What is the Civil Rights Data Collection?

The Civil Rights Data Collection is a biennial (i.e., every other school year) survey of public schools required by OCR since 1968.

Who participates in the CRDC?

The CRDC collects data from public local educational agencies (LEA) and schools, including juvenile justice facilities, charter schools, alternative schools, and schools serving only students with disabilities.

Where can I see the information reported by school districts for the CRDC?

Data from the 2000, 2004, 2006, 2009-10, 2011-12, 2013-14, and 2015-16 CRDC surveys are available in the CRDC reporting tool at http://ocrdata.ed.gov.

Where can a school district get help about reporting information for the CRDC?

Information about collecting and reporting data for the CRDC is available at this link.

What is the purpose of the CRDC?

The CRDC is a longstanding and critical aspect of the overall enforcement and monitoring strategy used by OCR to ensure that recipients of the Department’s Federal financial assistance do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, and disability.

OCR relies on CRDC data it receives from public school districts as it investigates complaints alleging discrimination, initiates proactive compliance reviews to focus on particularly acute or nationwide civil rights compliance problems, and provides policy guidance and technical assistance to educational institutions, parents, students, and others.

In addition, the CRDC is a valuable resource for other Department offices and Federal agencies, policymakers and researchers, educators and school officials, parents and students, and the public who seek data on student equity and opportunity.

Under what authority does OCR conduct the CRDC?

OCR has authority under section 203(c)(1) of the Department of Education Organization Act (20 U.S.C. 3413(c)(1)), and the regulations implementing several of the civil rights statutes that it implements, to collect data that are necessary to ensure compliance with civil rights laws within the jurisdiction of OCR.

The civil rights laws enforced by OCR include: Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, and national origin; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits discrimination based on sex; and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. OCR’s implementing regulations for each of these statutes require recipients of the Department’s federal financial assistance to submit to OCR “complete and accurate compliance reports at such times, and in such form and containing such information” as OCR “may determine to be necessary to enable [OCR] to ascertain whether the recipient has complied or is complying” with these laws and implementing regulations. 34 CFR § 100.6(b), 34 CFR § 106.71, and 34 CFR § 104.61, located at www2.ed.gov/policy/rights/reg/ocr/index.html. In addition, pursuant to a delegation by the Attorney General of the United States, OCR shares in the enforcement of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which prohibits discrimination based on disability. Any data collection that OCR has determined to be necessary to ascertain or ensure compliance with these laws is mandatory. OCR also has jurisdiction under the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and the Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act.

How can I find out more about the CRDC and OCR?

For more information about the CRDC and OCR, please visit:
http://www.ed.gov/ocr/data.html.

What information is being collected in the 2017–18 CRDC?

A detailed list of 2017–18 CRDC data elements is available here.

What is different in the 2017–18 CRDC?

The 2017–18 CRDC is similar to the 2015–16 CRDC previously approved by OMB in December 2015. A few changes were made to the CRDC, and those changes will have the net effect of reducing burden on school districts. For the 2017–18 school year, the CRDC will collect data on computer science classes and school internet access. The collection of these new data will be optional for the 2017–18 CRDC. In addition, the CRDC will no longer collect data on high school equivalency course exam results, and Advanced Placement course exam results. Finally, student chronic absenteeism data will no longer be collected by the CRDC because the data will be obtained through the EDFacts collection.

OMB approved the changes to the CRDC under the Paperwork Reduction Act on October 16, 2017, under Control Number 1870-0504. All the documentation submitted to OMB can be found here.

Almost all of the data elements that were previously collected by the 2015–16 CRDC will continue to be collected by the 2017–18 CRDC.

The following data elements are new and optional for the 2017–18 CRDC:

• Number of computer science classes in grades 9-12.
• Number of computer science classes in grades 9-12 taught by teachers with a computer science certification.
• Number of students enrolled in computer science classes in grades 9-12 (disaggregated by race, sex, disability-Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), English Learner (EL)).
• Number of students enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) computer science in grades 9-12 (disaggregated by race, sex, disability-IDEA, EL).
• Whether the school is connected to the Internet through fiber-optic connection.
• Whether the school has Wi-Fi access in every classroom.
• Whether the school allows students to take home school-issued devices that can be used to access the Internet for student learning.
• Whether the school allows students to bring to school student-owned devices that can be used to access the Internet for student learning.
• Number of Wi-Fi enabled devices provided by the school to students for student learning use.

The following data elements were dropped for the 2017–18 CRDC:

• Number of students ages 16-19 who participated in LEA-operated high school equivalency exam preparation program, succeeded on test, and received high school equivalency credential (disaggregated by race, sex, disability-IDEA, EL).
• Number of students enrolled in one or more Advanced Placement (AP) courses who received a qualifying score on one or more AP exams.
• Number of students enrolled in one or more Advanced Placement (AP) courses who did not receive a qualifying score on any AP exams.
• Number of students absent 15 or more school days (disaggregated by race, sex, disability-IDEA, disability-504 only, EL).