Identity Crisis

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• Identity Crisis!
• Implementing the Final Guidance on Maintaining,
  Collecting, and Reporting Racial and Ethnic Data
  to the U.S. Department of Education
• Pat Your Favorite Fed Sherrill, USED
• and
• Bethann Canada, VDOE
• April, 2008

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History of ED Guidance
OMB - Federal Register - October 30, 1997
EEOC - Federal Register - November 2005
ED Draft - Federal Register - August 7, 2006
Public Comments Due - September 21, 2006
ED Final - Federal Register - October 18, 2007
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Basic Guidance Principles
Self Identification I Select Who I Am
Select Ethnicity and Race Two Questions
Select One or More Races One or Many
Encourage Re-identification Update Records
Transition SY 2007-2008 to SY 2010-2011
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The 2-part Question

• Please answer both parts 1 and 2.
• 1. Are you Hispanic or Latino? (choose only one)
• No, not Hispanic or Latino
• Yes, Hispanic or Latino
• 2. What is your race? (choose one or more)
• American Indian or Alaska Native
• Asian
• Black or African American
• Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
• White

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Current/Future Reports
Currently Reported Categories
Future Reporting Categories
American Indian or Alaska Native
American Indian or Alaskan Native
Asian
Asian or Pacific Islander
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
Hispanic
Hispanic or Latino
Black or African American
Black, not Hispanic
White
White, not Hispanic
Multiracial/Other (not currently reported)
Two or more races
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Race Ethnicity Data Codes
Abe Smith
Betty Smith
Carl Smith
Dan Smith
Ely Smith
Fran Smith
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Race Ethnicity Data Codes
Abe Smith
Betty Smith
Carl Smith
Dan Smith
Ely Smith
Fran Smith
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The NCES Forum Task Force

• Formed February, 2007
• Define best practices for collecting and storing
• Define best practices for aggregating and
  reporting
• Provide guidance to eliminate redundant effort
  by SEAs and LEAs
• Define best practices for re-inventory
• Promote awareness among vendors

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Background

• Guidance Released 10/19/2007
• 1997 Office of Management and Budget Revisions
  (10/30/1997)
• 2000 U.S. Census
• USED is the last federal agency to implement
• USED implementation is consistent with EEOC
  requirements for reporting staff
• Many federal reporting requirements require us to
  disaggregate by race/ethnicity, including AYP

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Background

• States collect race/ethnicity on
• Student Records
• Special Education Child Count
• State Assessments
• Discipline records
• Instructional Personnel Records
• and Maybe more

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The Guidance

• How educational institutions will collect and
  maintain racial and ethnic data from students and
  staff
• How educational institutions will aggregate
  racial and ethnic data when reporting to USED
• How data on multiple races will be reported and
  aggregated under NCLB
• The implementation schedule
• There are gray areas in the guidance

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GROUP ACTIVITY
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The Guidance

• For the first time, individuals may identify
  themselves as being of or belonging to more than
  one race
• 6.8 million people in 2000
• Self or Parent-identification encouraged
• Observer identification still an issue
• Re-identification strongly encouraged
• Required 2-part question
• Required for reporting of data on the 2010-11
  school year
• October 1, 2010 Enrollment

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Hispanic Issues

• Hispanics must choose a race
• Asking the Hispanic question first produces
  better responses
• It is not mandatory, but necessary to maintain
  for OCR investigations
• Hispanics reported to USED as one group
  regardless of race designation
• Error or alert?

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Maintaining Original Responses

• LEAs must maintain for a minimum of 3 years
  (nothing new)
• Federal grant requirement
• For OCR investigations
• Unclear whether an electronic version is
  acceptable
• What about paperless registrations and
  re-inventory?

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The Reporting Categories

• For reporting to USED, states and others will use
  these aggregate categories
• Hispanic/Latino of any race
• American Indian or Alaska Native
• Asian
• Black or African American
• Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
• White
• Two or more races
• This is aligned with EEOC reporting of staff

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The Issues (some of them)

• Race Unknown not allowed for K-12
• Observer identification AS A LAST RESORT
  mandatory
• Can use previously reported information
• Can use sibling information
• Who is the observer?
• Distance education issues
• Re-identification (strongly encouraged)
• Timing
• Burden on schools

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The Issues (some of them)

• NCLB
• Trend data required
• AYP categories will not necessarily change
• Information systems
• Major changes in data collections
• Assessment system and EIMS must be changed
• School district student information systems may
  require vendor changes for data entry and storage
• Must adopt standard set of codes to use statewide

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Coding for State Reporting

• Report only the Federal aggregates
• Less granular
• May not be an option
• Avoid re-using codes
• Maintain existing code for single race
• Binary, Yes/No, Alphabet
• Confusing?

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Coding for State Reporting

• Statewide codes are just the beginning
• Data Entry Screens important
• Cant expect secretary to enter 63 codes
• Need pull-downs, radio buttons
• Need to meet with vendors and explain needs
• Many LEA maintenance contracts include changes
  for mandatory state reporting
• For SIF states, require consistent storage
  locations to eliminate mapping problems

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Bridging

• Bridging two or more races to a single race
• a prediction of how the responses would have
  been collected and coded under the 1977
  standards. (OMB)
• OMB has 4 major categories and 9 methodologies
  for bridging
• Deterministic Whole Assignment Smallest group
• Deterministic Whole Assignment Largest group
  other than White
• Deterministic Whole Assignment Largest group
• Deterministic Whole Assignment Plurality
• Probablistic Equal Selection
• Probablistic NHIS Fractions
• Deterministic Fractional Assignment Equal
  Fractions
• Deterministic Fractional Assignment NHIS
  Fractions
• All inclusive

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Possible Implementation Schedule (VA)

• Begin Reinventory Spring 2009, back-to-school
  Fall 2009
• Some districts considering online collection
• State to collect old and new for transition
  period
• Data for the 2010-11 School Year
• Fall Student Record Collection
• Fall Testing
• December 1, 2010 Child Count
• 2010-11 Instructional Personnel
• May not apply, the guidance is unclear
• We are not aware that we report personnel to USED
  by Race/Ethnicity
• 2010-11 Discipline, Crime, and Violence Report
• Impacts 2011 AYP

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Discussion Issues

• When is the best time for re-identification?
• Local Student Information Systems
• Local HR Systems
• Disaggregated Staff Data is NOT reported to USED
• Coding Structures
• Communication
• Parents
• Staff
• Community
• Observer Id
• Can use previously reported information
• Other Issues?

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General Discussion