The long-awaited data from the latest Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) is now available. This new data for the 2020-21 school year provides an important update in the midst of a pandemic on key indicators of opportunity for our nation's public school students. As a researcher and advocate, I'm excited to explore the data, understand its limitations, and dig deeper into the new features and tools that come with this year's releases. In addition to the data release, we've added new and improved data tools to visualize your CRDC data for schools, districts, states, and countries. This allows for comparisons between district, state, and national averages, not just this year. All biennial collections dating back to 2011-2012. For example, if you want to see how the number of Black students participating in dual enrollment programs in your local high school compares to district, state, and national averages, you can use our tools to do that directly. can. Visit civilrightsdata.ed.gov to see data for schools and school districts in your community.
This new data from CRDC is some of the best available to highlight the experiences of students across U.S. public schools. EdTrust used historical CRDC data to identify opportunity gaps for students of color and students from low-income families. Using data provided by CRDC, EdTrust was able to:
- Identify the various reasons why Black and Latino students are excluded from advanced courses
- We find that in many states, black and Latino students are more likely to attend schools with a higher proportion of novice teachers.
- We emphasize that most states do not provide adequate access to school counselors for students of color and low-income students, especially those in early grades.
- We highlight the use of exclusionary disciplinary practices that result in Black and Indigenous girls being suspended from school at higher rates than white girls.
Along with the data tools, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) will show you what the data says about the student experience in the 2020-21 school year and help you better understand how the data was collected and quality checked. We have released a helpful overview. While the CRDC has been and continues to be a powerful tool for understanding students' access to resources in schools, there are several things that make this an unusual year that researchers and advocates believe will help schools understand student access to resources. You need to be thoughtful about how you use your data. As for the data, while some students attended virtual school for most of the year, others did not — and this is inconsistent across the country — school climate data The settings are different and more data was suppressed due to errors (e.g. seemingly inaccurate or missing data). Given the varying experiences of students learning virtually or in school buildings, here are some questions to ask when using data.
Can we compare the experiences of students by race/ethnicity to understand whether certain groups are changing over a short period of time in particular schools or districts?
yes. This was and remains the purpose of CRDC. CRDC can directly compare in-school resources for different student groups. Data from CRDC is especially useful for comparing data between schools and districts. For example, I used CRDC to calculate her AP course enrollment numbers for Black students from 2020 to 2021 at her two high schools that I attended (Career High School and Hillhouse High School). We believe in investigating the differences.
Can I compare data between school districts or states?
Yes, but do so with caution. When comparing across districts and states, be wary of missing data, especially for large districts. For example, in New York State, less than 1% of students were suspended from school, according to the 2020-21 CRDC, while New York City Public Schools data shows that exclusive disciplinary actions (such as in-school and out-of-school suspensions) ) presents data on students who have experienced ) suppressed for data quality reasons. This means that New York State's 1% suspension data point does not collect data for her one-third of the state's students who attend New York City public schools. This pattern of missing data can distort state-level summaries, and if enough error exists, missing data can also distort national summaries. The important thing is to understand what the limitations are and to be clear about those limitations when using the data.
Can I compare this year's results with previous years to see trends?
Yes and no. Differences between 2020-2021 and other years in individual schools and districts reflect real differences in student experiences that should be examined. Comparing districts and states, however, is more difficult. Although researchers, policymakers, and advocates can compare this new data with older data and other data sources as a “gut check” on whether the 2020-21 data appears irregular, , comparisons should not be made with previous years to make concrete judgments about trends. For example, in 2017-2018, the number of school counselors was approximately 56,000. From 2020 to 2021, the number of school counselors more than doubled (to 127,000). This is an important change, but it also reflects how district leaders prioritized support for students' mental health needs during the pandemic and as Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds expire. Data should be considered in conjunction with what is known about whether to continue supporting them. During September.
The new CRDC is an important tool that advocates, policymakers, and educators can use to better understand the 2020-21 education landscape. I'm looking forward to digging into this year's data to learn more about student experiences and school conditions in 2020-2021, but also mindful of the limitations of the data and how to use it responsibly. To go.