Description
The U.S. immunization grantees are asked to use comparable methods when they conduct their school assessments in order to facilitate comparison and to ensure that the information collected is accurate. The methodology must include 1) Meeting ACIP requirements (including 2 doses of varicella); 2) Appropriate Census or sampling methodology; 3) Validation of data collected if the source was a school self-report; 4) Data collection by trained personnel; 5) Data on vaccination history from a provider/medical record; and 6) Data collected by appropriate date (December 31 of each year). The grantees’ annual school reports are evaluated on these standards. Each year, grantees receiving immunization funds are required to assess the vaccination status of children in kindergarten. The vast majority of states review the vaccination records of every child. The remaining states review records from a sample of children. In most cases, immunization program staff, local health department personnel, or school nurses review the vaccination information for each student. Subsequently, these findings are reported to CDC.
Data Years Available
2002-present
Periodicity
Annual
Mode
Abstraction of administrative/claims or data or from other records.
Selected Content
School records are reviewed to monitor vaccination status and exemptions.
Population covered
Kindergarten children
Methodology
About 75 percent of the U.S. immunization grantees review the school records of all kindergarten children. About 20 percent use a random sample methodology. The remainder use an alternative or mixed strategy.