California policymakers first authorized the creation of a new
student data system in 2002. Senate Bill (SB) 1453 authorized
the creation of the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement
Data System (). CALPADS is a database for the K–12 education
system that will monitor students’ academic progress by housing
scores from multiple state tests for every pupil over time as
the pupil moves up in grades and changes schools. CALPADS makes
it possible to monitor student progress on the California
Student Testing and Reporting ( ) program tests, the California
High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE), and the California English
Language Development Test ( ). CALPADS will also be able to
provide more accurate information about graduate and dropout
rates by tracking where students attend school from year to
year. The data elements in the system will include student
demographics, course enrollments, student discipline,
participation in certain programs, and others. After years of
planning and development, the state signed a thre