VT Census Case Studies : South Carolina K-12 Education

Variables included in the Dataset:

K-12

  • Demographics
  • School
  • District
  • Attendance/Dropout
  • Grades/GPA
  • Courses
  • Test scores
  • ACT/SAT
  • Disciplinary action
  • Teacher info (salaries, etc.)

Higher Education

  • Demographics
  • Type of college
  • Enrollment
  • Courses
  • Major
  • Grades
  • Tuition/Scholarships

Workforce

  • Demographics
  • Salary
  • Industry

Link:  http://ed.sc.gov 

 

Date Inventory Completed: 5/22/15

Screening

  • Is there data available for 2013?
  • Can we access the data by August 15th? Completed a data request form

Does this dataset appear to meet our needs for the Census study? UNDECIDED

Explanation: Submitted a data request form for student-level K-12 data. Data can be linked with Higher Education data, but unclear if it can be linked to Workforce.

Full Inventory 

Purpose

  • What is the purpose of the organization collecting the data?

To educate South Carolina about the education system and use info to improve it.

  • Who else uses the data? (make a note if they sell the data to companies)

They do not make any specifications as to who can request data.


Description

  • What is the general topic of the data?
  • K-12 Student Information
  • Higher Education Student Information
  • Workforce Information
  • Longitudinal Education Information (includes K-12, Higher Ed, and/or Workforce)
  • What are the earliest and latest dates for which data is available?

Depends on area, test score are available for 2005-2013, expenditure data is available from 2007-2013, kid count/demographics are available from 1990-2013

  • How soon after a reference period ends can a data source be prepared and provided?

At least a year


Method

  • What is the data collection method (portal, other)?

Unknown

  • What is the raw source of the collected data (teacher, superintendent)?

Teachers and school administrators are responsible for entering all data


Selectivity (conversely, the representativeness)

  • What is the universe (e.g., population) that the data represents?

K-12 public and private schools, not clear as to whether or not charter schools are included


Stability/Coherence

  • Note any changes to the universe of data being captured (e.g., including private schools).

 None noted

  • Note any changes to the data capture method or sources of data.

 None noted


Metadata

  • Is there a description of each variable in the source along with their valid values?

 Yes, for each data set, there is a description of the the test (state and federal) and how it is scored

  • Are there unique IDs for unique elements that can be used for linking data?

Students are given unique IDs, but that information is private and needs to be requested.

  • Can K-12 be linked to higher ed or higher ed to workforce?

Data can be linked with Higher Education data, but unclear if it can be linked to Workforce.

  • Links to codebooks:

State Assessments: http://ed.sc.gov/data/state-assessments/ 

National Assessments: http://ed.sc.gov/data/national-assessments/ 

 Student Counts: http://ed.sc.gov/data/student-counts/ 


Accuracy

  • Any known sources of error? 

Unknown

  • Describe any quality control checks performed by the state (or data manager). 

None noted

 

Accessibility

  • How is the school-level data accessed (note if it needs to be screen scraped)?

School level data can be downloades as XLSX or PDF (some data sets only offer PDF download option)

  • How is the student-level data accessed?

Request must be submitted.

  • Note if IRB is needed or any other restrictions on accessing data.

N/A

  • Any records or fields collected, but not included in data source? 

Unknown

  • Cost? - One time or annual or project based payment?

Unknown


Privacy and security

  • Note any confidentiality policies or legal limitations other than FERPA: 

None noted

  • What do they consider personally identifiable information? 

Student identification numbers


Research

  • What research has been done with this dataset? 

Unknown

  • Research links:

N/A

Describe any other notes you have or any gaps/concerns you see with this dataset: