NCES uses the Common Core of Data (CCD) survey to acquire and maintain statistical data from each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of Defense Dependents' Schools (overseas and domestic) and the other jurisdictions. Information about staff and students is collected annually at the school, local education agency (LEA) or school district, and state levels. Information about revenues and expenditures is also collected at the state and LEA levels.
Data are collected for a particular school year via survey instruments sent to the state education agencies during the school year. Since the CCD is a universe survey, the CCD information presented in this edition of the Digest is not subject to sampling errors. However, nonsampling errors could come from two sources: non-return and inaccurate reporting. Almost all of the states submit the six CCD survey instruments each year, but submissions are sometimes incomplete or too late for publication.
Understandably, when 58 education agencies compile and submit data for approximately 96,000 public schools and over 14,000 local school districts, misreporting can occur. Typically, this results from varying interpretations of NCES definitions and differing record keeping systems. NCES attempts to minimize these errors by working closely with the state education agencies through the National Forum on Education Statistics.
The state education agencies report data to NCES from data collected and edited in their regular reporting cycles. NCES encourages the agencies to incorporate into their own survey systems the NCES items they do not already collect so that those items will also be available for the subsequent CCD survey. Over time, this has meant fewer missing data cells in each state's response, reducing the need to impute data.
NCES subjects data from the education agencies to a comprehensive edit. Where data are determined to be inconsistent, missing, or out of range, NCES contacts the education agencies for verification. NCES-prepared state summary forms are returned to the state education agencies for verification. Each year, states are also given an opportunity to revise their state-level aggregates from the previous survey cycle.
Further information on CCD may be obtained from:
John Sietsema
Elementary/Secondary Cooperative System and Institutional Studies Division (ESLSD)
National Center for Education Statistics
1990 K Street NW
Washington, DC 20006
http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/
NCES Sources