Data

How did the pandemic and ensuing school closures affect K-12 education data? 

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in almost all California schools shutting down in March 2020 and the vast majority of the state's students remained in distance learning through the first part of 2021. This has had a number of impacts on the collection and reporting of data including:

• Because of the difficulty of tracking attendance when students were not physically coming to school, the state used the prior year's ADA information for funding and other calculations. 
• CAASPP/Smarter Balanced tests were not administered in 2019-20 and were optional in 2020-21. Only 744,000 of 3.1 million students in grades three to eight and 11 took the tests in California in the spring of 2021.
• Chronic absenteeism for 2019-20 was not reported. 
• Suspensions and expulsions data were reported but should not be compared to data from prior years.
• The state suspended physical education tests during school closures. 

For more information, please see the CDE's Covid-19 and Data Reporting page. 

Where do you get the data? 

The California Department of Education (CDE) collects, analyzes, and publishes fiscal, demographic, and student performance data from schools, districts, and county offices of education. That's where most of the data on Ed-Data come from. The Ed-Data Partnership does not modify the data received from the CDE. Check the Source tab below any graph for more information and a link to the CDE data files if available. 

Bond and parcel tax election data are compiled by our Ed-Data partner EdSource.

Where are the staffing and teacher salary data?

2018-19 is currently the latest data* released by the state for the number of teachers, certificated staff demographics and pupil-teacher ratios. These data for schools, districts, counties, and the state are available in the Staff tab. Click here to go to the state-level staff data. At the district level, you will also find data on teacher salaries through 2019-20 and experience. You can drill into many of the graphs for more information – for example, the drop-down just above the "Teachers" graph will enable you to view the data by ethnicity, gender, and full-time equivalents. 

* Note: Some updated data on classified staff can be found on DataQuest here.

Why aren't the graphs for homeless students, migrant students and students with disabilities updated in the Census-Day enrollment graphs? 

Data for these student groups are not available in the CDE's publicly available downloadable files, which we use to load the Census-day enrollment data. We are hoping these files will be updated to include data for these student groups and will update the graphs as soon as possible after that happens.

Where are the new RFEP data?

In 2022, the state shifted the collection of data on English learners who have been redesignated as fluent English proficient to the end-of-year data collection. We are currently awaiting new downloadable data files from the California Department of Education so we can update the RFEP graph on Ed-Data. 

Why aren't ACT/SAT and AP test data updated?

Effective February 2022, following a review of current CDE and local educational agency business needs with respect to the ACT and SAT data, the CDE has discontinued the creation and publication of the ACT and SAT Reports and supporting downloadable data files. For more information, can be found on the CDE website: https://www.cde.ca.gov/re/pr/index.asp

Why can't I see financial data in the school comparisons?

Financial data are only available at the district level. Financial data for charter schools are also not available on Ed-Data at this time, but can be found on the CDE website here: https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/fd/fd/

Where do I find test results?

Data from the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, or CAASPP, tests can be found in the Performance section of the Student tab. This section also includes results from the California fitness tests. Click here to learn more about the CAASPP tests. Data are available at the school, district, county and state level. However, Ed-Data does not have data for individual students. For student data, please contact the school or school district. 

Please note that for 2019-20, CAASPP tests were not administered due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Data for the SAT/ACT and AP tests as well as cohort graduation and dropout rates and data on graduates completing A-G requirements can be found in the College and Career Readiness section.

Why are there no new results for the physical fitness tests?

The state suspended physical fitness tests during the school closures and the state no longer requires schools to report body composition and health risk due to concerns about students' emotional well-being. 

Why do graduates and dropouts data only start with 2016-17?

In 2018, the California Department of Education changed how graduation, dropout and UC/CSU eligibility data are calculated and reported. These changes apply to data from 2016-17 and forward. Because these changes make the data no longer comparable to data from prior years, we have created new, richer graphs for these data. However you can find the old graphs with graduation and dropout data for prior years in the Performance section of the Student tab. To learn more, see our graduation data article. 

Where are the API data?

The state has discontinued the Academic Performance Index (API) following its adoption of the Common Core standards and transition to the new California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) system. Historical API data can be found on the CDE's DataQuest website. To learn more about changes to California’s accountability system, please see our article, Changes to California's K-12 Education System.

Why do preschools have no data?

Because of the increasing attention on early childhood education, the Ed-Data Partnership decided to begin including information for preschools, when available, on the Ed-Data website. However, the enrollment data we receive from the California Department of Education only reports K-12 enrollment data. As a result, preschool reports on Ed-Data will have very limited data, such as the address and administrator's name. But we are including them because they do provide some basic information about the school and, in time, we hope more data will become available for these schools.

What do I need to know about the English learner data on Ed-Data?

The state’s public schools serve more than 1.3 million English learners, who account for more than 20 percent of all public school students. English learners are students whose primary language—as reported by their parents—is not English and whose district has not reclassified them as fluent English proficient.

On Ed-Data you can find the number of English learners at the state, county, district, and school level; English language acquisition status (i.e., the number of English learners who have been reclassified fluent English Proficient, or RFEP); the top five languages of English learners. You can now also find data for English learners on the CAASPP graphs in the Performance section of the student tab. These graphs present results from the state's Smarter Balanced tests. 

Please keep the following in mind when viewing English learner data on Ed-Data:

• English learners: During the transition to the CALPADS student data system, 413 school districts and charter schools failed to certify their EL data in 2010-11. This resulted in a statewide undercount of 405,018 English learners in 2010-11.
• Languages of English learners: Due to space constraints, we only display the top 5 languages of English learners on Ed-Data. The full list of languages spoken by EL students at a school or at the district, county, and state level can be found on DataQuest.

Where are the Title III accountability data? 

Under the federal No Child Left Behind law (NCLB), Title III provided supplemental funding to LEAs to help English learners attain English proficiency and meet the state’s academic and content standards. Districts receiving Title III funds were accountable for meeting the Annual Measurable Academic Objectives (AMAO) targets established under the law. However, with the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which replaced NCLB, the federal Department of Education is no longer holding school districts accountable for meeting AMAO targets, and the California Department of Education stopped providing Title III accountability data after the 2014-15 academic year.

As a result, we are removing the Title III accountability data from the district performance section and from comparisons. 

Why are some school-level graphs blank?

To protect student privacy, Ed-Data does not display information if there are fewer than 11 students. To know whether data are redacted or simply missing, click “View Table Data” just below the graph. Data that are withheld to protect student privacy will be indicated with “Redacted” in the table. 

How can I correct mistakes in the data?

Schools, districts and county offices of education submit different data collections to the California Department of Education (CDE) throughout the year. We make every effort to try to ensure the data on this site are correct.

The most common mistakes are found in the school or district summary at the top of the page. These include changes to administrator names and website urls as well as the physical address or phone number for a school or district. Because this information comes from official data files at the CDE, it may be that the school or district has not informed the CDE of the new information. You can submit a request to the CDE to update the information via this page. You can also contact the CDS office at: cdsadmin@cde.ca.gov or 916-327-4014. Please also let us know of any corrections to the school contact data so we can change it on Ed-Data.

However we cannot correct data that has been certified through CALPADS for an individual school or district. All such corrections need to be done through CDE and if the department refreshes the data set, we will update the Ed-Data site as well.

If you feel you have found an error in the data, please contact us.

Functionality

How do I find a school or district?

There are two ways to get to an individual school, district/county office of education, or county on Ed-Data.

1. Use the menus in the red bar in the middle of the page to select the county, district, and school, then click Go. Note: you can either select the entity from the drop-down list, or simply begin typing the name into the gray box at the top of the list.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Use the Search field in the upper right corner of the page to search for a school, district, or county by name. Note: You can also use the Search to find articles and glossary terms.
   
   

Where do I find a county office of education? 

On Ed-Data, county offices of education (COEs) are treated the same as school districts. You can find them under the District menu. Along with school districts and some charter schools, county offices are considered to be a Local Education Agency (LEA) and in the notes and explanations on Ed-Data, we sometimes use "districts" as shorthand to refer to county offices as well. 

How do I get a list of schools?

You can find a list with contact information of all the schools in a district by clicking the “List of Schools” link at the top of the district report. From the county summary, you can get a similar list of districts in the county, and from the state summary you can get a list of all the county offices of education.

How do I get student group data?

Many Ed-Data graphs have layers of data. For example, in the enrollment graph, you can "drill in" to view students by race/ethnicity, grade, and school type. On the cohort graduates graph, you can view the data by race/ethnicity, gender, and for English learners and students who are socieoeconomically disadvantaged. Click the drop-down menu just above the graph to see your options. (If there is no drop-down, it means subgroup data are not available for that graph.)

Where are the performance data?

Student performance graphs are included at the school, district, county, and state levels. Graphs include:

• CAASPP English language arts/literacy test results
• CAASPP mathematics test results
• California High School Exit Exam passing rates for 10th-grade students
• Students in grades 5, 7, and 9 scoring in the healthy fitness zone on the Physical Fitness Exam
• Students in grades 5, 7, and 9 found to be at health risk for aerobic capacity and/or body composition on the Physical Fitness Exam

In addition, you will find the following data in the College Readiness section:

• Cohort graduates
• Cohort dropouts
• Cohort graduates meeting UC/CSU course requirements
• 12th-graders taking the SAT
• SAT results by subject
• 12th-graders taking the ACT
• ACT results
• Students in the graduating class who took Advanced Placement (AP) exams
• AP results

Access these graphs in the "Student Profile" tab by clicking on the "Demographics" bar to close it and then clicking on the "Performance" bar to see the performance graphs or the college readiness bar to see those graphs.

Where do I find financial data?

Financial charts for each year and five-year trend graphs are available for districts and county offices of education, with aggregates at the state level. These charts and graphs help illustrate what funding was received and how those funds were spent.

Access these charts and graphs by clicking on the "Financial Data" tab on a district, county office of education, or state page.

 
For more information on navigating through the financial data, please see our help article, Using the Financial Reports on Ed-Data.

Can I get data for all the schools in a district or county without visiting each school’s report?

Ed-Data's comparison functionality enables you to generate a report on multiple schools or school districts based on values you select. This can include all the schools within a specified district or county. To learn more about how to use this tool, please see our help article, How to Create District or School Comparisons in Ed-Data or watch one of our Ed-Data tour webinar recordings. 

How can I link to a specific school or district profile on Ed-Data?

We have made it easy to link to a specific school, district, or county profile on Ed-Data. Simply copy the url from your browser and use that as the link. Or, if you want to link to a specific tab or graph in the profile, use the share function within that graph to take people to that spot on the profile.

You can also link to multiple schools, districts, or counties using CDS codes. Please contact us for step-by-step instructions.

How do I know when you release new data?

To receive an email notification when Ed-Data is updated with new information, please sign up for our email list using the subscribe option in the lower right corner of any page. We do not share or sell the emails on our list and will email you only with updates about the information on Ed-Data and, very occasionally, to request your help and input on how we can improve the site.

Still need help?

We welcome your feedback and your questions. Please use the contact form, found at the bottom right corner of any Ed-Data page, to reach out to us or email ed-data@edsource.org.