Dear County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators:

Release of Charter School Performance Category Data File

The California Department of Education (CDE) is announcing the release of the Charter School Performance Category Data File. The list of charter schools and their respective performance categories can be accessed at Performance Categories.

Pursuant to California Education Code (EC) Section 47607(c), as an additional criterion for determining whether to approve a charter renewal, the chartering authority shall consider a charter school’s placement under the performance categories, which is based on the charter school's performance on the California School Dashboard (Dashboard).

Under this criterion, a charter school is placed into one of the three performance categories, high, medium, or low. The determination for charter renewals for each category are the following:

• High: A charter school in this category is eligible for a five-, six-, or seven-year renewal term.
• Middle: A charter school in this category may be renewed for a five-year term.
• Low: A charter school in this category may be renewed for a two-year term only if it meets the conditions under EC Section 47607.2(a)(4).

Note: Dashboard Alternative Schools Status (DASS) schools are not included in the data file. DASS schools have their own renewal criteria and are not eligible to be placed in a performance category. A list of DASS schools is available at Active DASS Schools. Additional information about DASS is available at Charter School Renewals.

To assist local educational agencies and charter schools in understanding the criteria for determining performance categories and provide support on the public release of this data set, please refer to the resources available at Performance Categories. These resources include a flyer, Determining Charter School Performance Category, and webinar slides from the 2020 release of these data.

If you have questions regarding the data file, please contact the Analysis, Measurement, and Accountability Reporting Division by email at dashboard@cde.ca.gov. If you have questions regarding Charter School Renewals, please contact the Charter Schools Division by email at charters@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

/s/

Cindy Kazanis, Director
Analysis, Measurement, and Accountability Reporting Division

and

/s/

Susan Park, Director
Charter Schools Division

CK/SP:ck