Dear County and District Superintendents, Charter School Administrators, and Special Education Local Plan Area Directors:

Update on the Inclusion of Summer Graduates in Four-Year Graduation Counts and Rates

The purpose of this letter is to update information shared in the November 17, 2023, letter (https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sp/cl/eoyd20231117.asp) regarding the inclusion of students who graduate during the summer in the reporting of Four-Year Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate (ACGR) counts and rates.

In this correspondence, the California Department of Education (CDE) indicated that students graduating after June 30 (“summer graduates”) would no longer be included as graduates in the four-year ACGR effective in the 2024−25 school year. Upon further input from local educational agencies and other educational partners, the CDE has determined that it will maintain the existing practice of counting summer graduates in the prior year. This means they will be included in the four-year ACGR reported to the federal government, in the graduation rate on the California School Dashboard (Dashboard), and in public reporting on DataQuest.

The proposed change was prompted by the new Dashboard publication dates required by the 2023−24 K-12 Education Omnibus Trailer Bill, Senate Bill 114 (Chapter 48, Statutes of 2023), which established progressively earlier dates by which the CDE must publish the Dashboard. Since the Dashboard is based largely on data that local educational agencies (LEAs) certify as part of the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) End-of-Year (EOY) submissions, this requires the CALPADS EOY certification deadline to also become progressively earlier. The CDE is committed to continuing its collaboration with LEAs to evaluate and understand the impact of adjusting future deadlines in the field.  

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Cindy Kazanis, Director, Analysis, Measurement, and Accountability Reporting Division, regarding the Cohort Graduate Cut-Off Date, by phone at 916-323-5007 or by email at dashboard@cde.ca.gov, or Liberty Van Natten, Director, Education Data Management Division, regarding CALPADS End-of-Year deadlines, by phone at 916-319-0634 or by email at CALPADS@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

/S/

Mary Nicely, Chief Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction
MN:lv