About

What is EDGE?

The NCES Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates (EDGE) program designs and develops data resources to help understand the social and spatial context of education in the United States. EDGE uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to create custom indicators of social, economic, and housing conditions for school-age children and their parents. EDGE also uses spatial data collected by NCES and the Census Bureau to create geographic locale classifications, school geocodes, school district boundaries, and other types of data to support spatial analysis. As the primary collector and distributor of geospatial data within the U.S. Department of Education, the EDGE program also provides geospatial data required for policymaking and statutory purposes and works to ensure the Department’s compliance with the Geospatial Data Act of 2018.

Why are demographic, geographic, and economic data important?

The population of school-age children in the United States is remarkably diverse, and differences in demographic and economic conditions are often associated with differences in educational opportunities and outcomes. For this reason, it is important to understand potential socioeconomic differences when comparing educational conditions across students, schools, and school districts. Elementary and secondary education in the United States is primarily managed at the local level, and the socioeconomic conditions of local communities may be quite different from average conditions for the entire United States. Therefore, in addition to employing nationally representative surveys, NCES uses two primary programs to measure conditions at the local level. The NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) provides information about school and school district administrative and fiscal characteristics, while the NCES EDGE program provides information about school and school district demographic, economic, geographic, and housing characteristics.

What is educational geography?

The field of educational geography considers how location, space, and place influence the inputs, administration, and outcomes of education. It also attends to features like school locations, school district boundaries, school attendance zones, and other types of geographies used to organize and operate school systems. Geography has always played an important role in public access to education in the United States. The General Land Ordinance of 1785, expanded by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, required territories that wanted to become states to set aside the 16th section of every new township for the support of public education. Additional sections were added to later states until the total acreage reserved as education land grants was about the size of Colorado. Geography continues to play an important role in the way school systems are organized and the ways children and parents experience education. Demographic and economic conditions are equally important, but these characteristics often vary by location. As a result, educational geography begins by asking Where, and then considers Who, What, Why, and How. As Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software and technologies have evolved and become more widely accessible over the past two decades, research on the geospatial aspects of educational policy has grown substantially. As of February 2024, EDGE data resources have been used in over 400 peer-reviewed research articles.

What is NCES’s strategy for geospatial data?

The EDGE Program focuses on four primary principles to guide geospatial activities:

Develop, update, and maintain core data sources needed to support statutory programs and general analysis.
Make data available in common formats and through easily accessible locations.
Apply geospatial data and geoprocessing methods to create new data solutions.
Develop and provide supplemental resources to explore and understand the data.

Staff Contact

For questions regarding EDGE data, please send an email to EDGE@ed.gov.