This white paper focuses on charter school campuses and explains why these records are found in datasets from the National Alliance as well as when it might be more helpful to exclude these records from analyses.
No exact definition of what constitutes a “school” exists. This lack of standardization can be problematic when accounting for schools in data systems and maintaining consistent data across time because federal and state educational agencies use different definitions for schools.
The U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics creates unique identification numbers (NCES IDs) for every school in order to provide the most up-to-date and comprehensive account of schools in the nation.
Over the past ten years, enrollment in charter schools has increased by nearly 2 million students—and the number of school districts with a significant charter school presence continues to grow, too.