Title page
Contents
Executive Summary 4
Foreword 5
Acknowledgments 6
Chapter 1. Survey Planning and Design 13
Overview and Background 13
OMB Approval Process, Justification, Goals, and Objectives 13
Chapter 2. Instrument Development 15
Instrument Development 15
Data Variables 15
Data Exclusions 17
Chapter 3. Data Submissions and Ability to Report 19
Submission Formats 19
Ability of SEAs to Utilize the Data Collection Instrument 20
Estimated Burden Hours Reported by SEAs 21
Crosswalk Process 22
Universe Coverage 23
Chapter 4. Data Editing and Data Quality 24
Data Editing Process 24
Missing and Nonapplicable Data 25
Actions Taken to Rectify Data Anomalies 26
Future Direction of Data Editing for the SLFS 27
Chapter 5. Data Review and Analysis 28
Ability to Report Data Items/Data Availability 28
Comparison of the School-Level Finance Survey With Other Data Sources 51
Chapter 6. Factors Supporting and Limiting the SLFS 60
Challenges to the SLFS and Action to Surmount Those Challenges 60
Lessons Learned From the Pilot SLFS 63
Chapter 7. Conclusion 64
References and Related Data Files 66
Appendix A. Form and Data Plan FY 2015 67
Appendix B. Glossary 74
Appendix C. SLFS Data Plan Tables 82
Appendix D. State Notes FY 2015 89
Appendix E. Additional Tables for Response Rates 98
Table 1. Number and percentage of students covered, and number and percentage of schools and local education agencies (LEAs) with fiscal data reported in the School-Level Finance... 29
Table 2. Number and percentage of operational local education agencies (LEAs) with fiscal data reported in the School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS), by participating state: Fiscal years... 32
Table 3. Number and percentage of operational schools with fiscal data reported in the School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS), by participating state: Fiscal years (FY) 2014 and 2015 35
Table 4. Number of operational schools in the School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS) and percentage of schools with fiscal data reported, by number of data items, participating state,... 38
Table 5. Number of operational schools in the School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS) and percentage of schools with fiscal data reported, by category of data items and participating state:... 43
Table 6. Number and percentage of operational schools with fiscal data reported in the School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS), by school type and participating state: Fiscal years (FY) 2014 and 2015 46
Table 7. Number and percentage of operational schools with fiscal data reported in the School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS), by school urbanicity and participating state: Fiscal years (FY) 2014 and 2015 48
Table 8. Number and percentage of operational schools with fiscal data reported in the School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS) for states that have both public elementary and secondary noncharter... 50
Table 9. Total personnel salaries reported in the School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS), National Public Education Financial Survey (NPEFS), and School District Finance Survey (F-33) and percentage... 53
Table 10. Mean teacher salary from the School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS), average teacher salary from the National Education Association (NEA) survey, and mean teacher wage from... 56
Figure 1. Percentage of students covered and percentage of schools and local education agencies (LEAs) with fiscal data reported in the School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS): Fiscal years (FY)... 30
Figure 2. Membership of schools reported in the School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS), by local education agency (LEA): Fiscal year (FY) 2015 31
Figure 3. Percentage of operational local education agencies (LEAs) with fiscal data reported in the School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS), by participating state: Fiscal year (FY) 2015 33
Figure 4. Percentage of operational local education agencies (LEAs) with fiscal data reported in the School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS), by participating state: Fiscal years (FY) 2014 and 2015 34
Figure 5. Percentage of operational schools with fiscal data reported in the School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS), by participating state: Fiscal year (FY) 2015 36
Figure 6. Percentage of operational schools with fiscal data reported in the School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS), by participating state: Fiscal years (FY) 2014 and 2015 37
Figure 7. Percentage distribution of operational schools in each reporting state with fiscal data reported in the School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS), by number of data items: Fiscal year (FY) 2015 40
Figure 8. Percentage distribution of operational schools with fiscal data reported in the School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS), by number of data items and type of school: Fiscal years (FY)... 41
Figure 9. Percentage distribution of operational schools with fiscal data reported in the School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS), by number of data items and charter school status: Fiscal years... 42
Figure 10. Percentage of operational schools with fiscal data reported in the School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS), by category of data items: Fiscal years (FY) 2014 and 2015 44
Figure 11. Percentage of operational schools with fiscal data reported in the School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS), by school type: Fiscal years (FY) 2014 and 2015 47
Figure 12. Percentage of operational schools with fiscal data reported in the School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS), by urbanicity: Fiscal years (FY) 2014 and 2015 49
Figure 13. Percentage of operational schools with fiscal data reported in the School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS), by charter school status: Fiscal years (FY) 2014 and 2015 51
Figure 14. Total personnel salaries reported in the School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS), National Public Education Financial Survey (NPEFS), and School District Finance Survey (F-33),... 54
Exhibits
Exhibit 1. Data items included in the School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS): Fiscal year 2015 18
Exhibit 2. Comparison of key differences between the teacher salary data collected by the School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS), National Education Association (NEA), and the Occupational... 58
Table C-1. Fiscal data plan responses to questions 1 and 2, by state: Fiscal year 2015 83
Table C-2. Fiscal data plan responses to questions 3 and 4, by state: Fiscal year 2015 84
Table C-3. Fiscal data plan responses to question 5, by state: Fiscal year 2015 85
Table C-4. Fiscal data plan responses to questions 6 and 7, by state: Fiscal year 2015 86
Table C-5. Fiscal data plan responses to questions 8 and 9, by state: Fiscal year 2015 88
Table E-1. Number of operational schools and item response rates for personnel expenditures, by data item and participating state: Fiscal year 2015 99
Table E-2. Number of operational schools and item response rates for nonpersonnel expenditures, by data item and participating state: Fiscal year 2015 100
Table E-3. Number of operational schools and item response rates for personnel expenditures with exclusions, by data item and participating state: Fiscal year 2015 101
Table E-4. Number of operational schools and item response rates for nonpersonnel expenditures with exclusions, by data item and participating state: Fiscal year 2015 102
Table E-5. Response rate and edit rate of expenditures for operational schools in the School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS), by category of data items and participating state: Fiscal year 2015 103