The population of school-age children in the U.S. is remarkably diverse, and differences in demographic and economic conditions are often associated with differences in educational opportunities and outcomes. As a result, it is important to understand potential socioeconomic differences when comparing educational conditions across students, schools, and school districts. Some types of educational issues can be assessed through nationally representative surveys. However, elementary and secondary education in the U.S. is primarily managed at the local level, and the socioeconomic conditions of local communities may be quite different from average conditions for the entire U.S. Therefore, NCES not only measures conditions at the national level, but it uses two primary programs to measure conditions at the local level as well. The NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) provides information about school and school district administrative and fiscal characteristics, while the NCES EDGE program provides information about school and school district demographic, economic, and geographic characteristics.

Learn more at: https://nces.ed.gov/programs/edge/About#b