Our Methodology

OpenSchoolData presents real federal education data for every US public school. We do not generate scores or grades of our own, we collect, organize, and display official data from three federal sources so parents can see enrollment figures, proficiency rates, and graduation rates in one place.

Data Sources

• NCES Common Core of Data (CCD), 2022, Accessed via the Urban Institute Education Data API (educationdata.urban.org/api/v1/). CCD is the federal government's primary database of public elementary and secondary schools, providing school-level enrollment, school type (charter, magnet, Title I), student demographics, student-teacher ratios, and directory information.
• EDFacts Assessment Data, 2020, Federal data on state assessment proficiency rates in math and reading, disaggregated by subject and student group. EDFacts proficiency data is reported at the district level, not the school level. We display district-level proficiency rates on school pages with a clear note that these figures reflect the district average, not the individual school.
• EDFacts Graduation Rates, 2019, Four-year adjusted cohort graduation rates (ACGR) for high schools, reported at the district level. As with proficiency data, graduation rates shown on school pages reflect the district average.

All three sources are free, public, and require no authentication.

What Data We Show

For each school, OpenSchoolData displays:

• Enrollment and demographics, Total enrollment, racial/ethnic composition, free/reduced lunch eligibility, English Learner percentage, and special education percentage. This data comes directly from NCES CCD at the school level.
• School characteristics, School type (regular, charter, magnet), Title I status, grade levels served, and student-teacher ratio. This data comes directly from NCES CCD at the school level.
• Proficiency rates, Percentage of students meeting or exceeding proficiency in math and reading. This data comes from EDFacts and is available at the district level. We display it on school pages with a disclaimer that it represents the district average.
• Graduation rate, The four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate for high schools. This comes from EDFacts and is available at the district level.

Data Granularity: What Is School-Level vs. District-Level

It is important to be transparent about data granularity. NCES CCD data (enrollment, demographics, school type, student-teacher ratio) is reported at the individual school level and is specific to each school. EDFacts proficiency and graduation rate data, however, is reported at the district level. This means that two schools in the same district will show the same proficiency and graduation figures. We display this data because it provides useful context, but we label it clearly so parents understand the distinction.

Data Collection Process

We query the Urban Institute Education Data API for school-level CCD data and merge it with district-level EDFacts assessment and graduation data. Schools are matched to their districts using NCES district identifiers. Schools in districts with no available EDFacts data show enrollment and demographic information only.

Update Frequency

NCES and EDFacts data are published annually, typically with a 12-18 month lag. Our current dataset uses 2022 CCD enrollment data, 2020 EDFacts assessment data, and 2019 EDFacts graduation rates. We update when new federal data becomes available, usually in the fall.

Known Limitations

• EDFacts proficiency and graduation data is district-level, not school-level. Individual schools within a district may perform very differently from the district average.
• State assessment standards vary significantly. A 70% proficiency rate in Massachusetts reflects different absolute achievement than 70% in another state.
• Standardized test scores do not capture everything that makes a school good, arts programs, school culture, extracurriculars, and social-emotional development are not measured.
• Private schools, charter schools that do not participate in state assessments, and homeschools are not included.
• Very small schools may have limited data available.
• Data years differ across sources (2022 CCD, 2020 assessments, 2019 graduation rates), so figures represent different school years.

How to Cite This Data

If you use data from OpenSchoolData, please cite:

OpenSchoolData. "[School Name] profile." openschooldata.org, 2026. Accessed [date].

Underlying data is sourced from NCES Common Core of Data and EDFacts. All federal education data is in the public domain.