An Overview of School District Demography Resources from the U.S. Census Bureau

Douglas Geverdt, U.S. Census Bureau

The American Community Survey is U.S. Census Bureau’s first standard demographic data product to provide pre-summarized school district demographic data, but the Bureau has a long history of developing customized school district demographic, geographic, and fiscal data to support educational planning and program administration. This presentation briefly reviews the historic development of school district demographic and geographic data production at the Census Bureau, and then provides an overview of current activities. Extended attention will be given to the advent of annual ACS school district custom tabulations, but the discussion will also highlight Title 1 small area income and poverty estimates, district geographic boundary updates, school locale assignments, and the annual survey of school district finance. The presentation will conclude with brief comments on current and future plans for school and school district data products.