Data and Documentation

HSLS:09 is the fifth in a series of secondary school longitudinal studies sponsored by NCES.  The design of HSLS:09 is similar to past studies, such as NELS:88 and ELS:2002, with data provided by students and their parents, math and science teachers, and school staff - both administrators and counselors.  However, HSLS:09 emphasizes math and science as well as preparation for postsecondary education and features the following innovations:  1) HSLS:09 is the first NCES-sponsored longitudinal study to begin with a 9th grade cohort; 2) School counselor input into students' decision-making about courses and postsecondary choices was collected; and 3) The mathematics assessment was developed specifically for this study and focuses on algebra skills critical to success in secondary and postsecondary education.

The public-use data are available in three software-based formats - SPSS, SAS, and Stata.  Below, you can download the syntax files for each of the software packages as well as the ASCII data file.

For the student-level file, where the data represent students in 9th grade in 2009-2010, the ASCII file name is "student.puf". For ease of use, all data collected as part of the HSLS:09 are merged to the student level. That is, the student-level file contains student data, parent data, teacher data, school counselor data, and school administrator data. There is no need to download the school level file for student-level analysis. For the school-level file, where the data represent the schools in the U.S. in 2009-2010 with 9th and 11th grades, the ASCII file name is "school.puf". You will need to download the software syntax file for the statistical software package you plan to use with the HSLS:09 data. This page provides the SPSS/PASW; SAS; and Stata syntax files that will call in the ASCII data into your statistical software package.  Please also download the Data File Documentation. This documentation provides critical, valuable information for understanding and analyzing the data.  The Data File Documentation also includes a codebook with the frequencies for all variables in the public-use dataset.