To: Local Educational Agency (LEA) Representatives
From: California Department of Education (CDE) –
California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) Team
Date: September 3, 2020
Subject: CALPADS Update FLASH #189
Important English Language Acquisition Status Updates
Launch of Online Initial English Language Proficiency Assessment for California and Impact on Submitting Student English Language Acquisition Status
Beginning August 20, 2020, local educational agencies (LEAs) began administering the online Initial English Language Proficiency Assessment for California (Initial ELPAC). Once a student has completed testing, the Test Operations Management System (TOMS) generates an English Language Acquisition Status (ELAS) of English Learner (EL) or Initial Fluent English Proficient (IFEP) for the student and sends that ELAS directly to CALPADS within 48 hours. LEAs should implement business processes to download these ELAS’ from CALPADS and then upload them into local student information systems on an ongoing basis.
LEAs are reminded that this process facilitates the determining and reporting of students’ EL and IFEP statuses based on Initial ELPAC results. To ensure that only EL and IFEP statuses are based on the Initial ELPAC, beginning July 1, 2020, an input validation rule was implemented that prevents LEAs from submitting an ELAS of EL or IFEP directly to CALPADS. Therefore, LEAs are not permitted to submit an EL or IFEP status generated by TOMS, and likewise LEAs should not delete an EL or IFEP status generated by TOMS; LEAs may submit a subsequent correction to an EL or IFEP status with a corresponding Correction Reason Code using the online maintenance functionality. The CALPADS Correction Reason Codes reflect the reasons for correcting an EL or IFEP ELAS that are authorized in regulations.
Currently, CALPADS is allowing users to delete the EL and IFEP records uploaded to CALPADS from TOMS, which is not the desired behavior. To address this issue, we will be modifying an existing validation that will prevent any edits or deletions of this initial ELAS. Until this modification is made to the validation, LEAs should not delete any ELAS code of EL or IFEP with an ELAS Start Date greater than or equal to 7/1/2020. For any LEA that does delete such an EL or IFEP record, the LEA will not be able to update CALPADS to re-add these deleted records. The CDE will reach out to LEAs that deleted any such records to assist in resolving the issue.
Modification of English Learner Eligible Dates for Inclusion in the Unduplicated Pupil Count for the Local Control Funding Formula
As a result of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), many LEAs are experiencing delays in their ability to test eligible students with the online Initial ELPAC. These delays in testing may result in students who are enrolled on Census Day not being assessed until after Census Day, October 7, 2020. Because the initial ELAS of EL is now generated by TOMS and the ELAS Start Date is automatically determined to be the date testing was completed, many students will have ELAS Start Dates after Census Day and consequently would not be included in the determination of the Unduplicated Pupil Count (UPC) used to determine supplemental and concentration grant funding under the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF).
To address this issue, for 2020–21, students who were enrolled on Census Day and who have EL ELAS start dates through November 13, 2020 will be included in the UPC. This means that students enrolled on Census Day, who complete the online Initial ELPAC on or prior to November 13, 2020, and who are identified as EL, will count in the UPC. Certification report 1.17 – FRPM/English Learner/Foster Youth – Count will be adjusted to include these students.
Change in Timeframe for Counting Newly Identified Re-designated Fluent English Proficient Students
The 2019–20 count of Re-designated Fluent English Proficient (RFEP) students will be based on students who were reported as RFEP with start dates between Census Day 2019 and Census Day 2020 (October 2, 2019 and October 7, 2020). LEAs will certify this count in their 2020–21 Fall 1 submission by certifying Report 2.12 – English Language Acquisition Status – Els Reclassified RFEP. This count will be used to meet federal reporting requirements.
In 2020–21 the official RFEP count will transition from a count of students who were reclassified from Census Day to Census Day, to a count of students reclassified during the school year, from July 1 to June 30. This will align the RFEP count with the timeframe used for the English Learner Progress Indicator (ELPI) on the California School Dashboard.
In summary:
- 2019–20 RFEP Count: Students with RFEP start dates from October 2, 2019 through October 7, 2020, as certified on the 2020–21 Fall 1 Report 2.12 – English Language Acquisition Statue – Els Reclassified RFEP.
- 2020–21 RFEP Count: Students with RFEP start dates from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021, as certified on a new EOY report which will become available in the spring of 2021.
Meeting RFEP Eligibility Criteria and Impact of RFEP Start Dates Submitted to CALPADS on RFEP Counts
As stated in the Assessment Spotlight (Issue 100, July 24, 2020), students who achieved an Overall Level 4 on the 2018–19 Summative ELPAC and have met the remaining three locally determined criteria are eligible to be reclassified on or before December 15, 2020. In order to be included in the 2019–20 RFEP count, the student must be enrolled on Census Day, the LEA must enter an RFEP Start Date in CALPADS that is on or before Census Day, and the LEA must certify their Fall 1 submission by the close of the Amendment Window, January 29, 2021.
Students who are administered the 2019–20 Summative ELPAC by October 30, 2020, achieve an Overall Level 4, and meet the remaining three locally determined criteria, are eligible to be reclassified. In order to be included in the 2019–20 RFEP count, the student must be enrolled on Census Day, the LEA must enter an RFEP Start Date in CALPADS that is on or before Census Day, and must certify their Fall 1 submission by the close of the Amendment Window, January 29, 2021. If the RFEP Start Date is after Census Day, or if the data are updated after the close of the Fall 1 Amendment Window, the student will be counted in the LEA’s 2020–21 RFEP Count that will be certified in the 2020–21 submission.
LEAs Must Update CALPADS with Student RFEP Status by
February 1, 2021 to Ensure Student Will Not Be Required to Take 2020–21 Summative ELPAC
LEAs are reminded that students who are reclassified must have an RFEP with an ELAS Start Date in CALPADS that is before February 1, 2021 (the start of the 2020–21 Summative ELPAC) to ensure that these students will not be required to take the
2020–21 Summative ELPAC.