Pennsylvania School Data Project
This project brings together publicly-available state and federal data related to Pennsylvania’s pre-K through 12th grade public school system. When possible, the data is presented longitudinally, from the 2006-07 school year through 2016-17, and provided at the state, Local Education Authority (LEA), and school levels. This resource is designed to provide a single point of access for researchers searching and compiling available public school data. However, the data files are also organized for easy navigation by non-technical users. To view a webinar explaining the project and demonstrating how to use it, please click here.
Data Sources
All data available on this webpage has been retrieved from one of the following four data sources:
| Source | Description | Years Included | Types of Data Reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania department of Education (PDE) | PDE collects and reports a wide variety of data about school finance, attendance, graduation rates, schools and school districts, student progress, transportation, and other information. | 2006-07 through 2016-17 |
|
| Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) | The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights biannually collects and reports public school data on important education and civil rights indicators. | 2011-12 2013-14 2015-16 |
|
| Common Core of Data (CCD) | The CCD is the U.S. Department of Education’s primary database on public elementary and secondary education in the United States. CCD is a comprehensive, annual, national database of all public elementary and secondary schools and school districts. | 2006-07 through 2015-16 |
|
| PA Safe Schools | The Office for Safe Schools at PDE annually collects and reports school safety and discipline statistics. | 2006-07 through 2016-17 |
|
Data Sets
The data is organized into four data subsets listed below. A codebook including more detailed descriptions of all available indicators is available for download. Each level of data can be downloaded individually by clicking on the blue hyperlinks below. Users can also download comprehensive Excel and Stata files that include all compiled data at the state, LEA, and school levels. Please note that you will be redirected to a secure server to download these data files.
Includes data from PDE
- Federal, state, and local sources of funding
- District expenditures
- Other finance data
Includes data from PDE & CCD
- Student enrollment and demographic data
- Professional personnel
- Support staff
Includes data from PDE & CRDC
- Attendance rates
- Standardized test participation rates and scores
- Algebra I passing rates
- Suspensions and expulsions
- Graduation rates
- Dropout rates
School Characteristics/Opportunities (State, LEA, School)
Includes data from CRDC & PA Safe Schools
- Curricular and extracurricular offerings
- Teacher Experience and Absenteeism
Comprehensive (Excel: State, LEA, School; Stata: State, LEA, School)
- All data points for all schools and school districts
Data User Agreement
The data presented on this website page is available “as is,” and Research for Action (RFA) makes no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about that data. RFA is not liable for any claims or damages arising from use of the data sets. This Data User Agreement shall be governed by Pennsylvania law.
Users agree to acknowledge “Research for Action’s PA School Data” as the source of these data sets. The data cannot be used for any commercial advantage or for-profit activities. If you have questions about these data, please contact paschooldata@researchforaction.org.
The authors of the codebook are Jason Fontana, Research Assistant, and Molly Pileggi, Research Associate, at RFA.
Subject to users’ compliance with this Agreement, RFA grants a revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and make use of the data sets available here.
Research for Action © 2018 RFA’s PA School Data. Data and documentation. All rights reserved.
RFA wishes to acknowledge the William Penn Foundation for its generous support of this project. Any opinions expressed through this work are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the William Penn Foundation.