June 2006
Is there any tool or resource that will provide a system of care management or leadership team with detailed information about schools and students in our community?
About the Common Core of Data (http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/)
The Common Core of Data (CCD) is an easy-to-use Web site database that contains information on individual schools and school districts. The information currently exhibited is from the 2003-2004 school year and includes information from all public elementary and high schools in the U.S. The database is hosted by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The NCES Web site describes the kinds of school-related data that the CCD collects, including contact information, demographic and descriptive data on students and teachers, and fiscal data, including revenues and current expenditures.
How Can I Use This Information?
System of care management teams or administration team can use this data when they begin planning how to involve education in system of care development. For example:
• Fiscal information will tell you what percentage of funds goes towards instruction, and what towards other services such as student support and administration. Knowing how funds are generated (from Federal, local, or State sources) and how they are used can help you develop your system of care collaboration with the education system. Identifying areas that seem underfunded may show you how you can support school programs through partnership ventures.
• Census information is extremely important for system of care communities when they are developing cultural competence strategic plans. CCD information allows you to see the demographics of your schools and school districts. This information should effect your planning for impact training and resource and workforce development.
• Student-teacher ratios are critical for understanding the level of support that schools might need for supporting students.
• Enrollment by grade can show the number of high school drop-outs in a school or district. Just look for decreases from grade to grade, particularly between 11th and 12th grades. The difference between those numbers can indicate the number of drop-outs.
• Free and reduced-price lunch eligible students tells you the socioeconomic range of your families and potentially the level of funding that the district has and what kind of student supports that school may need.
Often you’ll see correlations between indicators, such as a high number of students who are free-and-reduced-price lunch eligible, and a low teacher-to-student ratio. Taken as a whole, this data can begin to paint a picture of overall school and district needs and resources.
Where Can I Find the Information I Need?
The site is divided into four sections; each section is a menu item on the navigation bar under the CCD title on the upper portion of the page. These four sections include: About CCD, Data Resources, Coordinator’s Corner, and Publications. Rolling your cursor over each of these menu items will reveal a number of subtopics. The following is a brief guide to point you to some of the most useful data elements within each section.
I. About CCD:
• CCD Quick Facts: You might want to start here for an overview of the kind of information the CCD contains. This section includes answers to frequently asked questions such as:
o Rates of high-school drop-outs and graduates
o Number of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch
II. Data Resources:
You’ll probably find most of the information you are looking for in this section of the site. Sub-sections here include:
• School Locater: In this section you can type in a school’s name and location to take a look at school and enrollment characteristics such as:
- Student/teacher ratio
- Enrollment numbers by grade and race/ethnicity
- Number of students who are free-and-reduced-price lunch eligible
• District Locator: In this section, entering in the district, town, and State will give you a listing of information for that district. District data includes "Characteristics, Staff, Fiscal, and Census” information. Clicking on each of these sections or clicking on the “Show All” option on the right of the screen will bring up information including:
- Total number of schools
- Student/teacher ratio
- Numbers of English Language Learners (ELLs)
- Number of students with Individual Education Plans (IEPs)
- Types and numbers of staff
- Revenue and expenditures
- Student demographics
III. Coordinator’s Corner:
• State Education Agency (SEA) Web sites: This section includes links to SEA Web sites in each State.
IV. Publications:
Within this section you can browse either a) all NCES publications that use CCD data; or b) six types of annual publication. Out of the annual publications, you may find the following the most useful:
Good luck, and have fun exploring the site!
