CALPADS Update FLASH #311

To:           Local Educational Agency (LEA) Representatives

From:      California Department of Education (CDE) –
                California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) Team

Date:       August 26, 2025

Subject:  CALPADS Update FLASH #311

LTEL (EC Section 52052) Functionality in CALPADS

The California Education Code (EC) identifies two distinct definitions of Long-Term English Learner (LTEL) students, both of which are used for reporting LTEL data for different purposes:

• EC Section 313.1: The LTEL students based on this definition are reported on DataQuest and used in California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) and English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) reporting. Each spring, LEAs receive access to download files from the Student Online Accountability Record Status (SOARS) that identifies students who are LTEL based on this definition.
• EC Section 52052: The LTEL students based on this definition are used to identify the LTEL student group on the California School Dashboard (Dashboard). The California Department of Education (CDE) recently enhanced the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) to identify LTEL students based on the EC Section 52052 LTEL definition.

The purpose of this Flash is to describe recent and future enhancements to CALPADS to identify current LTEL students included in the LTEL student group on the Dashboard (EC Section 52052), and to enable LEAs to support English learner (EL) students at risk of becoming LTELs by identifying when ELs may become LTEL. For more information on the distinction between the two LTEL groups, refer to the CDE’s Long-term English Learner (LTEL) Students web page at: https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/ad/lteldef.asp.

LTEL Students in CALPADS

With the passage of Senate Bill (SB) 141 (Chapter 194, Statutes of 2023), the CDE began reporting Long-term English Learners (LTELs) as a new student group on the 2024 California School Dashboard (Dashboard). As specified in EC Section 52052(a)(2)(C), an LTEL for Dashboard purposes is defined as a student “who has not attained English language proficiency within seven years of initial classification as an English learner.”

To support LEAs serving EL and LTEL students, CALPADS added new functionality in April 2025 to help LEAs identify LTEL students based on the Dashboard definition and identify when EL students will become LTEL based on this definition.

Cumulative Enrollment (CENR) Extract

Table 1 below describes the fields that have been added to the Cumulative Enrollment (CENR) extract related to LTEL.

Table 1: LTEL Related Fields on the CENR

Abbreviations used in the table that are not otherwise defined:

SELA – Student English Language Acquisition
SINF – Student Information
SENR – Student Enrollment

Field 45 – Provisional LTEL Start Date:

• For students who are currently EL, the Provisional LTEL Start Date is the date that EL students became or will become LTEL. LEAs can use this information to support both LTEL students and EL students at risk of becoming LTEL.
• For students who are Reclassified Fluent English Proficient (RFEP), the Provisional LTEL Start Date will only be populated if that date is prior to the date the student became RFEP.

Fields 44, 46, 47, 48: The earliest date of all the other fields listed in Table 1 (44, 46, 47, 48) is used to calculate if or when a student becomes LTEL. Since students become LTEL seven years after the earliest date they were determined to be EL, they may become LTEL at any time during the year, and therefore CALPADS reports will automatically update accordingly.

New LTEL Filters and Columns on Cohort Reports

The Cohort reports have been enhanced to identify LTEL students as follows:

• Report 15.1 – Cohort Report – Count and Rate: LTEL indicator filter added
• Report 15.2 – Cohort Student List: LTEL column (Y/N) and LTEL filter added

For Report 15.1 – Cohort Report – Count and Rate and Report 15.2 – Cohort Student List, the LTEL filter will include any student who:

• Was an English Learner at any time during the 4-year cohort; and
• Became LTEL before the cohort end date; and
• The LTEL Start Date is prior to the student becoming RFEP

Table 2 below provides LTEL scenarios for students in the 4-year cohort ending with the 2024−25 school year (August 16, 2021 to August 15, 2025).

Table 2: LTEL Scenarios for 2024−25 4-year Cohort

Future Enhancements

As part of the continued effort to improve LTEL data visibility, the following report enhancements are planned for 2025−26:

• Report 1.21 – Cumulative Enrollment Count (EOY): Add LTEL indicator filter
• Report 8.1 – Student Profile List (EOY): Add LTEL column

Additional enhancements may be introduced over time based on user needs and priorities.