DataQuest Update, Issue #23

May 21, 2025

DataQuest is the California Department of Education’s (CDE) public data reporting website that provides meaningful data and statistics about California’s K-12 public education system that supports a wide variety of informational, research, and policy needs. The purpose of the DataQuest Update is to provide: (1) announcements regarding public data releases and availability; (2) general information and analysis on various data reporting topics; and (3) practical tips on how to effectively use DataQuest to obtain information. For questions regarding DataQuest, please submit an email to dataquest@cde.ca.gov.

Release of the Annual Enrollment Data Reports on DataQuest

The CDE has released the 2024–25 Annual Enrollment, English Learner, Free and Reduced-Price Meal (FRPM) data, and other related reports on the CDE DataQuest website. The reports included in this release are based on data submitted and certified in the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) by districts and charter schools. The Annual Enrollment, English Learner, Special Education, and FRPM reports reflect data on Census Day 2024 (the first Wednesday in October). For more information regarding the Annual Enrollment data release, please refer to the following California Department of Education News Release, Annual Enrollment Data Shows Slowing Decline in Overall School Enrollment, Potential of High-Demand Programs to Reverse Enrollment Trend.

The DataQuest reports provided in this release include the following:

2024–25 Annual Enrollment Reports

• Statewide Enrollment by Ethnicity and Grade
• Statewide Enrollment Multi-Year Summary by Ethnicity
• Statewide Enrollment by Ethnicity (with county data)
• Statewide Enrollment Multi-Year Summary by Grade
• Statewide Enrollment by Grade (with county Data)
• Statewide Enrollment by Ethnicity for Charter and Non-Charter Schools
• Statewide Enrollment by Subgroup for Charter and Non-Charter Schools
• Statewide Enrollment for Charter and Non-Charter Schools (with county data)
• Statewide Enrollment Multi-Year Summary for Charter and Non-Charter Schools
• Statewide Transitional Kindergarten/Kindergarten-12 (TK/K-12) Enrollment by Age Group and Grade
• Statewide TK/K-12 Enrollment by Age Range (with county data)
• Enrollment by English Language Acquisition Status (ELAS) and Grade
• Enrollment by English Language Acquisition Status (ELAS) (with county data)

Please Note: In February 2025, the "Age Group by Grade" and "Age Range" reports were updated with a revised formula for age calculation and the 2014-15 through 2018-19 age-related reports were retired.

2024–25 English Learner (EL) Reports

• Enrollment by English Language Acquisition Status (ELAS) and Grade
• Enrollment by English Language Acquisition Status (ELAS) (with county data)
• English Learners by Language and Grade
• Language Group Data – Statewide
• Language Groups by School Determined to Meet 15 Percent and Above Translation Need (available at the district and school-level only)

2024–25 Long-Term English Learner (LTEL) and "Ever-EL" Reports

• "At-Risk" and Long-Term English Learners (LTEL) by Grade
• "At-Risk" and Long-Term English Learners (LTEL) (with County Data)
• "Ever-ELs" by Years as EL and Grade
• "Ever-ELs" by Years as EL (with County Data)

Please Note: The LTEL data included in these reports and the files listed below are based on the definition set forth in Education Code (EC) section 313.1, not the accountability-based definition set forth in EC section 52052(a)(1)(C) that is used in the California School Dashboard (Dashboard) for accountability purposes. For more information about the differences between these two definitions, please see the Long-Term English Learner (LTEL) Students web page.

2024–25 Special Education Enrollment by Program Setting

• Special Education Enrollment by Program Setting
• Special Education Enrollment by Program Setting (with County/District/School Data)

2024–25 Free and Reduced-Price Meal Reports

• Free and Reduced-Price Meal - State summary (summary data only)
• Free and Reduced-Price Meal - State summary (with county data)

2024–25 Classified Staff Reports

• Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) of Classified Staff with Detail Info
• Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) of Classified Staff by County
  

2025–26 Estimated Teacher Hire Reports

• Estimated Number of Teacher Hires by Subject

2023–24 Homeless Student Enrollment by Dwelling Type (released in December 2024)

• Homeless Student Enrollment by Dwelling Type
• Homeless Student Enrollment by Dwelling Type (with County/District/School Data)

How to Access DataQuest Reports

Users may access these reports by performing the following steps:

• Navigate to the DataQuest Homepage
• Select the desired Level (State, County, District, or School)
  • Select desired report from drop down menu
• Select "Submit"
• Select the desired Year
  • 2024–25
• Select "Submit"
• Select the desired report from the menu
• Select "Submit"

Alternatively, the DataQuest reports included in this release are also accessible through the Data Reports by Topic web page.

The reports listed above include Report Description, Report Glossary, and, where applicable, Report Filters and Options sections. To change the way the data are displayed in the report, open the expandable (+) Report Options and Filters section. Within this area, users can apply a variety of data filters. Additionally, users can apply one or more filters simultaneously to view data in a variety of configurations. Applied filters are viewable in the "Filters Enabled" section above each report where the filters can also be reset.

Census Day Enrollment Downloadable Data File

Included in this data release is the Census Day Enrollment file that was updated last year to provide more detailed information about students included in the official annual enrollment count. The official annual enrollment is a single-day snapshot of the total number of TK/K–12 students enrolled on Census Day, the first Wednesday in October, who have primary and short-term enrollments. Unlike the previous annual enrollment data files, which were only available at the school-level, this new Census Day Enrollment file includes data at each reporting level (i.e., state, county, district, and school) disaggregated by grade level, race/ethnicity, gender, student group, English language acquisition status, and age range (including multiple age ranges to show the number of adults enrolled TK/K-12 grade levels and the schools and districts where they are enrolled). Additionally, like many other downloadable files, this file provides the capability to view the annual Census Day enrollment data for charter schools and non-charter schools.

Supporting Downloadable Data Files

As part of this DataQuest report release, the CDE is providing the following supporting downloadable data files for the above reports which can be found on the Downloadable Data Files by Topic web page. Additionally, the following stand-alone downloadable files are included in this data release. Please refer to the File Structure web pages for important details about the associated data files, which data are contained in the file, data element definitions, and the levels at which data are provided (e.g., state, county, district, and school levels).

2024–25 Annual Enrollment Data Files

• Census Day Enrollment Data

2024–25 English Learner Data Files

• English Learners by Grade and Language
• Fluent English Proficient (FEP) Students by Grade and Language
• English Language Acquisition Status (ELAS), Long-Term English Learner (LTEL), and Students At-Risk of Becoming LTEL by Grade

2024–25 Special Education Enrollment Data File

• Special Education Enrollment by Program Setting

2024–25 California Basic Educational Data System (CBEDS) School/District Data Files

• CBEDS Data About Schools and Districts (including Estimated Teacher Hires and more)
• Classified Staff (FTE) by Race/Ethnicity and Gender

2023–24 Homeless Enrollment Data File (released in December 2024)

• Homeless Student Enrollment by Dwelling Type

Additional Data Files

• 2024–25 Free or Reduced-Price Meal (FRPM) data
• 2024–25 CALPADS UPC (TK/K-12) data
• 2024–25 CALPADS UPC (9-12) data

Please Note: The official Free or Reduced-Price Meal (FRPM) count and percent for the academic year are provided in Free or Reduced-Price Meal (Student Poverty) Data file and DataQuest FRPM Data report. These counts represent the number TK/K-12 students who were enrolled on Census Day, the first Wednesday in October, and for whom eligibility data was effective "as of" Census Day. The FRPM data included in the CALPADS Unduplicated Pupil Count (UPC) Data files reflect a broader eligibility time range which goes through the end of October. The FRPM eligibility data included in the CALPADS UPC files are used solely to determine the Unduplicated Pupil Count for the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). These counts/percentages are ONLY applicable for LCFF purposes and should NOT be used in any other context or for any other purpose.

DataQuest Highlights

Please see the DataQuest Highlights web page for a summary overview of each data release, including an exploration of select data and key takeaways from the latest DataQuest reports.

Upcoming Data Releases

Please see the DataQuest Schedule web page for information about the DataQuest reports and downloadable data files that are scheduled for an upcoming release.

DataQuest Listserv Information

To subscribe to the DataQuest listserv, submit a blank email to: subscribe-dataquest@mlist.cde.ca.gov.
To unsubscribe to the DataQuest listserv, submit a blank email to: unsubscribe-dataquest@mlist.cde.ca.gov.