available pertaining
to California Standards Test (CST) results by grade level,
proficiency level, and specific required subgroups, including
race/ethnicity. This requirement may be met by including all
the information directly in the SARC, or LEAs may choose instead
to provide essential summary information in the SARC accompanied
by an explanation and an Internet link to a source where the
additional detailed information is available.
Detailed CST data are available from the CDE on the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Web site [http://star.cde.ca.gov/index.asp].
SARCs that are posted on LEA Web sites may meet the legal
requirements for detailed assessment data by providing a link
to the STAR Web site. In the event of a public request for
a paper copy of the SARC that includes CST data results, it
is the LEA's responsibility to provide the test data in addition
to the printed copy of the SARC.
CST results on the SARC and Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) student proficiency levels in CDE AYP Reports may differ because of a difference in inclusion and exclusion requirements. Scores are not shown when the number of students tested is ten or less, either because the number of students in this category is too small for statistical accuracy, or to protect student privacy. In no case shall any group score be reported that would deliberately or inadvertently make public the score or performance of any individual student.
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How are school site expenditures per pupil calculated?
Expenditures per pupil must be calculated to complete the SARC School Finances tables.
Expenditure Categories:
- Total expenditures per pupil (includes both unrestricted and restricted sources)
In calculating per pupil expenditures you must calculate the current expense (cost) of education per average daily attendance (ADA) pursuant to EC Section 41372. The methodology is: cost of education divided by ADA equals per pupil expenditure. This same methodology is used to calculate total expenditures, basic expenditures, or supplemental expenditures. For additional guidance see Current Expense of Education [http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/fd/ec/index.asp].
The calculation for total expenditures per pupil includes funds from both unrestricted and restricted sources. Funds from unrestricted sources are identified by resource codes in the 1000–1999 range and funds from restricted sources are identified by resource codes in the 2000–9999 range.
- Expenditure categories for current expense of education
The following are the expenditure categories for the current expense of education:
| Account Code |
Description |
| 1000 |
Certificated Salaries |
| 2000 |
Classified Salaries |
| 3000 |
Employee Benefits (does not include state payments to retirement on behalf of districts) |
| 4000 |
Books and Supplies |
| 6500 |
Equipment Replacement |
| 5000 & 7300 |
Services and Direct Support |
Note: From the total expenditures reported in the above accounts, costs for the following categories are deducted: (1) Non-agency activities; (2) Community Services; (3) Food Services; (4) Fringe Benefits for Retired Persons; and (5) Facilities Acquisition and Construction. For additional guidance Current Expense of Education [http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/fd/ec/index.asp] and Certificated Salaries and Benefits [http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/fd/cs/index.asp].
Questions about the calculation should be directed to the CDE Office of Financial Accountability and Information Services at 916-322-1770 or by e-mail to sacsinfo@cde.ca.gov.
- Expenditures per pupil-basic (unrestricted sources)
Funds or activities that are not restricted or designated by the donor, but rather by the LEA's governing board, will be accounted for and reported as unrestricted. LEAs will need to review other local revenue received from external sources to determine whether legal restrictions apply for purposes of restricted or unrestricted designations. Revenues that have restrictions on how the funds are spent are referred to as restricted revenues. They are accounted for in resource codes in the 2000–9999 range. Revenues whose use is unrestricted in nature but which still have reporting requirements are accounted for in unrestricted resource codes in the 1000–1999 range. Those activities using unrestricted revenues that do not have financial reporting or special accounting requirements are accounted for in resource 0000, unrestricted. For more information about classifying revenues and expenditures, see Procedure 310 in the California School Accounting Manual - Definitions, Instructions, & Procedures [http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/ac/sa/index.asp].
Note: The calculation for expenditures per pupil (Basic) includes funds from unrestricted sources only. Funds from unrestricted sources are identified by resource codes in the 1000–1999 range.
- Expenditures per pupil-supplemental (restricted sources)
Restricted programs or activities relating to the operation of kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) educational programs are considered a part of ordinary operations and are accounted for in the general fund rather than in a special revenue fund. Within the general fund, restricted programs or activities must be identified, accounted for, and reported separately. This requirement means that general fund activities will be divided into restricted and unrestricted segments. This is achieved through the use of the resource field of the standardized account code structure. (The resource field is discussed in Procedure 310.)
Restricted programs or activities are those funded from external revenue sources legally restricted or restricted by the donor to specific purposes. Unrestricted revenues are those funds whose uses are not subject to specific constraints and may be used for any purposes not prohibited by law. Programs funded by a combination of restricted and unrestricted sources will be accounted for and reported as restricted.
Note: Restricted source means money whose use is restricted by legal requirement or by the donor. Examples include, but are not limited to, instructional materials, economic impact aid, and teacher and principal training funds. Unrestricted source means money that can be used for any lawful purpose, whose use is not restricted by legal requirement or by the donor. Examples include, but are not limited to, class size reduction, state lottery (not the instructional materials portion), and undesignated local parcel tax funds.
The calculation for expenditures per pupil (Supplemental) includes funds from restricted sources only. Funds from restricted sources are identified by resource codes in the 2000–9999 range.
- Additional resources
- How should data on the graduation rate be reported?
EC Section 33126 requires the reporting
of the graduation rate as defined by the SBE. In addition,
NCLB requires the reporting of a graduation rate as a condition
of federal funding. The SBE has previously deferred the establishment
of a graduation rate for LEAs and schools until student-level
longitudinal data become available. In the interim, the SBE
has determined that the formula shown below is to be used
as a proxy graduation rate until longitudinal student data
are available to provide more accurate reports.
The NCLB compliant graduation rate approved for use in California
is the "four-year completion rate" developed by
the National Center for Education Statistics. This rate asks
"of those students who have left school, what proportion
have done so as graduates?" The rate incorporates four
years of data and thus is an estimated cohort rate. It is
calculated by dividing the number of high school graduates
by the sum of dropouts for grades nine through twelve, respectively,
in consecutive years, plus the number of graduates. If a hypothetical
graduating class began as ninth-graders in Year 1, this one-year
"graduation" rate would look like:
High School Graduates Year 4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dropouts (Grade 9 Year 1 + Grade 10 Year 2 + Grade 11 Year
3 + Grade 12 Year 4)
+ High School Graduates Year 4
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How should data on NCLB compliant
"highly qualified" teachers be reported?
NCLB requires that all teachers
teaching in core academic subjects are to be "highly
qualified" not later than the end of the 2005-06 school
year. NCLB requires that each teacher must have:
(1) a Bachelor's degree, (2) a state credential or an Intern
Certificate/Credential for no more than three years, and (3)
demonstrated subject matter competence for each core subject
to be taught by the teacher. More information on teacher qualifications
required under NCLB can be found on the CDE's NCLB Teacher Quality Web page [http://www.cde.ca.gov/nclb/sr/tq/index.asp].
The SARC template includes a table that displays data in
this area at both a school and a district level. For a school,
the data reported are the percent of a school's classes in
core content areas not taught by NCLB compliant teachers.
For a district, the data reported are the percent of all classes
in core content areas not taught by NCLB compliant teachers
in all schools in the district, in high-poverty schools in
the district, and in low-poverty schools in the district.
High poverty schools are defined as those schools with student eligibility in the highest quartile as defined by the free and reduced price meals (reduced meals) program. Low poverty schools are those in the lowest quartile of eligibility in the reduced meals program.
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Are county offices of education, when preparing SARCs
on behalf of schools operated by the county office, required
to report average salaries and expenditures in the Fiscal
and Expenditure Data section of the SARC?
County offices of education that operate schools are not required to report the average salary and expenditure information specified in EC Section 41409.3. However, EC sections 33126 and 33126.15 (as amended and added by Senate Bill 687 of 2005) require all school report cards -- including those prepared for schools operated by county offices -- to report specified salary and expenditure information.
SARC Templates
- Are LEAs required to use the template approved
by the SBE?
No. However, EC Section 33126 states:
A school or school district that chooses
not to utilize the standardized template adopted pursuant
to this section shall report the data for its school accountability
report card in a manner that is consistent with the definitions.
- Does CDE provide
a model SARC template?
Yes. The CDE annually publishes a model
template containing most of the required data. LEAs may download the model template with data that are available to the CDE and incorporate additional local information into the SARC.
- Can LEAs modify the model template with data?
Yes. The CDE has designed the
model template so that it can be modified. An LEA can modify
certain portions of the templates provided by the CDE or eliminate
sections for which there are no data. For example, a school
with students in kindergarten through grade six would not
have data for grades seven through twelve. In such cases,
the empty rows of table cells for grades seven through twelve
may be deleted.
- When are the newest SARC templates with data expected
to be available to LEAs?
The CDE expects to make individual
SARC templates available to LEAs
by early November of each year. A user ID and password is necessary to obtain access to the SARC templates with data.
LEA personnel should complete the Update
Your SARC Coordinator [http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/sa/ap/updatecoord1.asp] form to obtain a user ID and password.
- Where can instructions for downloading SARC templates
be found?
The instructions for accessing
and downloading SARC templates may be found at Instructions
for Creating a SARC Template [http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/sa/instruct.asp].
- What software is required to use the SARC templates?
The templates will be in HTML (or Web page) format. In most
cases, if a template is downloaded and saved locally as a Web
document, it can then be opened in common word processing software.
For more information, see Instructions
for Creating a SARC Template [http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/sa/instruct.asp].
Source Data
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How current are the SARC data
provided in the templates?
SARC templates with data are scheduled to be updated by
early November of each year. Sources of data for the template
are:
- CBEDS data - collected in the fall of the previous year
- STAR assessment data - collected in the spring
- API growth data - calculated in the fall
- Fiscal data - collected in the spring of the previous year
- When are the newest data files expected to be made
available to LEAs?
The CDE expects to make the newest data files available to LEAs
by early November of each year.
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