Overview of Special Education Data¶
Local Data Systems¶
Submission from Student Information System¶
Local educational agencies (LEAs) collect and maintain data for all students, both general education students and students with disabilities (SWD), in local student information systems (SIS). This includes the following types of data: school-related enrollments/exits, demographic, program participation, English language acquisition status, course enrollment and completion, career technical education participation and completion, disciplinary incidents and outcomes, incidents of restraint and seclusion, chronic absenteeism, and postsecondary outcomes. LEAs upload data from their SIS to CDE’s California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) using standardized files. Some of these files include data that pertain only to SWD. See section on “Overview of CALPADS Files”.
Submission from Special Education Data System¶
LEAs also collect and maintain data for students with disabilities in local special education data systems (SEDS). SEDS track all required information for purposes of identifying, initially evaluating, and maintaining education programs, plans, and services for students with disabilities. These systems began as “electronic IEP systems” developed to assist LEAs in maintaining education programs and services plans (IEPs, IFSPs, and ISPs) for individual students. They have evolved into systems that support not only the maintenance of individual programs and service plans, but also facilitate the reporting of data to the CDE for the purposes of federal reporting and monitoring. Prior to 2019, these data were submitted to the California Special Education Management Information System (CASEMIS) and are now submitted to CALPADS. The SEDS should be considered the LEA’s authoritative source for special education data. LEAs upload data through an application program interface (API) from their SEDS to the CDE’s CALPADS using standardized files. See section on “Overview of CALPADS Files”.
SIS and SEDS Data Integration and Business Process Implications¶
LEAs collect and maintain student enrollment and student demographic data in their SIS as well as their SEDS. Because these data are collected and maintained in both systems, LEAs must establish the authoritative source for any data collected in both systems, and ensure that the system that is identified as the “system of record” for a particular set of data is always the most current and accurate. The system of record should then propagate that information to all systems that use or consume that piece of information. To ensure data integrity at the local and state levels, it is imperative that LEAs have automated integration tools or business processes that result in the alignment of data that are in both the SIS and SEDS.
LEAs upload student demographic data (e.g., name, date of birth, gender, race/ethnicity) to CALPADS from their SIS. While LEAs may also maintain these data in their SEDS, CALPADS considers the data submitted from the SIS as the authoritative source for these data. Since CALPADS considers the data from the SIS to be the authoritative source for these data:
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LEAs must first enroll students in CALPADS from their SIS before CALPADS will accept any special education data submitted from their SEDS.
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All CALPADS reports display the demographic data for SWD submitted from the SIS to CALPADS, and CDE uses this data when creating state and federal reports.
Frequency of Data Submission to CALPADS¶
LEAs submit data to CALPADS on an ongoing basis throughout the year. As students enroll and exit schools during the year, LEAs submit student enrollment/exit records, followed by student demographic and program records. Best practices are to update CALPADS at least once weekly, and at a minimum, within two weeks of a student enrolling or exiting a school.
LEAs also submit special education data to CALPADS on an ongoing basis throughout the year. Best practices are to update CALPADS with special education data at least on a weekly basis.
While LEAs can submit all data at any time, data must be submitted and certified twice annually: fall and end-of-year. These submissions are described in the section, “Overview of Data Submission and Use”.
Data Submitted from Local Systems to CALPADS¶
LEAs submit data to CALPADS by uploading standard files. The specifications for all CALPADS files can be found in the CALPADS File Specifications (CFS), which is available from the System Documentation link on the CALPADS page found at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sp/cl/systemdocs.asp.
Note that the submission of special education data to CALPADS from the SEDS differs from how data are submitted to CALPADS from the SIS. Data from the SIS are submitted to CALPADS through either batch files (files with multiple records in Microsoft Excel or CSV that are uploaded to CALPADS by a user) or individual records submitted online through CALPADS user interface screens. LEAs view errors within CALPADS, resolve the errors in their SIS, and then upload new files directly to CALPADS.
To take advantage of newer technologies, special education data are submitted directly from the LEA’s SEDS to CALPADS through an application program interface (API). Any input validation errors are returned and viewable to the LEA in their SEDS, where the errors can be resolved and the corrected data resubmitted to CALPADS through the API or online through CALPADS user interface screens.
Overview of CALPADS Files for Student and Course Data¶
The following table summarizes the CALPADS files used to upload student data from the SIS and SEDS to CALPADS. (Files used to upload staff data are not included.)
Table 1: Summary of All CALPADS Files Used to Submit Student and Course Data
| File Name | Full File Name | Data Uploaded from this Local System |
|---|---|---|
| SENR | SSID (Student) Enrollment | SIS |
| SINF | Student Information | SIS |
| SPRG | Student Program | SIS |
| SELA | Student English Language Acquisition | SIS |
| SINC | Student Incident* | SIS |
| SIRS | Student Incident Results* | SIS |
| SOFF | Student Offense | SIS |
| STAS | Student Absence Summary | SIS |
| CRSE/CRSC | Course Section Enrollment/Completion | SIS |
| SCSE/SCSC | Student Course Section Enrollment/Completion | SIS |
| SCTE | Student Career Technical Education | SIS |
| WBLR | Work-Based Learning* | SIS |
| PSTS | Postsecondary Status | SIS and SEDS |
| SWDS | Students with Disabilities Status | SEDS |
| PLAN | Special Education Plan | SEDS |
| MEET | Special Education Meetings | SEDS |
| SERV | Special Education Services | SEDS |
| *These files are uploaded from the SIS but contain some data elements specific to students with disabilities (SWD). |
LEAs submit the majority of data specific to SWD from their SEDS to CALPADS by uploading the SWDS, PLAN, MEET and SERV files. However, LEAs upload SWD-specific data related to incidents and work-based learning from their SIS to CALPADS; these SWD data are submitted along with data for general education students. The table below summarizes CALPADS files uploaded by the SIS used to submit data for all students but contain some specific elements specific to SWD.
Table 2: Summary of CALPADS Files Collected for ALL Students that Contain Data Specific to SWD
| This CALPADS file… | Is uploaded from the local…. | Providing this type of data specific to SWD…. |
|---|---|---|
| SINC Student Incident | SIS | · Whether student was removed to an interim alternative setting for specific offenses, including drugs, weapons, or serious bodily injury · Reason for removal (by hearing officer or school personnel). · Whether instructional support was provided during a suspension. |
| SIRS Student Incident Result | SIS | The agency which authorized an incident result. |
| WBLR Work-Based Learning | SIS | · SWD completion of transition work-based experience. · SWD completion of classroom-based work experience. |
Description of CALPADS Special Education Files for Students with Disabilities¶
Data on students in special education is collected in CALPADS through four special education files:
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Students with Disabilities Status – SWDS
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Special Education Plan – PLAN
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Special Education Meetings – MEET
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Special Education Services – SERV
Specific data elements submitted on the four special education files, their definitions, associated code sets, and specific validations for each element can be found in the CALPADS File Specifications (CFS), CALPADS Code Sets, and CALPADS Data Guide. These resources can be found from the System Documentation link on the CALPADS page located at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sp/cl/systemdocs.asp.
SWDS File
The SWDS file is used to track a student’s eligibility and participation status at any point in time, regardless of where the student is enrolled. The SWDS file is submitted only when a student’s special education status changes. It is not necessary to submit a new SWDS file when a student changes districts unless the student’s special education status has changed. This file captures data related to:
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When students were first identified as eligible for special education;
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Students’ current special education status (e.g. student is eligible and participating, eligible and not participating, eligible and not enrolled, or not eligible);
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The start date of the special education status; and
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The reasons why students who are eligible are not participating in special education.
PLAN File
The PLAN file captures key elements of a student’s IEP, ISP, or IFSP required for state and federal reporting that are effective during the period in which a student is eligible and participating in special education. PLAN files must be submitted every time the student has an enrollment at a new LEA. This file captures data related to:
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the student’s’ primary and secondary disabilities
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the type of Special Education Plan the student is on
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the plan effective start date
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other key components of the plan
Most of these data are used for federal reporting and monitoring, such as whether students are receiving services in the Least Restrictive Environment, and for secondary students whether their plans include postsecondary goals and the appropriate coursework and services to support the student to meet those goals. A student can only have one PLAN effective on any given day. PLAN records are unique by Plan Effective Date for each student.
SERV File
The SERV file provides information on the services included in the student’s special education plan (IEP, IFSP, ISP) reported in PLAN file, including the type of service, the service provider, location of the service, and the frequency and duration of the service. This file is linked to the PLAN file using the Plan Effective Start Date and should be submitted every time a PLAN record is submitted.
MEET File
The MEET file captures data related to meetings that are statutorily required for students with disabilities (e.g., Initial Evaluations, Annual Plan Reviews, and Eligibility Reevaluations). The data submitted in this file are used for state-level monitoring of compliance with statutory timelines. MEET files should be submitted year-round when statutory meetings are pending or after the meetings are held.