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Letter Head: Jack O'Connell, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, California Department of Education

January 15, 2010

Dear Select Charter School Administrators:

LANGUAGE CENSUS CONTACT SURVEY, SPRING 2010

The Language Census is an annual school-level data collection containing counts of students from non-English-language backgrounds enrolled in public kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) schools in California and data on the staff who provide services to English learners. This letter is to inform you of the Language Census coordinator’s responsibilities, to ask for the assignment of a Language Census coordinator, and to provide you with resources your local educational agency (LEA) will need to successfully report Language Census data.

During the 2009-10 school year, the California Department of Education (CDE) will begin transitioning the collection of Language Census (LCEN) data. In the past, Language Census data were collected and reported through either the Language Census Data Entry Assistant (LCDEA) software, or the California School Information Services (CSIS) State Reporting and Records Transfer System (SRRTS). This fall some of the Language Census data were reported through the California Basic Educational Data System (CBEDS) – Online Public Update for Schools (OPUS) application. Beginning this spring, some of the data will be reported through the LCDEA and some through the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS). The LCDEA will collect data on English language services and staff who provide these services, and CALPADS will collect updates to students’ English Language Acquisition Status and certification of English Learner counts by primary language.

Language Census Coordinator’s Responsibilities

Beginning this year, charter schools were given the option to report independently from their authorizing agency. Since some Language Census data will still be collected through the LCDEA software, charter schools that elected to report their data independently will be responsible for submitting Language Census data to the CDE using the LCDEA software. They will also be responsible for working closely with their CBEDS and CALPADS coordinators to ensure Language Census data are reported accurately. For your convenience, we have provided you with the CBEDS and CALPADS coordinators’ contact information on the enclosed Coordinator Contact Sheet.

For more information on the charter school’s data reporting policy, please visit the CDE CALPADS Charter Schools Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sp/cl/charterschools.asp.

Assigning a Language Census Coordinator

To keep you informed of Language Census related updates and to keep our records up-to-date, we are asking you to assign a Language Census coordinator for your independently reporting charter school. Enclosed is a Language Census Coordinator Contact Sheet, which contains coordinator information and should be used to notify us of changes. We have pre-populated the contact sheet with the CBEDS coordinator information, however, if someone else will be assigned the Language Census coordinator roll, please update the contact sheet as necessary by following the instructions on the contact sheet.

CALPADS Resources

To help facilitate a successful, timely submission of Language Census data, we’ve included some useful resources for CALPADS. The CALPADS Web page is a great place to obtain information on CALPADS reporting requirements. Included on the CALPADS page are system documentation, current updates including bi-weekly updates sent via the CALPADS Listserv, correspondences, resources for charter schools, and much more.

Below are some links to CALPADS resources we’d like to highlight.

If you have any questions regarding information contained in this letter, please contact the Educational Demographics Office, at 916-327-0219, or by e-mail at eddemo@cde.ca.gov. For questions about CALPADS reporting requirements, please contact your CALPADS coordinator or the CALPADS Service Desk at 916-325-9210 or by e-mail at calpads-support@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

 

Rick Miller, Deputy Superintendent
P-16 Policy and Information Branch

RM:ks
Enclosure

cc:       Select CBEDS Coordinators

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