College/Career Indicator FAQs

Yes. However, only Status data (or the most current year data) will be displayed on the 2023 Dashboard for this indicator. Because the CCI was not available for reporting in the 2022 Dashboard, Change (or the difference from prior year) cannot be calculated along with Performance Levels (colors).

Due to the U.S. Department of Education’s denial of California’s waiver to continue using modified methods for accountability, the combined four-and five-year graduation rate that is calculated for the Graduation Rate Indicator is used as the denominator for the CCI for all schools.

The following two flyers identifies the Prepared and Approaching Prepared criteria that have been approved by the State Board of Education:

• Career Readiness Flyer(PDF)
• College Readiness Flyer(PDF)

Yes. The California Department of Education Work-Based Learning Measures for the CCI web page provides these details.

Yes. In prior years, this measure was named Dual Enrollment. The name was updated to reflect that students must receive college credit, pass the course with a grade of C minus or better (or Pass), and complete a minimum number of semesters, quarters, or trimesters of college coursework to be counted in the CCI.

Local educational agencies are encouraged to review their California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) data to ensure that the data are submitted or are submitted accurately. For example, at times, we find that college courses are either not submitted at all or submitted under non-college credit state course codes (rather than college credit course codes). We also find that the final course grade is submitted as a numerical value (rather than a letter grade). Unfortunately, with these errors, we are unable to provide any credit to schools.

No. Articulation is not considered when determining whether a student counts as prepared on the state indicator. Because articulation agreements between high schools and colleges across the state differs – for example, some agreements allow students to receive the college credit while in high school while other agreements do not give any credit to the student until they enroll at the college where the agreement is tied to – articulation is not included as part of the criteria.

There are two resources that identifies what data are used to calculate the measures in the CCI:

1. Dashboard Technical Guide for the CCI, and
2. Connecting California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) to the Dashboard Handbook

Both documents can be accessed through the College/Career Indicator web page.

Yes. The Connecting CALPADS to the Dashboard Handbook (referenced in Question 9 above) identifies specific CALPADS reports you can review to confirm if your data is accurate prior to the close of the CALPADS certification window.

No. The California Department of Education extracts the data out of the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) immediately after the close of the CALPADS End-of-Year (EOY) amendment window. Therefore, any data revisions that are made in CALPADS after the close of the window will not be incorporated into the Dashboard (or DataQuest).

The following measures have been approved by the State Board of Education for inclusion into the CCI:

1. Advanced Placement Exams
2. a–g Completion
3. Career Technical Education Pathway Completion
4. College Credit Course (formerly called Dual Enrollment)
5. International Baccalaureate Exams
6. Leadership/Military Science
7. Pre-Apprenticeships
8. Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments in English Language Arts/Literacy and mathematics (Grade 11)
9. State and Federal Job Programs
10. State Seal of Biliteracy
11. Transition Classroom and Work-Based Learning Experiences

Status, Change, and Performance Levels (colors) for the CCI will be reported on the 2024 Dashboard.