Dashboard Methodology

The following page describes the data sources, data label definitions, and methods used to process and display all data on the Bento Dashboard.

• Definitions

• Data Sources

• Data Adjustments & Notes

Race/Ethnicity Categorization by Dataset

In order to maintain consistent ethnicity categories across the various data sources displayed on the dashboard, all data are organized according to the following categories (where data is available):

Other Filter Categories

Students with Disabilities

“Special Education” - Individualized Education Program (IEP) Students. This field contains the count of all students having a written Individualized Education Program (IEP) under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part B. Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) are written instructional plans for students with disabilities designated as special education students under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part B. Counts of students with IEPs are collected and published at the LEA level. Learn more. 

Low-Income

Depending on the data source, this category may include: 

• Students who quality for free or reduced-price lunch programs

• Students who are under the poverty line

• Students designated as “economically disadvantaged” by the source data provider

Note that from SY 2016-17 onward, states can submit counts of students eligible for Free/Reduced-Price lunch certified through applications or directly certified. Some states only submit counts of students directly certified; some states submit counts of students eligible through applications; and some states submit a combination of the two. Learn more about Free/Reduced-Price lunch eligibility. 

English Language Learners (ELL)

Formerly referred to as LEP. Refers to students being served in appropriate programs of language assistance (e.g., English as a Second Language, High Intensity Language Training, bilingual education). Does not include pupils enrolled in a class to learn a language other than English. Procedures and standards for identifying and classifying ELL students may vary by state and district. Learn more about English Language Learners.

US Department of Education

High School Graduation Rate

Bento includes data on the public high school 4-year adjusted cohort graduation rate (ACGR) for the United States, the 50 states and the District of Columbia, and school districts from 2012 to 2018.
Source: https://eddataexpress.ed.gov/ 

FAFSA completions

The Estimated FAFSA Completion Percentage covers applications processed through April 10, 2020. This metric reflects the number of completed FAFSAs among first-time filing applicants no older than 19 at the cutoff date who will have received their high school diploma by the start of the school year to which they are applying for aid.
Source: https://studentaid.gov/data-center/student/application-volume/fafsa-completion-high-school

Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE)

Data from the OESE was used for the following datasets:

• American Rescue Plan March 2021

• CARES Act March 2020: ESSER I Total Funding + GEER I Total Funding

• CARRSA Act December 2020: ESSER II Total Funding + GEER II/EANS Total Funding

Note: All original values are rounded to the nearest whole dollar and data from the District of Columbia were excluded in calculating national averages. 

Source: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC)

Data from the CRDC was provided by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for the 2017-2018 school year and used for the following Discipline Rates metrics (Note that the per-student data was calculated based on the enrollment data provided by the CRDC from the 2017-2018 school year):

• Expulsions. Note that expulsions are the sum of students who received expulsion with and without educational services. Expulsions does not include who received expulsion under zero tolerance policies.

• Referrals.

• Suspensions. Note that suspensions are the sum of students who received one or more than one out-of-school suspension. Suspensions does not include in-school suspensions.

Source: Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) for the 2017-18 School Year

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)

NAEP

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas. Bento currently includes the following NAEP Reading and Math assessments:

• Reading: https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/reading/achieve.aspx

• Math: https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/mathematics/achieve.aspx

SAT Scores and Percent Taking

SAT Scores
Data reflect high school graduates who took the SAT during high school. The “Reading/Writing” score refers to the evidence-based reading and writing portion. The “Total” is the sum of the scores for the math and evidence-based reading and writing portions. Scores shown are means, or arithmetic averages of a defined set of test scores. If a student took the SAT more than once, the most recent score is summarized.

SAT Percent Taking
SAT Percent Taking is calculated as the percentage of all 2016-17 or 2017-18 high school graduates who took the SAT before graduating in 2017 or 2018.

The total percentage for the United States was calculated by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

State percentages were calculated by the College Entrance Examination Board on the number of high school graduates in each state as projected by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE).

NOTE: Participation rate for Washington, DC is based on self-reported 12th-grade enrollment from the District of Columbia's public and nonpublic schools because WICHE estimated fewer graduating seniors than actual SAT test takers.

Source: NCES Digest of Education Statistics, reference: College Entrance Examination Board, SAT Suite of Assessments Annual Report. 

ACT Scores and Percent Taking

ACT Scores
ACT scores range from 1 to 36. Data are for high school graduates who took the ACT test during their sophomore, junior, or senior year. If a student took the ACT test more than once, the composite and subject-area scores from the most recent test were used.

ACT Percent Taking
ACT Percent Taking is calculated as all members of the graduating class who had taken the ACT test as a percentage of the total number of high school graduates.

Source: NCES Digest of Education Statistics. 

Teacher Salary

All original values and national averages are rounded to the nearest whole dollar. Data from the District of Columbia were excluded in calculating national averages. 

Source: NCES Digest of Education Statistics.

College Board

AP % Taking

Percent of all public school students who took at least one AP exam. 
Source: The Civil Rights Data Collection

AP % Passing

Percent of public school students taking one or more AP exams who received at least one qualifying score (3 or above). 
Source: The Civil Rights Data Collection

Urban Institute

The Urban Institute provides a Data Explorer to access education data from a number of sources. The Dashboard data listed below are organized by their original data sources, and were accessed through the Urban Institute’s data portal. 
Source: Education Data Explorer, Urban Institute, Center on Education Data and Policy, https://educationdata.urban.org/data-explorer/explorer.

NCES Common Core of Data (CCD)

The data in the Demographics chart are accessed via Urban Institute’s Data Explorer and sourced from the 2017-2018 Common Core of Data (CCD), a program of the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics that annually collects fiscal and non-fiscal data about all public schools, public school districts and state education agencies in the United States. The data are supplied by state education agency officials and include:

• information that describes schools and school districts, including name, address, and phone number

• descriptive information about students and staff, including demographics

• fiscal data, including revenues and current expenditures.

The data do not include adult education students.

For additional CCD Definitions, see source: https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/doc/SY2017-18_Universe_1a_CCD_Nonfiscal_Release_Notes.docx

For more detailed information on individual NCES CCD metrics, see below: 

Demographics

• LEA ID

• LEA name

• Student enrollment

• Degree of urbanization

• Student enrollment by race

• % ELL (percent of students who are English Language Learners)

• Total Teachers

• $/Student (Expenditures per student): Per pupil spend figures are calculated by dividing the total expenditures for SY 2016-17 by the total student enrollment in SY 2016-17 for each LEA and state. To ensure data and visualization integrity, Bento does not display values of per pupil spend in the following cases:

  • A) the LEA’s calculated per pupil spend was greater than $60,000 or;

  • B) the LEA’s total enrollment was less than 50 students.

District Revenue

• Total Federal Revenue

• Total State Revenue

• Total Local Revenue

Revenue totals exclude revenues for state education agencies. Detail data may not sum to totals due to rounding. State benchmarks are calculated as the sum of revenue (by source) divided by the number districts in the state. National benchmarks are calculated as the sum of revenue (by source) divided by the total number of districts. 

Note that New York City-level data for District Revenue references New York City Public Schools (LEA ID #3620580). 

Learn more about Common Core of Data (CCD) revenue data.

School Distribution:
The school distribution displays the number of primary, middle, secondary, miscellaneous, and not applicable schools within the selected geography or LEA. Some breakdowns may not total to 100% due to rounding.

Note that New York City-level data for school distribution is provided by the New York State Department of Education and reflects data from the 2018-19 school year.

US Census Bureau

% Low Income: Estimation of the school-aged population (5-17) that comes from a family that is in poverty.

For more information, you can read about how the Census Bureau measures poverty, or review the methodology on the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates website.
Source: Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates

New York City Department of Education

Data for New York City was provided by the New York City Department of Education (NYC DoEd) for the following datasets:

• High School Graduation Rate. Note that the NYC DoEd reports its cohorts by freshman-year school year, while the rest of the High School Graduation Rate data is reported by the target year by which graduation must have occurred. In order to standardize the data, years for NYC data have been transposed by +4 before reporting in Bento. Bento references NYC’s 4-year June cohort data.  

• Demographics. New York City demographic data was sourced from the citywide 2015-2016 school year’s demographic snapshot. New York City per pupil expenditures for 2016 was included from the Independent Budget Office of New York City. 

• State Assessments. 

Source: New York City Department of Education

State Assessments

State test data includes both the mean scaled score, achievement levels, and the percent proficient and above, where available. These aggregations were conducted by the relevant state education agency and thus follow the state education agency procedures/business rules for aggregation. State Assessment data are available for the following states:

• California: California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP)
  Source: https://caaspp.cde.ca.gov/sb2016/ResearchFileList

• Colorado: Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS)
  Source: https://www.cde.state.co.us/assessment/cmas

• Florida: Florida Standards Assessment (FSA)
  Source: http://cdn.fldoe.org/accountability/assessments/k-12-student-assessment/results/ 

• Kentucky: Kentucky Performance Rating for Educational Progress (K-PREP)
  Source: https://applications.education.ky.gov/SRC/DataSets.aspx

• Mississippi: Mississippi Academic Assessment Program (MAAP)
  Source: https://mdek12.org/OPR/Reporting/Assessment

• New York: New York State Testing Program (NYSTP)
  Source: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/irs/

• North Carolina: North Carolina State Test (NCST)
  Source: https://www.dpi.nc.gov/districts-schools/testing-and-school-accountability/school-accountability-and-reporting/accountability-data-sets-and-reports 

• Tennessee: Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP)
  Source: https://www.tn.gov/education/data/data-downloads.html

• Texas: State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR)
  Source: https://tea.texas.gov/student-assessment/testing/staar/staar-aggregate-data

NOTES ON NON-TRADITIONAL STATES AND DISTRICTS
To be consistent with the tabulations of CCD data reported by NCES, Bento’s dashboard does not include any data for the island territories, the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), and the Department of Defense Education Agency (DoDEA). Data are not reported at the state level for this territories in Bento and data from these territories are not included in any national totals.

Note also that “Total districts/ LEAs” excludes any LEAs reported by the island territories, Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), and the Department of Defense Education Agency (DoDEA).

CALCULATING "TOTAL DISTRICTS/LEAs"
“Total districts/ LEAs” excludes any LEAs reported by the island territories, Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), and the Department of Defense Education Agency (DoDEA).

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA (DC) STATE- AND DISTRICT-LEVEL DATA
For all education outcomes and demographic data displayed on the dashboard, DC as a “state” includes both the traditional public district, DC Public Schools (DCPS), and all charter school LEAs located in DC. When DC data is displayed at the “district” level, it only refers to DCPS.

SCHOOL YEAR DISPLAY
Where a single-year reference is given within Bento to represent school year-level data, the latter year of the school year is used. For example: data for School Year 2017-18 will be shown in Bento as data for 2018.

NOTES ON THE USE OF “NA”
Sometimes data is not available to be displayed in Bento Dashboard. In those instances, you will see “NA” in charts, tooltips, and data exports. Depending on the dataset and circumstance, “NA” may indicate that:

• The data is unavailable for the state or LEA you have selected The sample size is too small, and the data has been hidden for privacy and/or statistical insignificance

• The data has been suppressed by the source

NOTES ON DATA RANGES
To protect student privacy, some datasets (such as graduation rate) may be presented as ranges of values and values that indicate either greater than or less than 50%, depending on the size of the group of students. To represent ranges of values visually, Bento:

• Represents the midpoint of ranges of values that were smaller than 50%. For example, if NCES gives a range of 70% - 80%, Bento displays the midpoint (75%) and includes a note in the tooltip that provides the actual ranges from NCES.

• Displays all values of “Greater than 50%” or “Less than 50%” as “NA.”

NOTES ABOUT THE % LABELS LISTED IN HOVER OVERS
Bento displays a comparison to the national and/or state average for most data when users hover over a particular data point (see screenshot below).

In the right middle column chart, Bento also displays a year-change rate to indicate how the current data point compares to previous years of data (see screenshot below).

For national/state average comparison: the percentages displayed for the difference from the national and/or state average indicate the number of percentage points higher or lower the national/state average is from this particular data point. In the screenshot example, Texas (the selected state) has a high school graduation rate for 2014-15 (89%) that is 6 percentage points higher than the national average for all students for that same year (83%).

For year change: the percentages displayed for the year change indicate the number of percentage points this data point increased or decreased from a previous year. In the screenshot example, Texas (the selected state) has a high school graduation rate for 2014-15 (89%) that is 3 percentage points higher than it was four years ago (86%).

NOTES ABOUT WHICH DISTRICTS AND SHAPES ARE SHOWN IN THE MAPThe shape files and geographic mapping for all LEAs and state boundaries on the map are from the US Census Bureau’s TIGER / Line Shapefiles report from 2016. Any districts or LEAs that did not have corresponding shapefiles in the TIGER database are included in the search bar, but not displayed on the map.
Source: https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/tiger.html

If an LEA boundary was provided in the TIGER shapefiles but did not have corresponding data available in the various education outcomes data sources, then that shape is shaded grey and the tooltip will display “NA” for the data value. These boundaries are not included in the total number of districts/LEA count.

NOTES ON SURVEY QUESTIONS DISPLAYED ON THE DASHBOARD
Some questions from the May 2017 Teacher Survey and the May 2017 School Leader Survey are not displayed on the visualization in the far right-hand side of the dashboard due to display concerns that hindered readability (e.g. lengthy question text or high volume of answer choices). To view response data for all questions on both the teacher and school leader surveys, please visit the Survey Explorer in Bento.

NOTES ON THE RANKING CHART
The ranking chart on the left-hand side of the dashboard ranks all available data for a selected variable across all states when in state-view, or for all districts within a state when in district-view. The data are ranked based on the underlying, unrounded raw data.

If there are ties between two data points, Bento gives both the same rank number; the next subsequent number will be skipped. For example, if two states have the same graduation rate of 85.5%, which is the second highest graduation rate, then they are both ranked second, and the next state is ranked fourth.