Public School Data

The Department of Education's primary database on public elementary and secondary education in the United States is the Common Core of Data (CCD). The CCD surveys are conducted annually and collect data about all public elementary and secondary schools, all local education agencies, and all state education agencies throughout the United States. CCD contains three categories of information: general descriptive information on schools and school districts; data on students and staff; and fiscal data. The general descriptive information includes name, address, phone number, and type of locale; the data on students and staff include selected demographic characteristics; and the fiscal data cover revenues and current expenditures.

Private School Data

The Private School Survey produces data similar to that of the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) for the public schools. The target population for the survey consists of all private schools in the U.S. that meet the NCES definition (i.e., a private school is not supported primarily by public funds, provides classroom instruction for one or more of grades K-12 or comparable ungraded levels, and has one or more teachers. Organizations or institutions that provide support for home schooling without offering classroom instruction for students are not included.).

Calculated Data Items

Ratios like pupil/teacher ratios or per-pupil finance items are calculated from values reported on the survey data files. For consistency these are computed from elements within the same survey. For example, state-level per-pupil expenditures are calculated from expenditure and enrollment data as reported on the state finance survey (NPEFS), not from aggregates of lower-level data. District-level per-pupil expenditures use enrollment as reported on the district-level finance survey (F33), not the enrollment from the non-fiscal district survey.
The state averages displayed in Quick Facts are the averages of all districts reporting that item.
The U.S. averages displayed in Quick Facts are for the fifty states and the District of Columbia that reported that item. U.S. territories, Department of Defense dependents’ schools and the Bureau of Indian Education schools are excluded from these averages.
Totals are column totals of the items listed on the screen.

Detailed definitions of individual data items are provided in the ElSi Table Generator.

For more information please visit the appropriate websites listed below.

CCD - http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/

PSS - http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/

The Elementary/Secondary Information System (ElSi) is an NCES web application that allows users to quickly view public and private school data and create custom tables and charts using data from the Common Core of Data (CCD) and Private School Survey (PSS).

ElSi utilizes variables that are frequently requested by users for producing tables. It is a fast, easy way to obtain basic statistical data on U.S. schools. When generating custom tables, ElSi allows the user to choose row variables, column variables and filters to refine the data included in tables produced.

The Common Core of Data (CCD) is a program of the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics that annually collects fiscal and non-fiscal data about all public schools, public school districts and state education agencies in the United States.

The data are supplied by state education agency officials and include information that describes schools and school districts, including name, address, and phone number; descriptive information about students and staff, including demographics; and fiscal data, including revenues and current expenditures.

The Private School Survey (PSS) consists of a single survey that is completed by administrative personnel in private elementary/secondary schools.

Information collected includes: religious orientation; level of school; size of school; length of school year; length of school day; total enrollment (K-12); number of high school graduates; whether a school is single-sexed or co-educational and enrollment by sex; number of teachers employed; program emphasis; and existence and type of Kindergarten program. The PSS is collected on a biennial basis.

ElSi Tutorial

With quickFacts you may quickly view single data elements for a state, district or school

View characteristic & financial data
View contact information
Chart and Print data
Link to expressTables for additional analysis

With expressTables you may view most requested data tables at the state, county, district, and school levels

Make refinements
Sort a column with a single click
Chart each row of data
Print and export a table

With tableGenerator you may create custom tables for a state, district, or school

Filter columns
Chart & compare institutions
Drag & drop, sort, and remove columns
Export a table

popularTables

Use these links to create a table for each of the datasets. Click "Modify" above the tables to change the variables included in the table.

NOTE: All three ElSi tools use available data beginning in 1986-87 to the most recent school year from Common Core Data (CCD) and Private School Survey (PSS). Closed Schools (status=2) and Closed Districts (bound=2) are excluded from this application. Visit ElSi's about the data section for more information.