Local, state, and federal governments are increasingly making data about schools publicly available. To facilitate access to this information, we provide links to a variety of data sources below.

The Research Alliance’s School-Level Master File (SCHMA)

A compilation of publicly available data from the New York City Department of Education (DOE) and the U.S. DOE, developed by the Research Alliance for New York City Schools. The SCHMA is a consistent, accessible document that can be used to investigate characteristics of individual NYC schools or groups of schools and how they have changed over time. Many of the SCHMA’s data sources are listed on this page. The SCHMA can be a used as a single source combining many of the individual data sets listed below. Request the SCHMA here.

Please note that the Research Alliance is not authorized to distribute individual-level data received from the NYC DOE. This is necessary to adhere to our data sharing agreement with the NYC DOE, as well as provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which require that our data is solely used for and on behalf of New York City Schools. Researchers working on projects requiring personally identifying data independent of the Research Alliance must contact the DOE directly to request such data.

Public Data and Research Funding Sources

New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE)

• The NYC DOE’s School Search Tool allows you to look for a specific school by name, address, borough, grade level, or other, more fine-grained criteria.
• The NYC DOE publishes a great deal of data about schools, including:
  • Student and school performance data
    • Graduation rate
    • Assessment results
    • School Progress Reports
    • School Quality Reviews
• Population and demographic data
  • Enrollment
  • Class size reports
  • School demographic snapshots
• Management and operations
  • Daily attendance rates
  • Mayor’s management report on the NYC DOE
  • Mayor’s management report on the School Construction Authority
• Public surveys
  • NYC School Survey results
  • Principal Satisfaction Survey results
• School budgets

New York State Education Department (NYSED)

• The New York State Report Cards provide data about individual public and charter schools, as well as districts and the state overall. The data include:
  • Enrollment and demographic information
  • Attendance rates
  • Suspensions
  • Dropouts
  • Student assessments
  • Graduation rates
  • Fiscal data
  • School accountability data

US Department of Education (USDOE)

Research Funding

• The Institute of Education Sciences funds research studies that investigate ways to improve academic achievement.
• Other federal agencies that fund education research include:
  • The National Science Foundation
  • The National Institutes of Health
  • The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (part of NIH)

Statistics

• The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) collects and analyzes data related to education.
  • The NCES website includes a wide range of Data Tools that contain demographic, fiscal and other longitudinal education data by state, school district, and school.
  • The NCES oversees the Common Core of Data (CCD), which collects annual fiscal and non-fiscal data about all public schools, public school districts, and state education agencies in the U.S.

Research Findings

• The What Works Clearing House
  • Produces practice guides for educators that address instructional challenges with research-based recommendations for schools and classrooms.
  • Assesses the rigor of evidence on the effectiveness of interventions (programs, products, practices, and policies), to help educators make informed decisions.
  • Provides a registry of education evaluation researchers to assist schools, school districts, and program developers that seek to carry out rigorous evaluations.
  • Develops and implements standards for reviewing and synthesizing education research. 
• The Best Evidence Encyclopedia (BEE)
  • Housed at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Data-Driven Reform in Education, and funded by IES, the BEE develops and compiles reviews of research-backed education programs. 

Research-Practice Partnerships

The Research Alliance is one of a growing number of partnerships that are bringing together researchers, policymakers and practitioners to develop useful, high-quality education research.

The William T. Grant Foundation has developed a site which includes resources, work samples, and guiding tips culled from research-practice partnerships around the country.

The National Network of Education Research Practice Partnerships works to support and develop Research-Practice Partnerships around the country. 

Below is a list of partnerships engaged in this type of work.

City-Based Research-Practice Partnerships

• Baltimore Education Research Consortium
• Education Consortium on Research and Evaluation (Washington, D.C.)
• Houston Education Research Collaborative
• Kansas City Area Education Research Consortium
• Los Angeles Education Research Institute
• The Philadelphia Education Research Consortium
• The Research Alliance for New York City Schools
• The San Diego Education Research Alliance
• The University of Chicago Consortium on School Research
• University of Washington/Bellevue School District

Other Research-Practice Partnerships

• Building a Teaching Effectiveness Network (Carnegie Foundation for Effective Teaching)
• Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium
• Middle School Mathematics and the Institutional Setting of Teaching (MIST)
• REL Midwest – Midwest Urban Research Alliance
• REL Northeast and Islands
• REL Northwest at Education Northwest
• Strategic Education Research Partnership (SERP)

Note: The Research Alliance is not responsible for the content of any external links.