Frequently Asked Questions (non-data)
Frequently Asked Questions about data
Usability Features

How to Get Around on Ed-Data
In general, you have three ways to find information on this website:
  1. Hierarchical navigation (pull-down menus)
  2. A Find feature (a.k.a. "search")
  3. A Table of Contents
    4. .

The site has two basic types of information: Articles and Reports.

Articles contain general explanations and, in some cases, charts. You access them via links on the homepage, the Table Of Contents, and references on various reports.

Reports focus on specific schools, districts and counties, and the state. Most reports above the school level have "aggregated" (rolled up) information from the level below. You access them using Hierarchical navigation, the Find feature, and via links on the Table of Contents.


Cookies:
A feature of your browser called cookies is what allows the site to bring you the report you ask for. In general, the Ed-Data website will not behave properly if your browser does not accept cookies. For more on this topic please see our Frequently Asked Questions about Cookies.

Hierarchical navigation:
The top of each page has a navigation bar :
This feature provides
  1. Access to the homepage (the Ed-Data logo),
  2. A way to change the level of requested information,
  3. A way to contact the Ed-Data Partnership, and
  4. Access to the Find feature (described below).

After selecting a level of information, you may choose a specific report and, in most cases, what year you want. Some reports do not offer a year selection: those that span several years (trends reports) and those that present only current information (e.g., the list of districts within a county).

If you choose a level below the state, then you may also select the county, district, or school. If you want information for a school or district but don't know its district or county , use the Find ( ) feature to locate it and the reports that are specific to it.

Find feature:
The icon appears in the upper right corner of each page, and a larger version is prominent on the homepage. This feature allows you to locate schools, districts, and counties in four ways:
  1. By partial or full name (lists those containing the name)
  2. By city
  3. By zip code
  4. By CDS (county-district-school) code
    5. .

This feature doesn't just list the matching schools, districts and counties. It also provides a link directly to various reports for each one.

Table of Contents:
The icon appears only on the homepage, along the left side. This feature lists all the reports and articles on this website. The initial presentation is "folded" so that you can open up only the portion of the table that you wish. An "Expand All" link allows you to see all the entries without opening each one.

Once on a given report, see if it contains the type of information you are looking for. If so, use the pull-down menus at the top on of each report page to select a county, then a district, and then a school (depending on the level of information you seek).

If you want information for a school and don't know the district it's in, use the Find
() feature to locate it.

Defaults:
When you first enter the site and go to one of the levels, the default report is the Profile since it occurs at all levels, acts as an overview, and has links to several other reports.

The default year is the most current year, unless you have previously specified another year (see memory below).

The default organization at each level is simply the first one alphabetically, i.e., the first county in the state, the first district within a county, etc. If you have problems navigating past the first one on the list, see cookies.

Memory:
The Ed-Data website "remembers" information as you move around. For example, if you look at Student information (second tab) on a Profile report for a school and then decide to look at the same information for another school (or even at the district or county level), it still shows you Student information rather than reverting to the General tab. When you return to the school level, it remembers which school you were looking at.

Ed-Data tracks these things only while you are on the website. If you leave and return later, it won't remember where you have been or what you were looking at previously.

To copy or print
To copy data, click and slide the mouse across the material to highlight it, copy, and paste into your own spreadsheet or text file.

To print, click on the body of the text that you want. You can also save the text or graphics to your hard disk.

Help:
For help with terms, see the glossary and the Profile Definitions

For additional information about K-12 education in California, go to Education Issues and Background.

For links to Web sites for individual schools, districts, or county offices of education, see www.cde.ca.gov/re/ee/sd.

For information about the data associated with demographics, finance, and testing, see Data Questions.

Contents of Reports:
The Reports pages provide the following for multiple years using the pull-down menu at the top:

  • Demographic Profiles, with comparisons
  • An extensive interactive comparison for districts and schools
  • An Accountability section that includes schools' AYP and API scores
  • Financial statements for districts (with comparisons) and county offices of education
  • Bond and tax elections (districts)
  • Lists of schools in each district, districts in each county, and county offices of education in the state.


    • The information comes from data that schools, teachers, districts and the county provide to the California Department of Education. The Reports are updated periodically when new data is released.


    Education Data Partnership
    Comments to ed-data@cde.ca.gov.
    Questions about the data files?

    All contents copyright © 2010, Education Data Partnership.
    All rights reserved. Revised August 5, 2010.
    URL: http://www.ed-data.k12.ca.us