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2011-12 Civil Rights Data Collection Questions and Answers


1. What is the purpose of the Civil Rights Data Collection?

The purpose of the U.S. Department of Education (ED) Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) is to obtain data related to the nation's public school districts and elementary and secondary schools’ obligation to provide equal educational opportunity. To fulfill this goal, the CRDC collects a variety of information, including student enrollment and educational programs and services data that are disaggregated by race/ethnicity, sex, limited English proficiency, and disability. The CRDC is a longstanding and important aspect of the Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) overall strategy for administering and enforcing the civil rights statutes for which it is responsible. This information is also used by other ED offices as well as policymakers and researchers outside of ED.

2. Under what authority does the Department conduct the CRDC?

The CRDC is a mandatory data collection, authorized under the statutes and regulations implementing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and under the Department of Education Organization Act (20 U.S.C. § 3413). The regulations implementing these provisions can be found at 34 CFR 100.6(b); 34 CFR 106.71; and 34 CFR 104.61.

3. When was the CRDC first conducted?

The CRDC was first conducted in 1968.

4. How are school districts chosen for the CRDC?

The 2011-12 CRDC will collect data from a universe of all public schools and school districts, including juvenile justice facilities, charter schools, alternative schools, and schools serving students with disabilities. The last time that the CRDC was collected from a universe of schools and school districts was in 2000. The 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2009-10 CRDCs collected data from a sample of school districts.

5. How are the data in the CRDC collected?

School districts have the option of providing their data through a web-based survey or through submitting an electronic file. Some state education agencies provide all the CRDC data for the school districts in their state.

6. What changes have occurred to the CRDC?

There are several important changes that began with the 2009-10 CRDC:

  • All data collected are from the same school year. (Previously the CRDC included data from the current and previous school years.)
  • There were important changes to what is being collected.
    • New data items were added to the 2009-10 CRDC. These new data items will also be collected by the 2011-12 CRDC.
    • One new data item was added for the 2011-12 CRDC. The 2011-12 CRDC will also collect data on preschool suspensions and expulsions.
    • Where feasible, the CRDC uses data that districts already provide to states, and that states then provide to the Department through EDFacts instead of collecting those items again through the CRDC.
  • For the 2011-12 CRDC, all districts must meet the requirements of the Department’s 2007 Final Guidance on Collecting, Maintaining and Reporting Data on Race and Ethnicity. For a copy of the guidance, see https://title2.ed.gov/Public/TA/Guidance.pdf PDF 109.01K

7. What data items are collected by the 2011-12 CRDC?

The following is a list of the data that the 2011-12 CRDC will collect.  Unless otherwise indicated, all student data is disaggregated by race/ethnicity, sex, disability, and LEP status.  

PART 1

School level

  • School characteristics, such as grades offered, whether the school is a special education, magnet, alternative or charter school, number of single sex academic courses (by content area), and whether students are ability grouped for English/Math (not disaggregated);
  • Enrollment, including disaggregated data for total enrollment, limited English proficiency (LEP), disability (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)), Section 504 only, pre-kindergarten and gifted & talented programs;
  • Algebra I course-taking in grades 7&8, 9&10, or 11&12;
  • Math and science course-taking and number of courses of each offered: 
    • Geometry
    • Algebra II
    • Advanced mathematics (e.g., trigonometry, elementary analysis, analytic geometry, statistics, pre-calculus)
    • Calculus
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Physics;
  • Full-time Equivalent (FTE) of first- and second-year teachers, total FTE’s, and FTE’s meeting all state licensing/certification requirements (not disaggregated);
  • FTE of High school counselors (not disaggregated);
  • Data on Advanced Placement (AP) courses:
    • Does the school have students enrolled in AP courses (Y/N)
    • Number of different AP courses offered (not disaggregated)
    • Are students allowed to self-select for participation in AP (Y/N)
    • Students participating in at least one AP course
    • Students taking particular AP courses:
      • AP Math of any kind
      • AP Science of any kind
      • AP Foreign Language of any kind
      • Other AP subjects of any kind; and
  • Students enrolled in an International Baccalaureate program.

District level

  • Number of schools;
  • Number of students served in the district’s schools;
  • Number of students served in non-district facilities;
  • Number of students awaiting special-education evaluation;
  • Harassment and bullying policies;
  • Desegregation order or plan; and
  • Pre-kindergarten and kindergarten programs (length of day and eligibility criteria).

PART 2

School level

  • Number of students who passed Algebra I in grades 7&8, 9&10, or 11&12;
  • Number of students who:
    • Took AP tests for all their AP courses
    • Took AP tests for some of their AP courses
    • Took AP courses but took no AP tests
    • Passed all AP tests taken by scoring 3 or higher
    • Passed some of AP tests taken
    • Passed no AP tests taken;
  • SAT or ACT test-taking during 2009-10 school year;
  • FTE teachers absent more than 10 school days (excluding professional development) (not disaggregated);
  • Discipline:
    • In-school suspension
    • Separate categories for one and more than one out-of-school suspension (used to be one category)
    • Corporal punishment
    • Expulsion (with and without services)
    • Zero-tolerance expulsion
    • Referral to law enforcement
    • School-related arrests
    • Data for students with disabilities is disaggregated by race/ethnicity, gender, and LEP;
    • Preschool suspensions and expulsions –New for 2011-12
  • Interscholastic Athletics (Single-sex sports/teams only)
    • Number of sports, teams, participants (not disaggregated by race/ethnicity or disability);
  • Harassment and bullying (students harassed as well as students disciplined, instances)
    • Separate reporting for harassment under Title VI, Title IX, and section 504/ADA;
  • Restraint and seclusion (students and instances):
    • Mechanical restraint
    • Physical restraint
    • Seclusion;
  • Retention (by grade); and
  • School finance:
    • Total personnel salaries
    • Total instructional-staff salaries
    • Teacher salaries
    • Non-personnel expenditures.

District level

  • GED course-taking:
    • Did LEA operate a GED program (Y/N)
    • Students aged 16-19 who participated in GED prep program
    • Students aged 16-19 who participated in GED prep program and who received GED credential

For a mock-up of the 2011-12 CRDC please visit: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/data.html

8. Which data for the CRDC are being collected through other data collections in ED?

To reduce the burden on LEAs, the CRDC no longer collects disaggregated school data on the number of students served under the IDEA by disability category or educational environment. Instead, the CRDC uses the data that LEAs submitted to the applicable state education agency (SEA) for the purpose of reporting required data under the IDEA. Likewise, high school completer data was no longer collected by the CRDC because ED already collects that data from SEAs through the EDFacts collection.

9. How can I find out more about OCR and the CRDC?

For more information about OCR, please visit:
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/index.html.

For more information about the CRDC, please visit:
http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/data.html

To view the 2009-10 CRDC Data, please visit:
http://ocrdata.ed.gov



   
Last Modified: 01/10/2020