CALPADS Update FLASH #245

To:           Local Educational Agency (LEA) Representatives

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

Date:      December 15, 2022

Subject:  CALPADS Update FLASH #245

2021-22 Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Counts

Earlier today, the CDE released the 2022 California School Dashboard (Dashboard) which is located at https://www.caschooldashboard.org/. Some LEAs are questioning the accuracy of the Socio-Economically Disadvantaged (SED) data that is displayed in the “Student Population” section of the main Dashboard landing page and in the DataQuest 2021–22 Annual Enrollment reports (located via DataQuest at https://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/). The student population data, including SED data, displayed on the Dashboard and on DataQuest are reflective of information submitted and certified by LEAs as part of the 2021–22 CALPADS Fall 1 data submission. These data reflect the status of students who were enrolled on the 2021 Census Day, the first Wednesday in October, as of Census Day in 2021.

Ordinarily, the SED counts on the Dashboard and DataQuest should align with the information provided on the CALPADS Report 1.1 – Enrollment – Primary Status by Student Group; however, for 2021, the SED counts on Report 1.1 do not match the SED counts on the “Student Population” section of the Dashboard nor in the DataQuest Annual Enrollment reports. The reason the counts do not match is that the SED counts on Report 1.1 incorrectly included students who met the expanded and broader criteria for inclusion in the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) Unduplicated Pupil Count (UPC) for Free or Reduced-Priced Meal (FRPM) eligibility provided in CALPADS Report – 1.17 LCFF Unduplicated Pupil Count. As a result, the SED count on Report 1.1 included students who were enrolled on Census Day but who may have had a Free or Reduced-Priced program record (181 or 182) with start dates after Census Day but before October 31. Only students who were enrolled on Census Day and who had FRPM records open on Census Day should have been included in Report 1.1. Therefore, the CDE only included students on 2021−22 DataQuest reports and the 2021-22 Dashboard “Information Section” who were enrolled on Census Day and who had FRPM records open on Census Day. Consequently, the SED counts in DataQuest and the Information Section of the Dashboard do not match the counts provided on Report 1.1.

The data provided on the “Student Population” section of the Dashboard is informational only and does not affect any of the Dashboard indicator determinations. Report 1.1 has been updated to reflect the correct criteria for the 2022 CALPADS Fall 1 submission.