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Data Products

ECLS-K:2011 Kindergarten — Fifth Grade Public-use File
ECLS-K Kindergarten-Eighth Grade Public-use File
ECLS-B Files
ECLS restricted-use files: Variable names and labels (XLSX file: 1.8 MB Revised 12/18/23)

ECLS-K:2011 Kindergarten — Fifth Grade Public-use File

Getting started

The ECLS-K:2011 kindergarten–fifth grade public-use data file (NCES 2019-050) provides data at the child level for each of the 18,174 children who participated, or whose parent participated, in at least one of the two kindergarten data collections (Fall 2010 or Spring 2011). Each child record contains data from the child assessments and child questionnaires, the various respondents associated with the child, weights and imputation flags, and administrative variables. This is the final public-use file released for the ECLS-K:2011 and includes data for all nine rounds of data collection (fall 2010, spring 2011, fall 2011, spring 2012, fall 2012, spring 2013, spring 2014, spring 2015, and spring 2016). This file replaces the previously released kindergarten-fourth grade public-use file (NCES 2018-033).

From this web page, users may download ECLS-K:2011 data documentation, data files, and setup files for SAS, SPSS, and STATA. In addition, files for the ECLS-K:2011 Electronic Codebook (ECB) may be downloaded from this site. The ECB allows analysts to easily examine the variables in the dataset and facilitates the creation of SAS, SPSS, or STATA files. The ECLS-K:2011 public-use data are not available on DVD.

The data collection instruments are available at https://nces.ed.gov/ecls/instruments2011.asp

Public-Use Data File User's Manuals

ECLS-K:2011 Kindergarten User's Manual, Public Version (4.9 MB)
ECLS-K:2011 Kindergarten-First Grade User's Manual, Public Version (3.8 MB)
ECLS-K:2011 Kindergarten-Second Grade User's Manual, Public Version (5.2 MB)
ECLS-K:2011 Kindergarten-Third Grade User's Manual, Public Version (4.0 MB)
ECLS-K:2011 Kindergarten-Fourth Grade User's Manual, Public Version (4.3 MB)
ECLS-K:2011 Kindergarten-Fifth Grade User's Manual, Public Version (3.7 MB)

Electronic Codebook

The Electronic Codebook (ECB) software allows users to identify and examine variables available in the public-use data file. The codebook view displays the available response options and frequencies for each variable. Variables that are only available in restricted-use format also appear in the ECB, but they carry values of -2 for all cases. Using the ECB, the data user can create SAS, SPSS for Windows, and Stata syntax files that can be run to generate a customized data file containing only the variables of interest.

The ECB program runs within the Windows 95®, Windows 98®, Windows 2000®, Windows XP®, Windows NT® 4.0, Windows Vista™, or Windows 7® environment on a Pentium-class or higher personal computer (PC). The ECB is not designed for use on Apple Macintosh systems, but Mac users can create a data file using the syntax files provided below.

Instructions for installing the ECB can be found in chapter 8 of the ECLS-K:2011 Kindergarten-Fifth Grade User's Manual. (347 KB)

Installation Files (35.7 MB)

Syntax Files

The syntax files provided here can be run in SAS, SPSS for Windows, or Stata to create a data file containing all the variables available in the complete ECLS-K:2011 kindergarten-fifth grade public-use data file (approximately 26,100). Users who install the ECB on their computers can create customized syntax files to generate data sets with fewer variables than are contained in the full data set in order to more efficiently analyze the data.

Users will need to edit the setup file syntax so that the directories specified in the syntax match the location of the ASCII data file on their computers. Also, the syntax files are currently set up to create and save to a directory called C:\ECLSK2011 K5PUF\. Users need to either create this directory on their machine or appropriately alter the "Save to" step in the syntax file.

SPSS: ECLSK2011_K5PUF.sps (5.01 MB)
SAS: ECLSK2011_K5PUF.sas (3.53 MB)
Stata: ECLSK2011_K5PUF.do (1.53 MB)
ECLSK2011_K5PUF.dct (2.15 MB)

File Record Layout

Users can create customized data files using the syntax files in conjunction with the information contained in the ECLS-K:2011 file record layout. The file record layout documents the position for each variable in the raw data ChildK5p.dat and can be used as a reference for editing the full syntax file to select variables of interest.

ASCII Data File

The raw data are provided in an ASCII data file named childK5p.dat, which is contained in the ZIP file below. The syntax file (either created by the ECB or the full syntax file) reads in the raw data from the .dat file to create a data file for analysis. Users should not access or modify the ASCII data file directly, as any changes made to the file will alter the raw data obtained during data collection.

ChildK5p.zip (460 MB)

Reading in data from the ASCII data file
The syntax files contain an input statement indicating where the ASCII data file is located on your computer. For example, in SPSS this statement is as follows:

FILE HANDLE FHAND /NAME='D:\childK5p.dat' /LRECL=5008.

The location of the childK5p.dat file in this input statement must match the location on your computer where you save the file. If the location does not match, the statistical software package being used will produce an error.

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ECLS-K Kindergarten-Eighth Grade Public-use File

How to get started

From this web site, users may download data documentation, data files, and setup files for SAS, SPSS, and STATA. The public-use ECLS-K data are also available online through NCES’s Online Codebook.

There is an error in the data set contained in Childk8p.zip, Childk8p.z01, Childk8p.z02, Childk8p.z03, Childk8p.z04, Childk8p.z05. Corrected theta scores for all cases across all years of the study can be accessed here.

Notes

Users will need to edit the setup file syntax so that the directories specified in the syntax match the directory structure and the location of data on their computers. Users may wish to create a ECLSK folder associated with their C: drive (C:/ECLSK).

The syntax files are currently set up to create and save to a directory called C:/ECLSK. Users need to either create this directory on their machine or appropriately alter the "Save to" step in the syntax file.

The child level catalog is extremely large and has been split into 6 segments. For computers with slower connection speeds, it is possible that a large file such as this one may become corrupted during the lengthy time it takes to download it. If the file is corrupted, please reattempt the download using a computer with a faster connection speed. Once all 6 have been downloaded, unzipping the primary “childk8p.zip” will automatically unzip and join the other segments into one large ASCII file.

Data File User's Manual

Child Catalog

There is an error in the data set contained in Childk8p.zip, Childk8p.z01, Childk8p.z02, Childk8p.z03, Childk8p.z04, Childk8p.z05. Corrected theta scores for all cases across all years of the study can be accessed here.

Base Year School Catalog

Base Year Teacher Catalog

File Record Layout

Users can create customized data files using the syntax files in conjunction with the information contained in the ECLS-K file record layout (Appendix B of the ECLS-K User’s Manuals). The file record layout documents the position for each variable in the raw data ChildK8p.dat and can be used as a reference for editing the full syntax file to select variables of interest.

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ECLS-B Files

How to get started

Due to the sensitivity of the data and the young age of the children in the ECLS-B, ECLS-B case-level data are available only on restricted-use files, which are available to researchers who are granted an IES Restricted-Use License. However, the public can conduct some ECLS-B data analyses using NCES's online data analysis tool, PowerStats, which can be found on the DataLab website. PowerStats allows for analysis of restricted-use data without access to the case-level data themselves.

See the ECLS Tip Sheet “How to Obtain and Access ECLS Data” for information on how to obtain restricted-use ECLS-B data.