Impact of Changes to the
Standard Federal Categories on Data Collection Procedures

Each of the 49 states and the District of Columbia reported that historical files on students" race and ethnicity are maintained. All but three-Arizona, the District of Columbia, and South Carolina- issue reports on these data. Respondents were asked to assess the effect any changes to the state classification system have had and the influence any future changes might have on their recordkeeping processes. A variety of responses were elicited (Table 11). About one-third of the states (17) indicated that changes would affect their enrollment projections and/or prevent comparisons across time. However, 10 states (one-fifth) indicated that the impact had been or would be "none or minimal." Thirteen states (about one-fourth) suggested that the impact would depend on the kinds of changes implemented. Although Illinois believed that changes would require starting anew with these procedures, four states (8 percent) reported that changes would improve their data.

Again, these data look somewhat different when broken down by whether or not any changes to the categories had already been implemented. In the states where changes have been made, only Indiana felt that the changes had disrupted their enrollment projections and/or prevented comparisons across time, whereas 4 of the 8 states felt that the impact had been none or minimal (Table 11). In contrast, in the states where changes have not been made, 15 out of 42 (36 percent) felt that changes would disrupt enrollment projections, while 6 states (14 percent) felt the impact would be none or minimal.

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