CSP Form Appendix

Plan for the Collection of Data for the Charter Schools Program

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 1855-0016. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 45 minutes per response, including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the information collection. If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimate(s) or suggestions for improving this form, please write to: U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C. 20202-4651. If you have comments or concerns about the contents of this form, please contact:

Sharon Kinney Horn

Director of Evaluation and Dissemination

Office of Innovation and Improvement

400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Suite 4W332

Washington, D.C. 20202-5900

Fax # 202-401-4123

Phone # 202-205-4956

Plan for the Collection of Data for the Charter Schools Program

The purpose of this collection is to obtain student demographic and performance data on charter schools funded by the Charter School Program (CFDA #84.282A and B). For For data analysis of the data, ED will be collecting the total number of charter schools in each State and the total number of students enrolled at charter schools in each State. To maximize the use of data usage from EDEN/EDFacts and thus reduce grantee burden, the data collection will be done in phases.

Data Collection Phases and Activities

Phase 1 – Construct a Database of Current CSP-Funded Charter Schools and Award Amounts

These are the three main activities in Phase 1, each of which is described in detail below:

1. Collect CSP subgrant award information from state agencies

2. Collect CSP grant award information from charter schools funded by direct grants

3. Create single database of current CSP-funded charter schools and award amounts

Activity 1 – Collect CSP Subgrant Award Information from State Agencies

There are three important roles in the establishment and operation of charter schools: The charter developer, the authorized public chartering agency and the charter school itself. The charter developer refers to an individual or group of individuals (including a public or private nonprofit organization), which may include teachers, administrators and other school staff, parents, or other members of the local community in which a charter school project will be planned and implemented. The authorized public chartering agency refers to a State educational agency, local educational agency, or other public entity that has the authority pursuant to State law and approved by the Secretary to authorize or approve a charter school which may include, among other things, a local education agency (LEA), a university, a non-profit organization or an independent chartering board.

Charter schools must be established as a public school, and comply with applicable State and Federal laws regarding public schools. Section 5210(1) defines a charter school as, among other things, a "public school" that is created by a developer as a public school, or adapted by a developer from an existing public school, and operated under public supervision and direction. While the enactment of State charter school laws is solely a State prerogative, and the definition of a "charter school" under State law is a matter of State policy, in order to receive CSP funds, a charter school must meet the definition in Section 5210(1) of ESEA. In addition, a State charter school law defines whether or not the school is to be considered its own LEA or part of an LEA for purpose of the ESEA and IDEA.

These three roles could possibly be filled by a variety of entities within a combination of relationship, dependent on the State's charter law. For example, in one state an LEA approval of a charter developer's application results in a charter school that is defined as its own LEA and accountable directly to the State Education Agency in terms of NCLB. In another state if an LEA approves a charter developer's application, in accordance with the State's charter law, the charter school is considered part of the LEA for NCLB accountability purposes. ED will need to collect information on the identities of all three roles - the original CSP subgrantee, or charter developer, that proposed and implemented the charter school, the authorized public chartering agency, and the charter school.

Each state agency that received a Federal CSP grant will be asked to provide the information – see Table A-1 below – in the table below for the subgrants it awarded from Federal fiscal year funds. The collection form will be customized for each state agency to include the year, award number, and award amount of the CSP grants. Providing information on the CSP grants to the state agencies should assist them in gathering the information. for this collection. Also at this time (first contact),ED will also provide information describing all phases of data collection, total burden, and the use of additional data sources (EDEN/EDFacts) to reduce burden will be provided to the state agencies.

Method:	These data can be collected through a preformatted spreadsheet. To assist the state agency, the spreadsheet will be pre-populated with the award number, the dollar amount of the award, the grant period, and draw-downs.
Product:	The product of this data collection will be a database of subgrant award information from state agencies.

Table A-1

Data Elements Included in the Database of Current CSP-Funded Charter Schools and Award Amounts

Information for Each Federal Fiscal Year 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005 CSP Subgrant	Detail
1. Subgrantee identification (the entity that received the funds)	Subgrantee name Subgrantee DUNS number (optional) Subgrantee state ID Subgrantee mailing address
2. LEA of the subgrantee (will allow matching of subgrant award information to information from other sources)	LEA name LEA DUNS number (optional) LEA NCES ID LEA state ID LEA mailing address LEA location address Whether an LEA with only charter schools (yes or no) Whether charter school acts as its own LEA (yes or no) (Note: Not all charter schools are approved by a separate LEA)
3. Charter school(s) funded by the subgrant (including future schools) (will allow matching of subgrant award information to information from other sources) Note: ED will assist states in obtaining NCES IDs for any charter school without an ID.	Charter school name Charter school DUNS number (optional) Charter school NCES ID Charter school state ID Charter school mailing address Charter school location address
4. Subgrant information Note: States will be provided with their award number, the total dollar amount of the award, the grant period, and draw-downs.	For each charter school listed in #3 above: Dollar amount of subgrant award from Federal fiscal year 2002 funds Dollar amount of subgrant award from Federal fiscal year 2003 funds Dollar amount of subgrant award from Federal fiscal year 2004 funds Dollar amount of subgrant award from Federal fiscal year 2005 funds Month and year of each subgrant award Type of subgrant (Preplanning, Planning and Program Design, Implementation, or Dissemination)
5. Charter school operation	For each charter school listed in #3 above: School year school first enrolled students (school year, or “not applicable” for future schools or closed schools) Enrolled students for school year 2005-2006 (yes or no) If yes, number enrolled in school year 2005-2006 Enrolled students for school year 2006-2007 (yes or no) If yes, number enrolled in school year 2006-2007

Activity 2 – Collect CSP Grant Award Information from Charter Schools Funded by Direct Grants

The CSP grant award information for the 36 grantees that are not states, but received direct grants from ED, will be extracted from the GAPS database. However, NCES IDs, which are required for linking of other information, are not always available in GAPS and will need to be collected from the recipients. ED will ask the recipients to verify all of the same information as collected in Activity 1 above, and to fill in any missing information.

Method:	These data will be collected through a prepopulated email or regular mail form, since there are so few cases (N = 36).
Product:	The product of this data collection will be a database of grant award information from other than state agencies.

Activity 3 – Create Single Database of Current CSP-Funded Charter Schools and Award Amounts

After Activities 1 and 2, ED will merge the two databases of federally funded charter schools into one database. The database would be updated each fiscal year for new grants (annually) (under separate tasking).

Method:	The databases from Activity 1 and Activity 2 will be merged to create one database.
Product:	The product of this activity will be a single database of CSP-funded charter schools and award amounts.

Phase 2 – Review Student Demographic and Performance Information from CSP-Funded Charter Schools, Merge with Grant Award Information, and Make Available on EDFacts

These are the three main activities in Phase 2, each of which is described in detail below:

1. Merge student demographic and performance information extracted from the EDEN database onto the database of CSP-funded charter schools from Phase 1.

2. Review the student demographic and performance information for the CSP-funded charter schools.

3. Make Database of Current current CSP-funded charter schools, award amounts, and student demographic and performance information available on EDFacts.

Activity 1 – Merge Student Demographic and Performance Information Extracted from the EDEN database onto the Database of CSP-Funded Charter Schools from Phase 1.

ED will extract from the EDEN database the student demographic and performance data for each of the CSP-funded charter schools in the database from Phase 1, matching on the unique school identifier. The specific student demographic and performance data to be extracted is described in Table 1A-2.

Table A-2

Student Demographic and Performance Data for the CSP-Funded Charter Schools

Description	Reference in EDEN	Reporting Period
Total number of students enrolled	DG 39 – Membership Tables (Grand total)	10/1
Total number of student enrolled by gender and by race/ethnicity	DG 39 – Membership Tables, by gender DG 39 – Membership Tables, by race/ethnicity	10/1
Total number of students enrolled who participate in free or reduced price lunch program	DG 565 – Free and Reduced Price Lunch Table (Grand total)	10/1
Total number of Children with Disabilities (IDEA)	DG 74 - Children with Disabilities School Age Tables (calculated total from gender data)	12/1 or Child Count Date
Total number of Limited English Proficient Children	DG 621 – All LEP Students Table (calculated total from gender data)	School Year
Total number of students who participated in state testing in reading and mathematics	DG 589 – Students Tested in Reading (Language Arts/English) Tables (when testing status is yes) DG 588 – Students Tested in Mathematics Tables (when testing status is yes)	Period of State assessment (usually Spring)
Total number of students who tested at or above proficient in reading and mathematics (separate figures)	DG 584 – Student Performance in Reading (Language Arts/English) Tables (crosswalking state performance levels to proficient and above) DG 583 – Student Performance in Mathematics Table, by performance level (crosswalking state performance levels to proficient and above)	Period of State assessment (usually Spring)
List of charter schools in the state	DG 27 – Charter School Status (list of all schools in a state with “yes” status)	10/1
Operational status of charter schools	DG 16 – Operational Status (“open,” “closed,” “inactive,” “future,” “added,” or “changed” for all schools with a “yes” status for DG 27)	10/1
LEA status of charter schools for federal funding	DG 653 – Charter School LEA Status (“yes” and “no” for whether the state considers the charter school an LEA for the purposes or IDEA and for the purposes of other federal funding (2 responses))	10/1
Number of students enrolled in charter schools	DG 39 – Student Membership Table (grand total for all schools with a “yes” status for DG 27)	10/1

Method:	Matching on the unique identifier, EDEN student demographic and performance data for the CSP-funded charter schools will be merged onto the database.
Product:	The product of this activity will be a database of EDEN student demographic and performance data for the CSP-funded charter schools ready for use in the review data collection of activity 2.

Activity 2 – Review the Student Demographic and Performance Information for the CSP-Funded Charter Schools.

For states that received a CSP grant, the data will be pre-populated into a collection form, and the SEA will be asked to review the data and provide any missing data. In states without a state-level CSP, the collection forms will be sent to the charter school grantees for review and to provide any missing data.

Method:	The data collection form for demographic and performance information of CSP-funded charter schools will be prepopulated and the forms sent out for review and to provide any missing data. Based on the data collection, the database will be updated.
Product:	The product of this activity will be a database of updated demographic and performance information for CSP-funded charter schools.

Activity 3 – Make Database of Current CSP-Funded Charter Schools, Award Amounts, and Student Demographic and Performance Information Available on EDFacts

ED will merge the databases of CSP awards and student demographic and performance information, will prepare the database for residence in EDFacts and upload it, and will create reporting templates to allow ED staff to access the database and report out the data. The database would be updated each fiscal year (annually) for new grants.

Method:	The databases from Phase 1 and Phase 2 will be merged, uploaded to EDFacts, and reporting templates will be created.
Product:	The product of this activity will be a database and reporting templates in EDFacts.

Phase 3 – Review Charter School Flag for EDEN and CCD for all Charter Schools

Currently, few SEAs have correctly labeled charter schools in the EDEN database. Correct identification of charter schools is needed not only for the Charter School Program but also for other program offices, including the National Center for Education Statistics. ED will work with the EDEN Coordinator, the CCD Coordinator, and the Charter School Director in each State with charter school legislation to ensure the schools are correctly labeled.

ED will extract from the EDEN database a list of all schools marked as charter schools, their operational status, and the total enrollment. The data to be extracted for review is described in Table BA-2. ED will then provide the list of charter schools, their operational status, their LEA status for federal funding, and the total enrollment for each to each SEA for review. ED will also include a list of the CSP-funded charter schools in the state for comparison. SEAs will be asked to return their corrected review forms to ED and to also make corrections through an amended EDEN submission.

Method:

The EDEN team will extract from the EDEN database the Charter Flag, Operational Status, and Enrollment for schools where DG 27 (see Table A-2 below) is “yes,” and will create and email state reports of this information to the SEA for verification (along with a list of the CSP-funded charter schools). The EDEN Coordinator in each state will work with the CCD Coordinator and the Charter School Director to complete the data verification process. The state EDEN Coordinator will make corrections through an amended EDEN submission.

Product:

The product of this phase will be a corrected and updated Charter School flag (DG 27) in the EDEN/EDFacts database.

Charter School Program (CSP) Grant Award Database page 9