About Accountability | California School Dashboard (CA Dept of Education)

To help parents and educators identify strengths and areas for improvement, California reports how districts, schools (including alternative schools), and student groups are performing across state and local measures.

For state measures, performance is based on two factors:

1

Current year results, and

2

Whether results improved from the prior year.

For the 2022 Dashboard only, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, state law required that only the most current year of data be displayed. Therefore, performance was determined using data from the 2021–22 academic year. Further information on the 2022 Dashboard is available within the 2022 Dashboard Communications Toolkit.

Performance on state measures, using comparable statewide data, is represented by one of five colors. The performance level (color) is not included when there are fewer than 30 students in any year. This is represented using a greyed out color dial with the words 'No Performance Color'.

Red performance color gauge, level 1 of 5

Red

Lowest Performance

Orange

Yellow

Green

Blue

Highest Performance

Because performance on state measures was based only on current year results for the 2022 Dashboard (i.e., 2021–22) and the 2023 College/Career Indicator, the color dials were replaced with one of five Status levels (ranging from Very High, High, Medium, Low, and Very Low).

Very Low

Lowest Performance

Low performance level gauge, level 2 of 5

Low

Medium

High

Very High

Highest Performance

State measures include chronic absenteeism, graduation rate, suspension rate, English learner progress, and academic performance (which includes English language arts/literacy and mathematics) and science.

Local measures are reported by school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools based on data available only at the local level. These measures include clean and safe buildings, school climate, parent and family engagement, and access to a broad course of study. This information is not available for individual schools or student groups.

Based on performance on state and local measures, schools and districts may be identified for support to improve student outcomes.

CA's Accountability System

Frequently Asked Questions

Learn about answers to common questions about the Dashboard.

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Resources

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Glossary

Discover the explanations of key terms used in the Dashboard.

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How does California’s accountability system work?

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Frequently Asked Questions

Resources

Glossary