Mandatory Civil Rights Data Collection

The collection, use, and reporting of education data is an integral component of the mission of the U.S. Department of Education. The Department has collected civil rights data about the nation’s public schools via the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) since 1968. For school years 2009–10 and 2011–12, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved the CRDC as part of the EDFacts information collection (1875-0240). EDFacts, a Department initiative to put performance data at the center of ED's policy, management, and budget decision-making processes for all preschool-grade 12 education programs, has transformed the way in which ED collects and uses data. For school years 2013–14, 2015–16, 2017–18, and 2020–21, the Office for Civil Rights cleared the CRDC as a separate collection from EDFacts while maintaining its transformative data collection policies and practices. As with previous CRDC collections, the purpose of the 2021–22 and 2023–24 CRDCs is to obtain vital data related to the civil rights laws’ requirement that public local educational agencies (LEAs) and elementary and secondary schools provide equal educational opportunity. ED has analyzed the uses of many data elements collected in the 2015–16 and 2017−18 CRDCs and sought advice from experts across ED to refine, improve, and where appropriate, add or remove data elements from the collection. ED also made the CRDC data definitions and metrics consistent with other mandatory collections across ED wherever possible. The Department seeks OMB approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act to collect from LEAs the elementary and secondary education data described in the sections of Attachment A. ED requests that LEAs and other stakeholders review and comment on the proposed changes (detailed in Supporting Statement A, Attachments A-1, A-2, A-3, and A-4, and Attachment B), and respond to the directed questions found in Attachment A-5.

The latest form for Mandatory Civil Rights Data Collection expires 2026-07-31 and is listed under ICR 202111-1870-001.