CALPADS Update Flash #197
Topics include: Adjustments for initial Fall 1 certification; It's Important for New Charter Schools and Growth Funding applicants to approve Fall 1 submission by December 18.To: Local Educational Agency (LEA) Representatives
From: California Department of Education (CDE) –
California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) Team
Date: December 11, 2020
Subject: CALPADS Update FLASH #197
Adjustments for Initial Fall 1 Certification
The special education data collection was transitioned to CALPADS largely to improve the integrity and accuracy of the data needed for federal reporting and monitoring. Consistent and integrated data is more actionable and can help LEAs address outcomes for children with disabilities. Data for these children are part of the state’s accountability system, and high-quality data provides the clearest picture of the outcomes for children. Continuing with steps to increase data quality, many of the special education (SPED) Certification Validation Rules (CVRs) that were warnings last year, are now fatal. While it is clear that the quality of these data is improving, continued refinement of both business practices and data systems are needed to facilitate the collection of this data.
For this year’s Fall 1 submission, the CDE recognizes that resolving the SPED errors, especially those that occur for students moving between schools, is particularly challenging and LEAs require more time to resolve these errors. To provide LEAs more time, and yet enable LEAs to approve their Fall 1 submission by the December 18, 2020 certification deadline, which is critical for non-SPED enrollment data needed for funding calculations, adjustments to Fall 1 errors are being made. In the meantime, the CDE continues to work with the special education data system (SEDS) vendors to support LEAs to resolve these errors in the short term, and to improve business practices in the longer term.
LEAs are also reminded that Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPAs) do not need to approve LEA Fall 1 submissions by December 18, 2020.
All SPED Related Fatal Certification Validation Rules Will Temporarily Become Warnings
All SPED related fatal Certification Validation Rules (CVRs) will temporarily become “warnings” on Monday, December 14, 2020, in order for local educational agencies (LEAs), to approve their Fall 1 submission by the December 18, 2020 certification deadline. These are the specific CVRs that will temporarily be changed to warnings:
CERT132 – Missing SPED record for Enrolled Student at Reporting LEA
CERT140 –Missing SPED record for a student with a SSRV record
CERT142 –Missing Special Education Service for Education Plan Type Code 100, 150, or 200
CERT144 –SPED record missing for student enrolled at NPS school
CERT145 –SPED record missing for student enrolled in Private School
CERT147 –Invalid Adult Age with Students with Disabilities Transition
CERT160 –Missing Private School Enrollment record for Education Plan Type Code 200 (ISP)
CERT167 –General Education Participation Percentage Range Code must be Populated
CERT168 –Special Education Program Setting Code must be Populated
During the time that these CVRs are warnings, LEAs should continue resolving them because the Amendment Window opens on December 21, 2020, and on Tuesday, December 22, 2020, these warning CVRs will be returned to fatal errors and LEAs will be required to resolve these errors in order to certify their Fall 1 submission by the January 29, 2020 deadline.
The CSIS YouTube Channel has several videos under the Certification Errors Playlist, https://www.youtube.com/c/CSISCALPADSTrainingChannel/playlists?view=50&sort=dd&shelf_id=3, to help LEAs understand how to resolve the SPED validations. To help resolve CERT 132 and CERT 167, which comprise the bulk of the errors, LEAs should review CALPADS Flash 195 (located at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sp/cl/calpadsupdflash195.asp) which describes how to troubleshoot CERT132, and CALPADS Flash 193 (located at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sp/cl/calpadsupdflash193.asp) which clarifies CERT167. Most of these errors can be resolved by using these resources while working in conjunction with the SEDS vendor.
Language Instruction Program Code Set Start Date Change
The Language Instruction Program (LIP) code set currently has an effective start date of July 1, 2019. We understand many LEAs have LIP programs that were in place prior to July 1, 2019 and to accommodate these start dates, CALPADS will change the code start date to July 1, 1990 so that LIP records with start dates prior to July 1, 2019 can be entered. This will be a permanent change and will be available in CALPADS on Monday, December 14, 2020. Once in place, LEAs should no longer receive GERR0007 – Code submitted outside the Effective Data Range, when submitting LIP records.
Important for New Charter Schools and Growth Funding Applicants to Approve Fall 1 Submission by December 18
Senate Bill (SB) 98 (Chapter 24, Statutes of 2020), which amends current law to accommodate changes necessitated by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, requires CDE to use, for purposes of calculating apportionments for the 2020–21 fiscal year, the average daily attendance (ADA) reported in the 2019–20 fiscal year, as specified, for all LEAs, except for charter schools newly operational in 2020–21. Subsequently, SB 820 (Chapter 110, Statutes of 2020), was enacted to permit growing LEAs to receive funding based on the projected or actual growth for 2020–21. The apportionment calculations for both newly operational charter schools and LEAs approved for growth funding require the use of the LEA’s certified CALPADS enrollment as of Census Day. It is particularly important for new charter schools, and LEAs that have applied for the growth adjustment, to approve their Fall 1 submission by the December 18 certification deadline. The enrollment count that new charter schools and growth LEAs approve on December 18, 2020 will be used to determine the ADA for the First Principal Apportionment (P-1), and the final enrollment count certified by January 29, 2021, the close of the Amendment Window, will be used to determine the ADA for the Second Principal Apportionment (P-2). Therefore, failure to certify 2020–21 enrollment counts by December 18, 2020 could jeopardize CDE’s ability to appropriately calculate P-1 funding for new charter schools and LEAs approved for growth funding.
Lastly, for all newly operational charter schools and charter schools or all-charter school districts funded on growth, for apportionment calculations that require charter school ADA allocation by district of residence, student addresses reported in CALPADS will be used to determine the district of residence allocation. Therefore, it is important for these LEAs to ensure that student addresses are correctly reported in CALPADS by the December 18, 2020 certification deadline.