Glossary

For each state indicator, the performance levels were determined using school year data for all students at the local educational agency or school.

This local indicator considers information related to the number and percentage of teacher misassignments and vacancies, the number and percentage of students who have access to curriculum-aligned instructional materials, and the number of students who have access to safe, clean, and functional school facilities.

The county/district/school (CDS) code is a 14-digit code that is used as the official identification for a district or school within California. The first two digits identify the county, the next five digits identify the school district, and the last seven digits identify the school.

Change is the difference in results from the current year to the prior year or a multi-year average. There are five Change levels for each state indicator: Declined Significantly, Declined, Maintained, Increased, and Increased Significantly. (Change only applies to Dashboard years that report a performance color.)"

The Dashboard reports show whether the school is a charter school (Yes or No). Charter schools are public schools that provide instruction in any grades between Kindergarten through grade 12 that are created or organized by a group of teachers, parents, community leaders or a community-based organization. Each charter school is considered a local educational agency under California’s school accountability system.

The Chronic Absenteeism state indicator shows how many students were absent for 10 percent or more of the total instructional school days each student was expected to attend. For accountability, the Chronic Absenteeism indicator only applies to students in grades Kindergarten through grade 8.

The College/Career state indicator uses multiple measures of college and career preparedness to show how many high school graduates are prepared for college or a career.

Distance from Standard measures how many points above or below (or the distance) each student is from the lowest possible scale score within the Level 3 (i.e., Standard Met) on the Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments and the California Alternate Assessments. The scale score ranges for these assessments vary by content area and by grade level. The Smarter Balanced Consortium has identified Level 3 as demonstrating the knowledge and skills necessary for students to be on track for college and career readiness at their grade level.

All the “distances” are used to calculate the average distance for each local educational agency, school, or student group. The results show, on average, any improvements needed to bring the average student score to Level 3, or the extent to which the average student score exceeds Level 3.

This Academic indicator reports student progress on the statewide assessment for English Language Arts/Literacy. It uses the Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments and California Alternate Assessments, and it is calculated based on the average "Distance from Standard" for all students in grades 3 through 8 and/or grade 11.

The English Learner Progress Indicator (ELPI) measures progress of English Learners toward English language proficiency. The ELPI is based on the performance of students on both the Summative English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) and the Summative Alternate ELPAC results.

The total number of students enrolled on Fall Census Day (the first Wednesday in October) in the local educational agency or school as reported in the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS).

Grade span is a range of the lowest and highest grade levels served by a school or district, as reported in the CDS Directory.

The Graduation Rate state indicator reflects the number of students who graduate with a regular high school diploma in four or five years.

This local indicator considers information related to how an LEA is implementing the state-adopted academic content and performance standards for all students and how the programs and services provided by the LEA enable English learner students to improve their understanding of academic course content and their expertise in using the English language.

Local educational agencies are defined in state law as school districts, county offices of education and charter schools (whether locally or directly funded).

State data is not available for some priority areas identified in the Local Control Funding Formula law. For these priority areas, the California State Board of Education (SBE) approved the local indicators, which are based on information that local educational agencies collect locally. These indicators do not apply to the school level.

This measure of the Academic state indicator reports student progress on the statewide assessment for mathematics. It uses the Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments and California Alternate Assessments, and it is calculated based on the average "Distance from Standard" for all students in grades 3 through 8 and/or grade 11.

This local indicator considers information related to how an LEA is promoting parental participation in programs, including how it is building relationships between school staff and families, building partnerships to improve student outcomes, and how it seeks parent input in decision-making.

For Dashboard years reporting a color: Local educational agencies and schools receive one of five color-coded performance levels on the state indicators. From highest to lowest, the five performance levels are: Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, and Red. Performance levels are determined by combining both Status and Change. This provides a more complete picture of performance than a point-in-time snapshot.

For the 2022 Dashboard only: Local education agencies and schools receive one of five filled bar chart performance levels on the state indicators. From highest to lowest, the five performance levels have: 5 purple bars filled, 4 purple bars filled, 3 purple bars filled, 2 purple bars filled, and 1 purple bar filled. These performance levels are reflective of using Status only due to the provisions under Assembly Bill 130.

For Local Indicators, performance level communicates whether the LEA met, did not meet, or did not meet for two or more years the SBE adopted local indicator performance standards.

The SBE adopted performance standards for local indicators require an LEA to:

1. annually measure their progress in meeting the requirements of each Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) priority;
2. report their results as part of a non-consent item at a regularly scheduled public meeting of the local governing board/body during the annual process of adopting the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP); and
3. report results to the public through the Dashboard utilizing the State Board of Education (SBE)-adopted self-reflection tools for each local measure. The SBE self-reflection tools are available in the Local Performance Indicator Quick Guide document on the CDE website at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/cm/documents/localindquickguide2022.docx

The Reclassified Fluent-English Proficient (RFEP) category consists of Kindergarten through grade 12 students whose English Language Acquisition Status changed from English learner to RFEP. State law stipulates criteria that local educational agencies must use in reclassifying students from English learner to RFEP, and students are reclassified according to criteria, standards, and procedures adopted by the district. For Accountability, students who have been reclassified within the past four years are included as English Learners in the Dashboard Academic Indicators.

This local indicator reports information related to student, parent, and teacher perceptions of school safety and connectedness based on data from a local climate survey administered at least every other year.

The SBE-adopted self-reflection tools are instruments to be used by LEAs to report local indicator information. The SBE self-reflection tools are available in the Local Performance Indicator Quick Guide document on the CDE website at https://www.cde.ga.gov/ta/ac/cm/documents/localindquickguide2022.docx.

The state indicators, consisting of Academic (English Language Arts and mathematics), Chronic Absenteeism, College/Career, English Learner Progress, Graduation Rate, and Suspension Rate, are based on data that is collected consistently across the state from local educational agencies through the state’s longitudinal data system, CALPADS, and through assessment results from state testing vendors.

Status uses the most current year data to determine the level of performance. There are five Status levels for each state indictor: Very Low, Low, Medium, High, and Very High."

The Suspension Rate state indicator shows the percentage of students who were suspended for at least one aggregate day in a given school year. Students suspended for multiple days or multiple times are only counted once in the suspension rate.

The total number of student groups that are large enough (e.g., 30 or more students) to receive a performance level on each state indicator. The number of total student groups may differ across indicators due to the grade levels applicable for each indicator. Information on student group definitions can be found in the Dashboard Technical Guide and in the CALPADS User Manual.