This lesson provides answers to common questions related to Student Program Tool for use in creating an SPRG upload to CALPADS.
CALPADS Program requirements change so often, it is vital to review the CALPADS Code Sets at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sp/cl/systemdocs.asp.
SPRG refers to the student program file that will report all student programs to CALPADS. These programs are the requested student programs such as Special Education (144), Free or Reduced Lunch (181, 182), etc..
Updates
The following are updates in regards to SPRG submissions, errors and information.
IF the user decides to populate the site field directly on the programs page AND the program start/end dates overlap with the chosen date parameters you are running the tool for, AND the program site matches an enrollment record in which the program start/end dates also overlap that enrollment start/end date, then the tool will pull the program record as it appears on the programs page.
IF the user does NOT populate site on the programs page (i.e. keeps the program "open"),that "triggers" the tool to use Enrollment History to query the data instead AND will use the below logic for non-continuous vs. continuous programs. Exceptions to this would be TK 185 and SPED 144. These programs are pulled from different places in the system, but they DO use Enrollment History to attach the right school site.
The use of the student program DIS is to be used at minimum, compared to the use of program RSP for students who need to receive instructional services to support their learning.
To learn more, here provided CA Ed Code on such programs: https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/se/lr/om032707.asp.

Secondary Enrollments as recorded are now automatically included in the file for submission. A new filter will appear with the option to view secondary enrollment records in comparison to the primary enrollment record.
According to the CALPADS data guide, specific programs must be closed each school year ( or considered "non-continuous") and re-opened for the following school year only if the student continues in the program.
As such the program dates are "bound" by a student's enrollment dates for the specific school year as well (i.e. in bounds with current year's SENR dates, etc.).
- Title I Targeted-122 > close each school year/ re-open if continuing
- Title I Part A Neglected-174 > close each school year/ re-open if continuing
- Title I-104 > Close each school year/re-open if continuing
- 504 Accommodation Plan-101 > Close each school year/re-open if continuing
- Free Meal Program-181 > Close each school year/re-open if continuing
- Reduced-Price Meal Program-182 > Close each school year/re-open if continuing
- Transitional KG (TK)-185 > Close each school year/re-open if continuing
According to the CALPADS data guide, specific programs can be and remain open for multiple years or are considered "continuous", assuming the student has continuous Site Enrollment AND continues in the program.
- Homeless Program-191 > Can keep open/continuous
- Gifted and Talented (GATE)-127 > Can keep open/continuous
- PREGNANT or PARENTING-162 > Can keep open/continuous
- Opportunity Program-108 > Can keep open/continuous
- California Partnership Academy-133 > Can keep open/continuous
- Migrant Education-135 > Can keep open/continuous
SPED 144 has special logic in that we pull the Initial IEP Date/Date of Entry into SPED (so this could be from a previous school year beyond the current reporting year assuming the student did not change SPED status throughout):
- SPED-144 > in our system SPED > Student Details > Entry Date Special Ed
For 17-18, if the user decides to populate the site field directly on the programs page AND the program start/end dates overlap with the chosen date parameters you are running the tool for, then the tool will pull the program record as it appears on the programs page.
If the user does NOT populate site on the programs page, that's the "trigger" the tool uses to use Enrollment History to query the data, keeping the above rules in mind as well (ie: rules on continuous programs, etc.).
The only exceptions would be TK 185 and SPED 144. These programs are pulled from different places in the system, but they DO use Enrollment History to attach the right school site, etc.
If the tool is looking at Enrollment History to pull the record (so site is NULL on the programs page), and the student's program start date in a program is 9/15/17, with an enrollment start date is 8/25/17, then the tool will pull the latter 9/15/17 from the programs page. Similarly, let's say the student's program start date is 8/1/17 (for some reason) and the student's enrollment start date is 8/25/17, then the tool will pull 8/25/17 for the program start because the program has to be within bounds of the enrollment for the school year.
There's NO need to send site in any lunch programs import which would keep the site NULL for all lunch programs. It is our recommendation to just keep site NULL for all programs and only close them out/open when the student formally ends a program and/or switches programs, etc.
Please note that the SPRG Tool in Illuminate will pull the student's program eligibility start date for program codes 181 and 182 if a program eligibility start date is present (as required by CALPADS). If a program eligibility start date is not present, the tool will use the student's program start date. Even if the program eligibility or program start date is after the enrollment start date, the SPRG tool will pull those dates in that order.
We highly recommend that districts work with POS vendors importing any lunch data into Illuminate to provide both a lunch program start date AND lunch program eligibility start date.
Where to Start

1. Click on the Reports tab.
2. Under Admin, select State Reporting.

3. Once on the State Reporting Tools page, select CALPADS Student Program (New).
Please note that the order seen on the above screenshot may be different than the order of reports, extracts, and tools available in your list.
CALPADS SPRG Overview
These are some of the awesome things found on the Home menu for any of our CALPADS tools. The sub navigation menu shows all of the pieces of the tool. The descriptions for each part of the tool are shown towards the bottom of the screen.
-
Pre-Flight Check: These reports help you to find any program discrepancies that a student may have.
- Enrollment Site Switches: Identifies students that have switched sites for the current reporting year and have an overlapping programs record that is not tied to the current site they are enrolled in.
- Missing Site Affiliations: Identifies students what have an open program record with missing site affiliation for the desired reporting year (previous years data clean up).
- Inactive Open Programs: Identifies students that have open programs tied to an enrollment record that has been closed.
- Import SPRG ODS Data: Allows you to import an ODS file (NOT A REPORT) from CALPADS.
- View SPRG ODS Data: Allows you to see the data you imported in a clean Excel style view.
- Overview: Allows you to see the number of files you have with data in Illuminate that are different than in CALPADS, the number of files that exist in Illuminate but that were not found in your downloaded ODS, as well as any records that have no changes (these records will not appear in the created file to submit to CALPADS.)
- View Comparison Data: Allows you to see a side-by-side view of all the data in Illuminate as well as in the CALPADS ODS that you downloaded. This is also where you will find any validation errors (if you select the hyper link you will be taken directly to the student programs page to fix the data).
- Create a Spring Submission: Allows you to create a file with new or changed student program records.
- Go to CALPADS Documentation will direct you to the official CALPADS site for further assistance.
There is a suggested order for how to use the tool for the very first time. You should first go through all three pre-flight reports, second check the overview page and verify that the numbers changed and new records are what you are expecting to see, third look at the comparison page and solve any validation errors that exist, and finally use the create tab to make a file with new and/or changed program records.


1. Select Program Pre-Flight Check to get started.
2. Choose Lookup Academic Year.
3. Choose the Pre-Flight Report Type you want to run/see data for.
4. Select Program Code if you wish.
5. Once you have pressed the Submit button, the data will load based on your year filter.
Please note that you can back date the tool and look at historical data. Since historical data has already been certified, you are just taking a peek!
Enrollment Site Switches
Once you have pressed the submit button, the data will load based on your year filter. Columns that light up with red text highlights need to be looked at it such as Enrollment Site and Program Site. In this case, we have two sets of columns with data to reconcile.
- Hold down the CTRL (Control Key for PC) or Command Key (for Mac) and click on the blue hyperlink in the SSID column. This will take you directly to a student’s program page, in a new separate tab, to quickly update the data accordingly, while keeping this page open.
- A slightly separate workflow could be to export the data into Excel, sort by site, and send out to office staff to close open programs for students who have moved to a different school in the instance.
Missing Site Affiliations
Once you have pressed submit, the data that displays below will display up with a red highlight for any program for a student who switched sites in previous years, but who should have an open program at a different site in the current year (think those GATE students who were in elementary school, but are now in middle school).
Inactive Open Programs
Once the report runs, you will see red highlights in the fields showing an Enrollment Exit Date and the Program End Date for a student.
- Hold down the CTRL (Control Key for PC) or Command Key (for Mac) and click on the blue hyperlink in the SSID column. This will take you directly to a student’s program page in a new separate tab, to quickly update the data accordingly, while keeping this page open.
- A slightly separate workflow could be to export the data into Excel, sort by site, and send out to office staff to close open programs for students who have moved to a different school in the instance. They can close out any open programs, or adjust program-closing dates for their students (based on permissions to data).

Next, Import your ODS download from CALPADS into Illuminate. Once you have done this you can move on View ODS.
In the View ODS (1) screen you can see the actual data that was pulled down from CALPADS. Once you have had a chance to view the ODS, you can move on to the Overview (2) screen.
Overview


The Overview screen will allow you to see three types of records. On the overview screen you can choose and select:
- Site
- Academic Year (defaulted to the current academic year)
- Start and End Date
- Error Filter
- Records or fields that are in this file
Once you've pressed Submit (6), you will receive a list of records or Type (7).
The first list of records you can view are Records with Changes that show data that is different in Illuminate than what was in your update. New Records shows students that are in Illuminate, but were not in the ODS upload from CALPADS. When you select the Create tab, the number of records on that are put into the ODS file to upload should be a combination of Records with Changes and New Records.
Various Print Options (8) are available such as MSExcel, PDF, Word Processor, and More...for additional formats such as CALPADS.
Select Comparison (8) to compare CALPADS data with Illuminate.

The View Comparison Data screen will allow you to see three types of records more in detail. This is where you will see validation errors, and any columns that appear with a red highlight are columns that have different data in Illuminate that what was in CALPADS. You can choose and select:
- Site
- Academic Year (defaulted to the current academic year)
- Start and End Date
- Error Filter
- Records or fields that are in this file
- Fields to Display
Once you've pressed Submit (7), you will receive more details for each type.
Quickly search for records or information using the Search Bar (8).
After you have reviewed the reports and are ready, select Create (9) to create a submission file for CALPADS.
Note: The dates and selections stick (or stay) according to your selections in Overview page. Please do not worry about the Current Membership Code, if the column is all red you’re fine (that column will be removed from the page before end of October 2016).
The Create tab is the most straight forward of all the tabs within the SPRG Tool. This step will create the desired CALPADS file for you, ready to submit. You can choose and select:
- Site
- Academic Year (defaulted to the current academic year)
- Start and End Date
- Error Filter
- Records or fields that are in this file
- Include Changed Records
- Include New Records
Once you've pressed Submit (8), you will have created and placed the file in your downloads space. That file should be uploaded into your CALPADS instance.
Warning: Please do not open the file after you have downloaded it unless you are using a text editor. Opening the file in Excel can cause changes to the column formatting that will render the file unsuitable for submission.
Next Steps
Upload the file in to your CALPADS instance.
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