Policy for notifying the California Department of Education (CDE) of inaccuracies in certified California Basic Educational Data System (CBEDS) and Language Census (LC) data, including data reported through the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS), such as, enrollment, graduates, and dropouts.
Educational Demographics Office
California Department of Education
Effective 06-Oct-2010
Revised
15-Dec-2010
Certification of CBEDS and LC Data
CBEDS data and LC data are collected from local educational agencies (LEAs) once a year and represent either point-in-time data or summary data over a specific period of time. Therefore, these data are static rather than dynamic. The CBEDS and LC data are made available to the public, the media, and other agencies primarily through the Internet, although some printed reports are provided upon request.
Prior to its release, CBEDS and LC data must be "certified." Certified indicates that the information collected was edited and reviewed by CDE staff, corrected if needed, and where feasible, verified by the original data provider. It is important for LEAs to carefully verify their data before the files are certified, since changes made to a certified file allow for a proliferation of different data files and/or reports to be generated from the same year of data. Therefore, changes after certification are granted in only a few cases.
Beginning in 2009, student level data, and in 2010, certificated staff data previously collected through CBEDS and LC data collections will be derived from CALPADS. CALPADS will be the foundation of California’s education data system, enabling your migration from the current numerous aggregate data collections to a flexible system based on your quality student-level data. Visit the CALPADS Web page for more information.
LEA's Responsibility to Certify Accurate Data and Adhere to Data Quality Standards
When submitting data to the CDE, LEAs have a responsibility to submit and certify accurate data. LEAs should ensure that there is a process in place that includes validating the data by reviewing any available summary reports as well as checking the source data. This process may include a data review by school principals, English learner coordinators, or other staff as appropriate.
If errors are identified in certified data, it is essential that the LEA identify all corrections so that it will not be necessary to submit additional amendments. Standard practice should be to review for data quality once and only for the previous year. Although there is no specific state law that restricts multiple corrections, the CDE instructs school districts to establish and maintain good data management practices and procedures. The data correction process is costly not only at the state-level, but also costly for LEAs.
Policy for Modifying Certified CBEDS or LC Data
Changes to the certified CBEDS or LC data should reflect the status of students and/or staff as of a point-in-time or over a specific time period, as appropriate. If certified data were reported incorrectly, or if new information is available about the status of students and/or staff in relation to the specific school year, follow the guidelines outlined on this page to notify the CDE of inaccuracies in certified data.
LEAs wishing to notify the CDE of inaccurate CBEDS or LC data, may submit a written notification to the Educational Demographics Office. See the Procedures for Notifying the CDE of Inaccurate CBEDS or LC Data section below for instructions on how to submit notifications. Unless the CDE was responsible for the inaccuracy, the certified CDE database will not be changed. Instead, a listing of the schools, districts, and counties that notified the CDE of the inaccuracies will be posted on the "Notification of Inaccuracies in Certified Data" Web page to inform users of the inaccuracies reported to the CDE after the file was certified. The paper copies of the corrections will be kept on file at the CDE and are available for users of the data.
CDE Processing Error (CBEDS and LC)
If inaccurate information in the certified CBEDS or LC data files was a result of a CDE processing error, the district may submit a written request to correct the information. See the Procedures for Notifying the CDE of Inaccurate CBEDS or LC Data section below for instructions on how to submit changes. The certified files will be corrected and re-posted on the CDE Internet site. Modification dates will be clearly marked on the Student and School Data Files (Downloadable) and Staff Data Files (Downloadable) Web pages and a change notification will be included in the "What's New" section of DataQuest.
Procedures for Notifying the CDE of Inaccurate CBEDS or LC Data
To notify the CDE of inaccurate CBEDS or LC data, submit on district letterhead a letter signed by the district superintendent with a brief explanation of the changes that need to be made. Attach to the letter a copy of the incorrect CBEDS or LC data, either from the original report submitted to the CDE or an equivalent report. Sample forms may be obtained from the Historical CBEDS Forms and Manuals and Historical Language Census Forms and Instructions Web pages. Reports must include the original source-level data (do not send student-level data); do not submit reports with district-level aggregates of the data to be corrected. Line through the incorrect information and write in the correct values next to the original information. Mail the letter and amended reports to:
Educational Demographics Office
California Department of Education
ATTN: CBEDS/LC Modification
1430 N Street, Suite 6308
Sacramento, CA 95814
Funding and Changes After Certification
There are a number of funding opportunities available to LEAs that use CBEDS and LC data as part of their funding calculation. Each funding opportunity has its own specific funding model and use policies. Because of these differences in programs, changes made to certified CBEDS and LC data may or may not affect the original funding amounts granted to an LEA. The LEA will need to directly contact the appropriate CDE program or fiscal office for clarification on whether these "late" changes would impact funding the LEA receives.
Listing of Inaccuracies Submitted to the CDE
View a listing of the schools, districts, and/or counties that have submitted notifications of inaccuracies in certified data to the Educational Demographics Office.
