SDRP NSC Respondent Guide Verification Phase December 2022

Request for Non-Substantive Change to the
School District Review Program
OMB Control No. 0607-0987
U.S. Department of Commerce
U.S. Census Bureau

Purpose

Approved on August 2, 2021, the current Office of Management and Budget (OMB) collection
that supports the School District Review Program (SDRP) will expire on August 31, 2024. This
non-substantive change (NSC) request is to provide the revised respondent guide used for the
2023 SDRP Verification Phase. The revised guide does not alter the objective of the SDRP.
There are no substantive changes to the SDRP resulting from the revisions made to this
previously approved material. The revisions were necessary to reflect the most current SDRP
information or to update the style and organization of the content in the guide. The size of this
year’s guide decreased from 18 pages/2,246 words to 13 pages/1,951 words. Primary revisions
include documenting the change from county-based work to state-based work and the change
from use of the Geography Review tool to use of the Review Change Polygons tool to conduct
the verification review. These two changes, and the other modifications made to the
respondent guide, are listed in Table 1.

Background

The U.S. Census Bureau, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for
Education Statistics, conducts the SDRP annually. The SDRP gives state officials the opportunity
to update and review the Census Bureau’s school district data. States can provide updates and
corrections to the Census Bureau’s database of Federal School District Local Education Agency
(SDLEA) ID numbers, school district names, school district boundaries, levels, and grade ranges.
The 2023 SDRP Verification Phase begins in April 2023, after processing of the 2023 SDRP
Annotation Phase submissions completes. Mapping coordinators follow the instructions in the
Verification Phase respondent guide to review their school districts and confirm their
Annotation Phase updates are accurate. No new updates to school districts are accepted during
verification.

Burden

The burden of the 2023 SDRP is unchanged by this update.

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Attachments
Reported Change

Table 1: 2023 SDRP Material Changes Since 2022 SDRP
Location in Material

Description/Summary of Change(s)

Updated references and
screenshots for program
dates

Throughout the
document

Updated references and screenshots throughout each
document as appropriate to reflect the proper dates for this
year’s program.

Reorganized arrangement
of sections and style of
material

Throughout the
document

Applied consistent styles within the guide, revised section
and sub-section headings, and reorganized content to
promote better flow of instruction.

Revised the title of guide

Cover page

Changed from “School District Review Program (SDRP)
Verification Guide” to “School District Review Program
(SDRP) Respondent Guide: Verification Phase”.

Renamed first section
heading and created
three new sub-sections

Table of Contents
and Page iii

Changed “Verification Phase Overview” section heading to
“Introduction” with three new sub-sections “Overview”,
“SDRP Verification Phase Materials”, and “Respondent
Guide Organization”.

Renamed second section
heading and the subsection headings

Table of Contents
and Pages iii – 9

Changed “Verification Phase Processing Procedures” section
heading to “Conducting Verification Phase Review”.
Changed section 1.1 heading from “Verifying School District
Listings” to “Using the School District Listing Files”.
Inserted a new sub-section (1.1.1) for the “Verification
Inventory Changes File”.
Changed section 1.2 heading from “Verifying SDRP Updates
in GUPS” to “Using the Geographic Update Partnership
Software (GUPS)”.
Changed sub-section 1.2.1 heading from “Starting a New
Verification Project” to “Starting a Verification Phase
Project”.
Changed sub-section 1.2.2 heading from “How to Conduct
Verification Review“ to “Conducting Verification Review”.

Removed Table 1, Record
Layout for Verification
Inventory Changes File

Table of Contents

Removed because this table is unnecessary.

Table 2 becomes Table 1

Table of Contents
and Page 2

Because of the deletion of Table 1 from the previously
approved guide, the remaining tables are renumbered.
Table 2 from the 2022 SDRP is now Table 1 in the 2023
SDRP. Its title did not change.

Renamed Table 3 to Table
2 and changed its title

Table of Contents
and Page 3

Because of the deletion of Table 1 from the previously
approved guide, the remaining tables are renumbered.
Table 3 from the 2022 SDRP is now Table 2 in the 2023
SDRP. Changed the title of the table from “Start a New
Verification Project” to “Steps to Open GUPS and Start a
New SDRP Verification Phase Project”.

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Reported Change

Location in Material

Description/Summary of Change(s)

Renamed Table 4 to Table
3 and changed its title

Table of Contents
and Page 7

Because of the deletion of Table 1 from the previously
approved guide, the remaining tables are renumbered.
Table 4 from the 2022 SDRP is now Table 3 in the 2023
SDRP. Changed the title of the table from “Verifying
Annotation Phase Changes” to “Steps to Verify the
Annotation Phase Updates with the Review Change
Polygons Tool”.

Added introductory
paragraph to the
“Conducting Verification
Phase Review” section

Page 1

As part of reorganizing the flow of the material, an
introductory paragraph was inserted prior to section 1.1.

Added summary
paragraph prior to
section 1.2

Page 2

As part of reorganizing the flow of the material and to close
the section prior to moving to the next, a summary
paragraph was added.

Removed reference to
providing listing files in
text (.txt) format and
edited the explanation of
the listing files

Section 1.1, Page 1

Revised language in this section to confirm distribution of
listing files in .xls format and no longer in .txt format.
Revised the explanation of the files to align with the 2023
SDRP Annotation Phase Respondent Guide.

Revised the names for
the “Coextensive
Coverage” and
“Relationship” listing files

Throughout the
guide; Specifically in
section 1.1, Page 1

Revised the “Coextensive Coverage” listing file name to
“Legal Entity Coextensive Coverage File” and “Relationship”
listing file to “School District to Geography (SD/GEO)
Relationship File” to align with the 2023 SDRP Annotation
Phase Respondent Guide.

Created new sub-section
1.1.1 to detail the
Verification Inventory
Changes File

New sub-section
1.1.1, Pages 1-2

Created new sub-section to contain the instructions for
using this file during verification. Information contained in
this new sub-section existed within the 2022 SDRP
Verification Guide section 1.1 but was streamlined and
reorganized to assist mapping coordinators and others using
this guide to better locate the specifics of this listing file.

Updated field lengths in
new Table 1, Data
Dictionary for the
Verification Inventory
Changes File

Page 2

Updated the “STATE CODE” field length from 11 to 2, the
“SDLEA” field length from 6 to 5, the “LOGRADE” and
“HIGRADE” field lengths from 8 to 2, and the “SDLEVEL”
field length from 8 to 1.

Added introductory
paragraph and a Note.

Section 1.2, Page 2
(intro) and Page 3
(note)

As part of reorganizing the flow of the material, an
introductory paragraph was inserted for section 1.2 to
introduce the content in that section.
Added a Note that provides instructions to download the
partnership shapefiles for those that want to use their own
geographic information system rather than GUPS.

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Reported Change

Location in Material

Description/Summary of Change(s)

Replaced introductory
paragraph and removed
the Note in sub-section
1.2.1

Section 1.2.1, Page 3

Added mention that GUPS does not need an update, but
that a new project must be created to review boundary
updates from Annotation Phase. Removed the Note about
styles used for tables with Action/Results.

Streamlined and revised
instructions in new Table
2, Steps to Open GUPS
and Start a New SDRP
Verification Phase Project

Pages 3-7

Reduced steps from 13 to seven by removing unnecessary
steps and combining others and by removing unnecessary
screenshots from previous program year’s table.
Revised information because 2023 SDRP is state-based
program, while 2022 SDRP was county-based.
Added an important icon, e.g., a red square with a white “i”,
between steps 3 and 4 to highlight the change to statebased work.

Updated screenshots in
tables 2 and 3 to reflect
most current STATE GUPS
version.

Sections 1.2.1 and
1.2.2

Updated screenshots in both tables to reflect instructions
associated with state-based program rather than a countybased program.

Modified the
introductory paragraph
for sub-section 1.2.2

Section 1.2.2, Page 7

Modified the introductory paragraph of the sub-section to
remove reference of the Geography Review tool and add
reference to the Review Change Polygons tool.

Updated screenshots and
instructions to new Table
3, Steps to Verify the
Annotation Phase
Updates with the Review
Change Polygons Tool

Pages 7-9

Updated screenshots to reflect instructions associated with
use of the Review Change Polygons tool. Removed
screenshots and instructions related to use of the
Geography Review tool. Table is reduced from 10 steps to
five.

Added closing paragraph

Section 1.2, Page 9

To close the section, and the guide, a summary paragraph
was included rather than having the information included as
the last row of Table 3.

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School District Review Program (SDRP)
Respondent Guide: Verification Phase
December 2022

This page intentionally left blank.

U.S. Census Bureau

2020 Census: Document Name Respondent Guide

i

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction ........................................................................................................................... iii
A.

Overview ....................................................................................................................... iii

B.

SDRP Verification Phase Materials ................................................................................ iii

C.

Respondent Guide Organization ................................................................................... iii

Conducting Verification Phase Review..................................................................................... 1
1.1

Using the School District Listing Files ............................................................................. 1

1.1.1 Verification Inventory Changes File ........................................................................... 1
1.2

Using the Geographic Update Partnership Software (GUPS).......................................... 2

1.2.1 Starting a Verification Phase Project.......................................................................... 3
1.2.2 Conducting the Verification Review ........................................................................... 7

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Data Dictionary for the Verification Inventory Changes File ............................................ 2
Table 2: Steps to Open GUPS and Start a New SDRP Verification Phase Project ........................... 3
Table 3: Steps to Verify the Annotation Phase Updates with the Review Change Polygons Tool . 7

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INTRODUCTION
A.

Overview

The U.S. Census Bureau completed processing of the School District Review Program (SDRP)
Annotation Phase submissions and is now ready to begin the Verification Phase. During
verification, the mapping coordinator is responsible for reviewing and confirming the changes
that appear in the verification materials and notifying the Census Bureau if updates are needed.
No new updates to school districts are accepted during verification.
By the deadline listed in the Verification Phase email notification, mapping coordinators should
notify the Census Bureau’s SDRP team of their agreement or inform them of the need for
updates. If no response is received by the deadline, the SDRP team assumes acceptance of their
work. Notification to the SDRP team can be made by calling 301-763-1099 or by emailing
. If updates are needed, the SDRP team will work with the mapping
coordinator to evaluate the proposed updates and determine the best method for submission.

B.

SDRP Verification Phase Materials

Verification materials are available to all mapping coordinators who met the Annotation Phase
deadline of December 31st. All materials necessary to participate in the Verification Phase are
available for download from the SDRP website: . In addition, general information about the SDRP is
on the main SDRP website: .

C.

Respondent Guide Organization

The information provided in this guide enhances the instructions provided in the 2023 School
District Review Program Respondent Guide: Annotation Phase, i.e., the Annotation Phase
respondent guide. To reduce repetition of instruction, this guide only includes details for
completing this phase of SDRP. If, after consulting with the SDRP team, updates are necessary,
mapping coordinators may need to refer to both guides to complete their updates.

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CONDUCTING VERIFICATION PHASE REVIEW
To verify the updates submitted during the Annotation Phase were processed correctly and are
accurately represented in the Census Bureau’s Master Address File/Topologically Integrated
Geographic Encoding and Referencing (MAF/TIGER) System, follow the instructions in this guide
to conduct a verification review of the listing files and school district boundaries.

1.1

Using the School District Listing Files

As for the Annotation Phase, the Census Bureau produces Microsoft Excel® (.xls) format files for
the Verification Phase. The listing file names will be followed by “_V”; e.g.,
_SD_Inventory_V.xls where represents the two-digit State Federal Information
Processing Standards (FIPS) code. Except for the Verification Inventory Changes file, described
later in section 1.1.1, the other four listing files are defined in section 1.4 and detailed in
appendix B of the Annotation Phase respondent guide.
The Census Bureau requests that mapping coordinators review relevant listings for their state.
•

Inventory and Grade Range File (All States) – This file, “_SD_Inventory_V.xls”, is a listing of
all 2023 school districts recognized by the Census Bureau and includes the school district name,
Federal School District Local Education Agency (SDLEA) ID number, level, type, and grade range.

•

County Coverage File (All States) – This file, “_County_Coverage_V.xls”, is a listing of all
school districts for each county, sorted by county. There is a separate record for each unique
school district/county combination.

•

Legal Entity Coextensive Coverage File (Limited States) – Only the states that had this listing file
for the Annotation Phase will have a corresponding file for verification. This file,
“_Coextensive_Coverage_V.xls” is a listing of school districts that are coextensive with legal
entities such as counties, county equivalents, or incorporated places.

•

School District to Geography (SD/GEO) Relationship File (Limited States) – Only the states that
had this listing file for the Annotation Phase will have a corresponding file for verification. This
file, “_SD_GEO_Relationship_V.xls”, is a listing of school districts that are commonly
coextensive with one or more incorporated place and/or county subdivision (town, township,
borough, etc.).

•

Verification Inventory Changes File (States with Inventory and Grade Range file changes from
the Annotation Phase) – This file, “_SD_Inventory_Change_V.xls”, is a listing that compares
the Inventory and Grade Range Listing file (_SD_Inventory_Change_V.xls) to the Inventory
and Grade Range Listing from the Annotation Phase (_SD_Inventory_Change_A.xls) by
SDLEA. See section 1.1.1 for details.

1.1.1

Verification Inventory Changes File

This listing provides state officials with a means to quickly review inventory changes to their
school district inventory after the Census Bureau applied their Annotation Phase updates to the
MAF/TIGER System. This file consists of change type, state FIPS code, SDLEA code, school
district name, low grade, high grade, and school district level for each school district that had an
inventory change.

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Note: Only new districts, deleted districts, and attribute changes are reflected in the Verification
Inventory Changes file. No file is created if a state submitted only a boundary correction(s).

Table 1 describes the fields in the file, their length, data type, a brief description of the field,
and the valid value range.
Table 1: Data Dictionary for the Verification Inventory Changes File
Attribute
Field

Length

Type

Description

Value/Range

CHANGE
TYPE

12

VARCHAR

Type of change

NEW, DELETED, NAME,
LEVEL, LOGRADE,
HIGRADE

STATE
CODE

2

VARCHAR

State FIPS (Federal Information
Processing Standards) code

01, 02, 04-06, 08-13,
15-42, 44-51, 53-56

SDLEA

5

VARCHAR

Federal School District Local Education
Agency (SDLEA) identification number

00001-99998

NAME

100

VARCHAR

School district name

Not Blank

LOGRADE

2

VARCHAR

School district low grade

PK, KG, 01-11

HIGRADE

2

VARCHAR

School district high grade

PK, KG, 01-12

SDLEVEL

1

VARCHAR

School district level

E=Elementary;
S=Secondary;
U=Unified;
A=Administrative Area

If the listing files are correct, proceed with a review of the boundaries using the Geographic
Update Partnership Software (GUPS) as detailed in section 1.2. If the listing files do not reflect
the updates submitted during the Annotation Phase or are otherwise incorrect, please contact
the SDRP team at the conclusion of your boundary review to report the discrepancies and
receive further instruction.

1.2

Using the Geographic Update Partnership Software (GUPS)

With the listing files review complete, the next step is to complete a review of the school
district boundaries that were submitted for processing during the Annotation Phase. Follow the
instructions in the next two sections and refer to the Annotation Phase respondent guide for
more thorough guidance on using GUPS to complete this review.

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Note: Mapping coordinators who prefer to conduct their verification review using their own
geographic information system (GIS) can download the Census partnership shapefiles from the
Census Bureau’s ftp site . From that location, select the
appropriate state folder to locate the version required for the 2023 SDRP Verification Phase,
partnership_shapefiles_23v0_.zip, where ST represents the two-digit Federal Information
Processing Series (FIPS) state code. For example, if Alabama wants to use their own GIS, the
mapping coordinator would download partnership_shapefiles_23v0_01.zip to their local system
and unzip the file to begin their review.

1.2.1

Starting a Verification Phase Project

While the GUPS version does not need to be updated for the Verification Phase, a new project
must be created to conduct a review of the boundary updates from the Annotation Phase.
Follow the steps in Table 2 to open GUPS and start a new project.
Table 2: Steps to Open GUPS and Start a New SDRP Verification Phase Project
Step

Action and Result
Select QGIS3 or QGIS Desktop 3.4.4 from the Start Menu. The QGIS splash screen appears.

Step 1

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Step

Action and Result
The Map Management window appears.

Step 2

If the Map Management window does not appear, choose the Map Management button from
the Standard toolbar (shown below highlighted by a red rectangle). If the Map Management
button does not exist in the Standard toolbar, contact the SDRP Team at
for assistance.

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Step

Action and Result
In the Map Management window, use the drop-down menu next to the Program field to select
School District Review Program Verification and then select School District Review by State for
the Sub Program field.

Step 3

Beginning with 2023 SDRP, GUPS has been updated to operate at the state level. This means
rather than working by individual county, GUPS loads data for the whole state during this initial
setup for the project. Once created, users can load county level reference layers to provide the
detail necessary to make updates. Instructions are included in the Annotation Phase respondent
guide that describe the county loading/unloading process, i.e., tables 13 and 14, respectively.
In the State field, use the drop-down menu to select a state. Use the scroll bar to move up and
down the list of states. This example uses Minnesota.

Step 4

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Step

Action and Result
After selecting a state, GUPS refreshes the Map Management window and automatically
highlights all available counties for the state of Minnesota. Select Open.

Step 5

The Select Data Folder, Directory or Location window opens.

Step 6

GUPS only prompts for a data download location once per project. When a project has been
closed and reopened, the shapefiles automatically load, even if no changes were made during
the first session.

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Step

Action and Result
A secondary Map Management window appears to select the data source. From this secondary
Map Management window, choose Census Web to download the shapefile data layers with
preset symbology and labels directly into GUPS.

Step 7

Proceed to the next section for instructions on conducting the verification review.

1.2.2

Conducting the Verification Review

Verification involves reviewing the school district boundaries to ensure the Census Bureau
accurately and completely captured the updates submitted by mapping coordinators. In GUPS,
the Review Change Polygons tool is used to identify areas where updates were submitted.
Follow the steps in Table 3 to verify the accuracy of the school district boundaries. Refer to
table 27 in the Annotation Phase respondent guide for additional details.
Table 3: Steps to Verify the Annotation Phase Updates with the Review Change Polygons Tool
Step

Action and Result
Select the Review Change Polygons tool from the SDRP toolbar.

The Review Change Polygons window opens.

Step 1

The window includes two radio buttons: Annotation and Verification. Annotation is selected by
default and is used to review the changes made during the Annotation Phase. To see changes
made during the verification review, change the button to Verification.
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Step

Action and Result
From the Geography drop-down menu select the school district level to review. This example
uses Unified School District.

Step 2

The Review Change Polygons window populates with a list of Unified School District updates
from the Annotation Phase. Each record represents an update that added area.

Step 3

Select a record from the list. The Map View zooms to the extent of the selected record.

Step 4

Review the selected school district by panning or zooming around the boundary to confirm it
accurately reflects the requested update from the Annotation Phase.
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Step
Step 5

Action and Result
Review each record in the list. If updates were made to the other two types of school districts
(Elementary School District and Secondary School District), change the Geography drop-down
selection to review the next type of school district in the same manner described above.

If the boundaries are correct and there are no discrepancies with the listing files, please notify
the SDRP team by email to of your agreement. If the boundaries do
not reflect the updates submitted during the Annotation Phase or are otherwise incorrect
and/or the listing files contain discrepancies, please contact the SDRP team by emailing
or by calling 301-763-1099 for further instruction.

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