CALPADS Update Flash #334

To:           Local Educational Agency (LEA) Representatives

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

Date:       October 13, 2026

Subject:  CALPADS Update FLASH #334

2026−27 Special Education Updates

This Flash provides information regarding:

• CALPADS Special Education Data 2026−27 Statewide Virtual Roadshow and In-Person Deep Dive Workshops
• CALPADS Fall 1 Special Education Data Submission Timeline
• 2026−27 Fall Special Education Data Changes
• Change in Annual Disproportionality Calculations
• Enrollments for Students with Disabilities Graduating through an Alternative Diploma Pathway

CALPADS Special Education Data 2026−27 Statewide Virtual Roadshow and In-Person Deep Dive Workshops

Recording of Fall 2026 September 24, 2026 Statewide Virtual Roadshow is Coming.

The CDE Special Education Division held a statewide virtual training session on September 24, 2026, in preparation for the submission of data for students with disabilities to CALPADS in 2026−27.

The following topics were covered in this webinar:

• Fall 1 CALPADS Data Submission and Reports
• What’s New for Fall 1
• State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report Indicators using Fall 1 data
• Data for Annual Determinations Letter (ADL)
• Monitoring Reports and Holding Timely Meetings

The webinar was recorded and once the recording is posted, LEAs and Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) directors will be notified via the CALPADS Special Education Data Support Listserv. If you are not subscribed to the listserv, you may subscribe by sending an email to subscribe-calpads-sped-support@mlist.cde.ca.gov.

CALPADS Fall 1 Special Education Data Submission Timeline

LEA Fall 1 Certification Deadline: December 11, 2026

As in prior years, LEAs are required to approve their Fall 1 Submission by the Certification Deadline, December 11, 2026. While SELPA approval is strongly encouraged by this deadline, SELPA approval is not required until the close of the amendment window on January 22, 2027.

Annual Determination Letter Data Pull: December 7, 2026

For the 2027 monitoring year, in order to get the Annual Determination Letter (ADL) out in mid-January, late Annual Plan Reviews and Eligibility Reevaluations data for the Timeline Noncompliance Section of the ADL for the 2026−27 academic year will be pulled from current CALPADS real-time data on December 7, 2026. This data pull will reflect any data posted to CALPADS as of Saturday, December 5, 2026.

Specifically, the CDE will pull data for Students with Disabilities (SWD) that are enrolled, eligible, and participating on Census Day, October 7, 2026, and whose data in CALPADS reflect the following:

• Annual Plan Reviews that are late as of Census Day – student has not had an annual plan review (Meeting Activity – Plan Review Indicator = “Y”) less than or equal to 365 days from the last annual plan review or initial evaluation Meeting Date.
• Eligibility Reevaluations that are late as of Census Day – student has not had an eligibility reevaluation (Meeting Activity – Evaluation Type Code 40) less than or equal to three years from the last eligibility reevaluation or initial evaluation Meeting Date.

LEAs should review Monitoring Report 16.21 – Late Plan Reviews and Reevaluations using a date of October 7, 2026 (Census Day) to view overdue meetings and update data as necessary. Then, on or around December 4, 2026, LEAs should re-run Monitoring Report 16.21 and ensure that the “Enrolled on most recent Census Day” filter is set to “Yes.” The data in the report will reflect students who meet the timeline noncompliance criteria who were enrolled on Census Day and are STILL enrolled in your LEA as of December 4, 2026. These are the students that LEAs should expect to see in the ADL Timeline Noncompliance Section.

2026−27 Fall Special Education Data Changes

2026−27 Change to Special Education Nonparticipation Reason Code Name and Definition

Table 1 below describes a change to the name and definition of code 22 of the Special Education Nonparticipation Reason code set.

Table 1
2026−27 Change to Code Name and Definition

2026−27 New and Updated Validations

The new validations in Table 2 (below) have been implemented for the 2026−27 Fall data submission.

Table 2
Fall 2026−27 New Special Education Validations

The validations in Table 3 (below) have been updated for the 2026−27 Fall data submission.

Abbreviations used in Table 3 that are not otherwise defined:

• COE – County Office of Education
• DSEA – District of Special Education Accountability
• PS – Prekindergarten

Table 3
Fall 2026−27 Updated Special Education Validations

Change in Annual Disproportionality Calculations

Annual Disproportionality Calculations to Use Prior Year Data

Beginning with the 2027 Monitoring Year, the CDE will use certified prior-year data to calculate disproportionality.

For the 2027 Monitoring Year, this means that the CDE will use the same annual disproportionality data used in the 2026 Monitoring Year (data from Fall 1 2025–26). LEAs found disproportionate in the 2024, 2025, and 2026 Monitoring Years in the same category will receive a Significantly Disproportionate determination in the 2027 Monitoring Year.

Data certified in Fall 1 of 2026–27 (overall, disability, placement), and data certified in EOY 1 2025–26 (discipline) will be used for disproportionality determinations in the 2028 Monitoring Year.

Data to Pay Attention to for Fall 1 2026−27

To ensure that LEAs are not inappropriately identified as “Disproportionate” or “Significantly Disproportionate,” it is imperative that:

• Special education data system coordinators, Special Education Directors, and SELPA-level staff ensure that the Special Education Plan (PLAN) record effective on Census Day for a student has:
  • The appropriate Primary Disability Code
  • The appropriate Special Education Program Setting Code
  • The appropriate District of Special Education Accountability (DSEA)
• Student information system data coordinators and CALPADS administrators ensure that all race and ethnicity data for SWDs are populated and accurate. In particular, if students’ race/ethnicities are initially populated as “missing” and are later identified, LEAs should update these data and ensure they are captured in the LEA certified data by the January 22, 2027, Fall 1 Certification Deadline, since these data will be used to calculate disproportionality.

Enrollments for Students with Disabilities Graduating through an Alternative Diploma Pathway

Effective June 30, 2024, Education Code (EC) Section 51225.32(a)(1) authorizes LEAs to award a diploma of graduation from high school (Alternate Pathway Diploma) for students with disabilities, specifying:

“(b) An individual with exceptional needs, who was enrolled in grade 10 or higher in the 2022–23 school year and is currently eligible pursuant to Section 56026, may be eligible for the exemption and award described in subdivision (a) if their individualized education program provides for all of the following:

(1) The pupil’s individualized education program team has deemed the pupil eligible to take the state alternate assessments as described in subdivision (k) of Section 60640.

(2) The pupil is required to complete state standards-aligned coursework to meet the statewide course requirements specified in Section 51225.3.”

Students earning an Alternative Pathway Diploma should be exited in CALPADS with a Student Exit Reason Code of E230 – CompleterExit and a School Completion Status code of 102 – Alternative Diploma Pathway in the year they earn the diploma. Students earning the Alternative Diploma are eligible for special education and related services through age 21; therefore, if the student elects to return in the year after they earn the Alternative Diploma, LEAs should enroll them annually until the student ages out of the program or exits for other reasons, whichever comes first.