FAQ's
General Questions
Q. What is Cal-PASS? Is it new?
Q. What will Cal-PASS help me to do?
Q. What does Cal-PASS stand for?
Q. Who do I contact to get more specific information about Cal-PASS or get specific questions answered?
Joining / Creating a Consortium
Q. What are the steps to participate in Cal-PASS?
Q. What do Cal-PASS participants receive when they join?
Q. What if another member doesn’t choose to share with me?
Q. Can I enter into a MOU with another consortium?
Confidentiality/Privacy
Q. How is confidentially of student records ensured?
Data Submission
Q. What data are submitted initially?
Q. Can I participate in Cal-PASS if I don't have five years of data?
Q. How frequently will data be collected?
Q. What data should be in my files? / Where can I find a data element dictionary (DED)?
Q. How can we use the data we share in my region?
Q. How much staff time does Cal-PASS data submission require?
Q. Where exactly is the Cal-PASS server housed?
Q. Who do I contact with questions about how to access the Cal-PASS server?
Q. What is Cal-PASS? Is it new?
A. Cal-PASS started as a regional project in San Diego and Imperial counties. It enabled sharing of student data between K-12 schools, community colleges and universities in order to improve instruction and better prepare students for their next educational level. In January 2003, the project received a grant to implement Cal-PASS statewide. It is now supported by the Governor and the Legislature with ongoing, systemic funding.
Q. What will Cal-PASS help me to do?
A. Cal-PASS is a way to track student progress from kindergarten through attainment of a baccalaureate degree, as students transition from one educational system to another. We have discovered that the educational segments have divergent expectations of what students should know before entering the next grade level or institution. Moreover, faculty have told us they are starving for information about the success of their students when they move to the next educational level, and they believe that, once armed with transition information and the specifics about what is expected of students, they can improve their teaching by better aligning their curricula.
Q. What does Cal-PASS stand for?
A. California Partnership for Achieving Student Success.
Q. Who do I contact to get more specific information about Cal-PASS or get specific questions answered?
A. There are a number of people you can contact. Start with the Executive Director, Dr. Brad Phillips, of the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District at bphillips@calpass.org or (619) 252-8503.
For information regarding the database, data submission and data format, contact the Database Administrator, at info@calpass.org or (916) 995-3183.
For information on creating curriculum councils, contact the Associate Director, Michelle Kalina, at mkalina@calpass.org (916) 759-2486, or Shelly Valdez at svaldez@calpass.org.
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Q. What are the steps to participate in Cal-PASS?
A. There are four steps:
- Attend an initial meeting with other potential consortium members and/or established consortium members. There are regional coordinators for each of the major geographical areas of California who are available to help the lead institution arrange the meeting. The regional coordinator and/or the Executive Director, Brad Phillips, are available to make a presentation, if desired.
- Cal-PASS data warehouse contains mandatory core data as well as additional optional data agreed upon by each consortium. To participate in Cal-PASS you must commit to helping develop the data warehouse by submitting core data annually (in the fall) in accordance with the Data Element Dictionary. Cal-PASS participants work with the consortium to determine if additional optional data will be included. Examples of optional elements are: participation in programs such as reduced lunch or targeted outreach. Participants commit to submitting additional data as agreed upon by the consortium.
- Sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Cal-PASS and work with your local educational institutions to form a regional consortium. Complete a data sharing cover sheet and attach share lists. A model regional agreement template is available as well as share lists with check boxes here
- Upon receipt of the User ID and password, submit data to the Cal-PASS web submission site according to the Cal-PASS data element dictionary standards.
Q. What do Cal-PASS participants receive when they join?
A. Cal-PASS participants get access to:
- A web-accessible, password-protected site which generates reports on the performance of students attending schools within the consortium and allows authorized users to explore aggregated data. These reports may be generated by institution, by year, or and/or by subject area.
- A web-accessible, password-protected site where unitary record level data may be downloaded by authorized users in a standard format that can import to a variety of analysis tools. This allows users to perform analysis at a deeper level than the standard reports.
- Access to Cal-PASS user group meetings and user web portal to share ideas about uses of Cal-PASS data.
Q. What if another member doesn’t choose to share with me?
A. No access to data will be given unless both institutions/districts agree to share. There must be a reciprocal agreement in order for either participant to have access.
Q. Can I enter into a MOU with another consortium?
A. Yes. Regional lines are not absolute. Depending on geography and student transfer patterns, a school may develop a relationship with more than one consortium.
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Q. How is confidentially of student records ensured?
A. Cal-PASS is interested in tracking large numbers of students as they transition from one educational level to another over time. It is not interested in the performance of an individual student. Nevertheless, student identifiers such as social security numbers or other “keys” are encrypted so no individual student can be identified in the data base. Cal-PASS is exceeds FERPA compliance.
More information (PDF document)
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Q. What data are submitted initially?
A. The first submission generally consists of 5 years’ worth of data to enable immediate analysis.
Q. Can I participate in Cal-PASS if I don't have five years of data?
A. Yes! Each consortium will work out the details of what the minimum data submission should be.
Q. How frequently will data be collected?
A. Data are submitted annually in November. The submission consists of information on students who attended the preceding academic year. For K-12 institutions, this generally means a single student file for the entire year. For colleges, this generally means a file containing multiple terms. Additional information is available in the Cal-PASS Database Design and Data Element Dictionary.
Q. What data should be in my files? / Where can I find a data element dictionary (DED)?
A. A Cal-PASS data dictionary can be found
here. There is an upload and a download web interface that you will be given access to once your District signs the MOU.
Q. How can we use the data we share in my region?
A. There are numerous ways to utilize data. Ultimately, the purpose of Cal-PASS consortiums is to align curriculum and improve instruction by having faculty from the different educational segments work together utilizing data rather than relying on anecdotal experience. Cal-PASS data can be used for program review purposes, cohort tracking, identifying successful course-taking patterns, and for intersegmental staff development efforts. Some regions have successfully used Intersegmental Curriculum Councils to bring faculty together from secondary schools, community colleges, and universities to analyze data and work on aligning curriculum to improve student performance as they transition from one educational level to the next.
Q. How much staff time does Cal-PASS data submission require?
A. Cal-PASS has been designed to have the least impact on participants. The Data Element Dictionary was created to use existing coding schemes and values wherever possible. The K-12 files conform to CSIS, the community college files are from the Chancellor’s Office MIS and the university files are based on the system data requirements. Cal-PASS staff are continually working with Student Information System Vendors to include utilities to facilitate the creation of the Cal-PASS datafiles. To date, the K-12 SIS vendors Powerschool, Eagle Aeries and SASI have such utilities.
Q. Where exactly is the Cal-PASS server housed?
A. The Cal-PASS servers are located in Sacramento at a Tier 4 data center.
Q. Who do I contact with questions about how to access the Cal-PASS server?
A. The Database Administrator, can answer all your technical questions:
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