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Newsletter Highlights

Fall Submission News

By Karl Scheff, Manager, Educational Demographics Office, CDE
Accurate Information About Open Schools

An important issue facing local education agencies (LEAs) when submitting both their CBEDS data and Annual Statewide Student Identifier (SSID) Maintenance data to the California Department of Education (CDE) is ensuring that the CDE has the current information on which of the LEA’s schools are open and have enrollment data to submit and which schools are closed and do not have enrollment data to submit on Information Day (October 3, 2007).

In order to ensure that CDE has up-to-date information about the schools in your district, you will receive a List of Expected Schools that indicates, according to our database, the schools in your LEA that are open and expected to
submit CBEDS and the Annual SSID Maintenance data on Information Day. The accuracy of this list is critical in the submission of your data. Inaccurate information will prevent the processing of your data. Therefore, use this list to verify that our records for schools that are open in your LEA are up-to-date. If the List of Expected Schools is not accurate, please follow the detailed instructions for updating the list.

If your LEA has a school that will be temporarily closed on Information Day, please contact the CSIS-CALPADS office at CDECSIS@cde.ca.gov or 916-324-6738. If you need assistance with obtaining a new county-district-school code or have any other questions about CDS codes, contact CDS administration at cdsadmin@cde.ca.gov or 916-327-4014.

Which LEAs are Responsible for Obtaining SSID?

A document titled “Responsibility for Obtaining and Maintaining Public K-12 Statewide Student Identifiers (SSID)” (PDF; Outside Source) clarifies which LEAs are responsible for obtaining SSIDs under different situations, as well as, which students are required to have SSIDs.

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Enrollment Data Derived from the Annual SSID Maintenance and Changes to Graduate and Dropout Data Collection

In October 2006, the collection of enrollment data was shifted from school-level aggregate data collected on the CBEDS School Information Form (SIF) to student-level data derived from the Annual Statewide Student Identifier(SSID) Maintenance. The enrollment data were successfully derived from the October 2006 student-level submission and will continue to be collected through the Annual SSID Maintenance in October 2007 and subsequent collections. The enrollment section on the SIF previously used to collect aggregate enrollment counts will no longer appear on the SIF.

Since enrollment data will be collected only through the Annual SSID Maintenance, please ensure that these data are submitted accurately and on-time as the data are used in funding calculations for a number of educational programs.

Changes to Graduate and Dropout Data Collection

The transition to a student-level based data collection will continue this year in the administration of the October 2007 data collection through CBEDS and the Annual SSID Maintenance data collection. For the first time, graduate and dropout data will be collected through the Annual SSID Maintenance process. The graduate and dropout data will also be collected through CBEDS reporting, but the Annual SSID Maintenance submission will serve as the official source counts for graduates and dropouts.

Since graduate and dropout data are very important and visible indicators of school accountability, you should pay close attention to the Annual SSID Maintenance data. It is important that an Annual SSID Maintenance exit record is sent for every student that was in your district since the last Information Day and has since left the district.

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Key Dates

September 28, 2007: Obtain or renew CSIS Digital Certificates as necessary. Review CDE’s Expected Schools List and resolve discrepancies. Review CDE’s site regarding status of charter schools and notify CDE if changes are necessary.

By October 2, 2007: Attend CSIS and vendor training.

By October 3, 2007: Obtain SSIDs for all new students.

October 17, 2007: SSID-only LEAs submit Annual SSID Maintenance data for at least one school.

November 16, 2007: SSID-only LEAs submit Annual SSID Maintenance data for all schools.

December 10, 2007: Certify Annual SSID Maintenance.

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September Tasks for a Smooth Fall Data Submission

By Nancy Sullivan, Special Projects Administrator, CSIS Program

All local educational agencies (LEAs) are required to complete a fall data submission through the California School Information Services (CSIS) program, with the submission window beginning on October 3, 2007, and ending on December 10, 2007. Those responsible for the submission can make the job significantly easier by completing preparation tasks in September. Recommended tasks for September include:

  1. Obtain or renew your CSIS Digital Certificate if necessary. Digital Certificates are valid for one year; they need to be renewed on an annual basis before they expire or you run the risk of trying to get into DataGate and finding that you no longer have access. Avoid the stress caused by expired certificates by checking the expiration date of your Digital Certificate and renewing it prior to expiration.
    1. To check when your certificate expires, open either DataGate or Extended Client DataGate. When your Digital Certificate information appears on the screen, click on the View Certificate button. A new Certificate window will open and the dates your certificate is valid will appear on the General tab.
    2. If the certificate will expire during the fall submission window, visit the California School Information Services Certificate Pages (Outside Source) and use the Renew Certificate link to renew the certificate. Wait for the "Retrieve CSIS Certificate" e-mail from CSIS Support and then use the Pick Up Renewal Certificate link on the Web site to pickup the renewed certificate. After successful installation to your browser, go to TOOLS>INTERNET OPTIONS>CONTENT tab>Certificates button and remove the certificate that was about to expire.
  2. Review the Expected Schools List mailed to your CBEDS Coordinator in August. (See Fall Submission News on Page
    1. Resolve discrepancies by contacting CDE at CDECSIS@cde.ca.gov. If your LEA has an alternative school on CDE’s Expected Schools List that will not have enrollment on October 3, 2007, but will have enrollment later in the year, contact CDE to notify them that the school will not have enrollment to report on October 3, 2007.
  3. Review CDE’s site regarding status of charter schools and notify the CDE if changes are necessary. Refer to the “Checking Your Charter School Status” article in this newsletter for instructions.
  4. Attend CSIS training on the submission. New staff members need the orientation to submission requirements and process. Experienced staff will benefit from the review of changes. To register:
    1. Open Internet Explorer;
    2. Go to the Statewide Student Identifier Training Schedule and Registration (Outside Source) page for training on the Annual SSID Maintenance submission and the State Reporting Training Schedule and Registration (Outside Source) page for Fall State Reporting training;
    3. Scroll down to the training that you want to attend;
    4. Click the Enroll link for that training;
    5. Fill out the form;
    6. Click Submit; and
    7. Print the confirmation page. It provides the information you need to attend the training.
  5. Attend vendor training on updates to your student information system (SIS). Contact your vendor for details and options.
  6. Install updates to your SIS so that your SIS is current on the changes for the fall submission.
  7. Continue populating required data in your local SIS. If you have not already done so, download a copy of the Data Submission Requirements document from the CSIS Reporting Requirements (Outside Source) section of the CSIS Library. Make sure all of the required data are entered into your local student information system for each enrolled or exited student.

Completing these seven tasks now will help prevent common problems many encounter later in the submission window. Begin these tasks now so that you are well prepared and are able to meet the December 10 submission deadline. If you have questions or need assistance, contact CSIS Support at support@csis.k12.ca.us.

Checking Your Charter School Status: A Key to a Successful Fall Submission

Don’t let misunderstandings about the data reporting status of your charter schools cause problems during your Fall submission through CSIS! Check the status of your charter schools NOW by visiting CDE’s Web site.

Once at the site, use the drop down menu to select the chartering district. A new Web page will appear that will show you those charter schools CDE expects to report with the chartering district and those CDE expects to report independently. If the Web page does not agree with your understanding, the chartering district should contact CDE at
CDECSIS@cde.ca.gov to resolve the discrepancy. Requests to change a charter school’s data reporting status will first be confirmed with both the chartering agency and the charter school before changes are made at the CDE, to ensure agreement between the chartering agency and charter school, and to avoid confusion. Requests received prior to September 21, 2007, will be processed before the October 3, 2007, opening of the submission window. Requests received after September 21, 2007, will be processed in the order received and the LEA may need to wait a few days for the change to take effect. Avoid delays and check your charter school status today!

Note that new charter schools are automatically scheduled to report with their chartering district and are strongly encouraged to report with their chartering district.

However, if a new charter school will have a different student information system than the chartering district, and both the chartering district and the charter agree the charter school will report independently, contact CDE as soon as possible to request a change in the reporting status.

If you have questions or need assistance, please contact CDE at CDECSIS@cde.ca.gov.

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CALPADS Development Is Around the Corner

By Paula Mishima, Manager, CSIS-CALPADS Program Office, CDE

With development funding in the 2007 Budget Bill, the CDE is proceeding apace with the development of CALPADS.
The CDE has submitted to the Department of Finance (DOF) the Special Project Report (SPR) which describes all the changes to the project since the DOF's June 2005 conditional approval of the CALPADS Feasibility Study Report (FSR). Once the SPR is approved, the CDE can release the Notice of Intent to Award, to the vendor whose cost bid was opened on June 6, 2007. According to the current schedule, the vendor will be on board by the end of the year.

In anticipation of the vendor’s arrival, the CDE is conducting a number of preparatory activities, including identifying LEAs willing to actively participate in CALPADS development. The CDE will need LEA representatives to participate in Joint Application Development (JAD) sessions and in a smaller CALPADS Technical Advisory Group (CTAG). The CDE would like to identify 25 CTAG members who will participate in JAD sessions and review and comment on vendor deliverables, including design documents, user manuals, and user interfaces. The CDE is looking for CTAG members that represent LEAs from different regions, of different sizes, and using different student information systems. If you would like more information or are interested in participating in JAD sessions or on the CTAG, please contact Paula Mishima at pmishima@cde.ca.gov.

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The Good Fight Continues: Funding to Support LEA Data Activities

By Paula Mishima, Manager, CSIS-CALPADS Program Office, CDE

T he 2007 Budget includes funding for the continued development of CALPADS, but does not include the $65 million proposed by the Governor in the May Revise to support local data activities.

The CDE will again propose funding to support local data activities in 2008-09. Similar to last year’s proposal, the CDE will request ongoing funding of $5 per enrolled student, with a floor of $5,000 for LEAs with less than 1,000 students, and a ceiling of $500,000. To be eligible for funding LEAs must be participating in either the CSIS State Reporting Program or the Best Practices Cohort. If your LEA is eligible for and has not yet signed up to participate in the Best Practices Cohort, the CDE strongly encourages you to do so, as doing so will prepare your LEA for CALPADS. Funding to participate in this program is available through 2008-09 for eligible LEAs (XLS; Outside Source) . For more information on the Best Practices Cohort (Outside Source) , register for one of the Question & Answer sessions.

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SEIDS Planting Forecast

By Paula Mishima, Manager, CSIS-CALPADS Program Office, CDE

The foundation of the California Longitudinal Teacher Integrated Data Education System (CALTIDES) will be the Statewide Educator Identifier (SEID) (pronounced “Seed”) required of all credentialed personnel working in California’s K-12 public schools. The Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) will be disseminating SEIDs in the spring of 2008 and LEAs will be required to report staff data on the CBEDS Professional Assignment Information Form (PAIF) using the SEID in the fall of 2008.

The CTC and the CDE are working very hard to determine how to disseminate the SEID with the least impact on LEAs. The SEID will be a 10-digit, non-identifiable, randomly generated number. The current plan is to leverage the process used by many county offices to download credential information from CTC. County Offices of Education will provide CTC with a list of currently employed educators and CTC will return the list with assigned SEIDs. County Offices will then be required to pass the SEIDs down to their LEAs, and LEAs in turn must populate the SEIDs in their local human resources and student information systems. The SEIDs will also be available on the secured CTC credential search Web site. Once the SEID is being used by county offices and LEAs in state reporting, the CDE will be able to relieve LEAs from reporting the teacher credential information provided annually on the PAIF.

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Housing HOUSSE Data: An Evolving Resource

By Paula Mishima, Manager, CSIS-CALPADS Program Office, CDE

Currently, local educational agencies (LEAs) must submit annually to the state, whether a teacher is Highly Qualified (HQ) per NCLB to teach each core course he or she is assigned to teach, including whether the teacher is HQ under High Objective Uniform State Standard of Evaluation (HOUSSE) provisions. California Longitudinal Teacher Integrated Data Education System (CALTIDES) will automate to the extent feasible HQ determinations, thereby reducing current HQ reporting. To do this the CALTIDES project includes maintaining at CTC, subjects that teachers are “HOUSSED” in. In order to significantly reduce or potentially eliminate HQ and HOUSSE reporting, however, an initial submission of HOUSSE information by LEAs is required. This initial submission must include all the subjects each teacher is currently HOUSSED in.

The CDE and CTC are working very hard to determine how to collect this initial HOUSSE data with the least impact on LEAs. The CDE and CTC believe that the subjects each teacher is currently HOUSSED in can be derived from the data LEAs currently submit through the PAIF, if the credential document number submitted for the teacher is accurate. Therefore accurate credential document numbers in the 2007 PAIF submission could alleviate LEAs of the necessity to submit a separate HOUSSE submission to the state. Therefore, the CDE strongly encourages LEAs to provide accurate credential document numbers on this year’s PAIF.

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Potential Major Change: Proposal for States to Collect Office of Civil Rights Survey Data

By Sonya Edwards Manager, Education Data Office, CDE

The California Department of Education (CDE) has been very proactive in monitoring and trying to influence changing data reporting requirements from the federal level. The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has proposed some changes that will impact school districts and the CDE. In the past, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) in the ED has directly administered a survey data collection on a bi-ennial basis. The ED is proposing to require that the state education agencies administer the data collection and transmit those data to the ED.

ED’s proposal to have states collect all of the data poses the following significant challenges:

Cost to Increase Data Collection – States will have to modify their collections to collect a lot more data from LEAs. Currently California only collects a small percentage of the data on the OCR survey. Based on an analysis of the 2004-05 Survey school level form, the CDE collects roughly 18 percent (9 out of approximately 50 data groups) of the required data.

Complexity of the Data Required – To provide disaggregations of the data by the required characteristics (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity, disability status), the data must be collected at an individual level and then aggregated.

Technical Support – States will have an increased workload associated with providing additional technical support to LEAs.

Timing Issue - Irrespective of whether the state collects the data or not, timing is an issue. During the 2004-05 administration, the OCR survey was due months before the CDE would even collect and edit data from LEAs and schools. Unless ED changes the OCR’s due date to the Fall, we have serious doubts about the feasibility of states to collect and submit accurate data in a timely manner to ED.

Although we are developing a statewide student level system (CALPADS) that will facilitate data collection for the OCR survey through its collection of student level data on enrollment, demographics, program participation, and course completion, that system implementation will not occur until 2009-10.

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Forum Publications

By Sonya Edwards Manager, Education Data Office, CDE
New Data Management Resources for School Districts

There are several new publications developed by the National Forum on Education Statistics, that may be useful to you.

The Forum is a voluntary, democratic, participative, and cooperative federal-state-local body with a mission to develop, recommend, and implement strategies for building an education data system that will support local, state, and national efforts to improve public and private education throughout the United States. Forum members include representatives from state education agencies, local educational agencies, the federal government, and other organizations with an interest in education data. All of these publications, and more can be downloaded from the Internet at the National Forum on Education Statistics (Outside Source).

Forum Guide to Building a Culture of Quality Data: A School and District Resource

Forum Curriculum for Improving Education Data: A Resource for Local Education Agencies (2007)

Forum Guide to the Privacy of Student Information: A Resource for Schools

Forum Guide to Education Indicators (2005)

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Questions: Meredith Babcock | mbabcock@cde.ca.gov | 916-327-7367 
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