Click the links below to navigate to different sections of this page:
OCR - Articles to LEAs (updated as of May 10, 2023)
2021-2022 Office of Civil Rights - Collection Survey Timeline

Registration open from May 15 - June 30, 2023: The Registration window for the 2021-22 CRDC will be conducted directly in the submission system. To learn more about the process, view the "Registration Instructions" video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQP5Qrd2fDE.
At this time, OCR anticipates that the CRDC data submission system will open Winter 2023, for LEAs to submit their data for the 2021–22 CRDC. As soon as OCR establishes the specific data submission period, LEAs will be notified.
- May 15 - June 30, 2023: Registration is open
- Summer/Fall of 2023 Collection Tools: Pre-collection use tools to review list of data elements and prepare for the collection. This includes the school / LEA forms, flat file submission spreadsheet, survey tool guides, Excel templates and data elements.
- Winter / Spring 2023-2024 Review and Submit Data: Collection open to submit the data via the file upload process or manual data entry.
- Winter / Spring 2024 Certify Data: Collection - review the submitted data and resolve errors and warnings. Document an action plan(s) as needed and continue reviewing the data.
- Spring / Summer of 2024 Data Quality: Post-Collection review the dat for quality. See data quality manuals.
Please send all LEA contact updates to the PSC:
- via phone (855) 255-6901 or email at crdc@aemcorp.com.
State Education Agency (SEA) Communications to WI LEAs
The Wisconsin CRDC outcomes from the 2020-21 data collection are available. This presentation breaks out our state's completion, certification numbers, and also details how many of Wisconsin's LEAs participated in data correction efforts.
Office of Civil Rights (OCR) Announcements to LEAs
Current as of 5/10/2023:
THE CRDC REGISTRATION IS A REQUIRED STEP AND MUST BE CONDUCTED EVEN IF YOU ALREADY PROVIDED CONTACTS PREVIOUSLY.
- Registration for the 2021–22 Civil Rights Data Collection is Coming Soon!
- Registration will be open on Monday, May 15, and close on Friday, June 30, 2023. The Registration window for the 2021-22 CRDC will be conducted directly in the submission system. To learn more about the process, view the "Registration Instructions" video.
- Next Steps: During the week of May 15, 2023, an email including account login instructions will be sent to all superintendents, principal contacts, and alternate contacts. Specific instructions for accessing the system and completing the Registration process will be included in next week’s email. Please take a few minutes to log in to your account and review your LEA’s information.
- At this time, OCR anticipates that the CRDC data submission system will open in Winter 2023, for LEAs to submit their data for the 2021–22 CRDC. As soon as OCR establishes the specific data submission period, LEAs will be notified.
- Please note! User names and passwords will be disseminated when the submission system opens for registration.
Current as of 3/1/2023:
March 1, 2023
2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection
OCR’s proposed changes for the 2021–22 and 2023–24 CRDC surveys completed two public notice and comment periods, pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. Specifically, an initial 60-day public comment period closed on February 11, 2022, followed by a 30-day period, which closed on October 31, 2022. OCR reviewed and prepared responses to the public comments received.
The final proposal will be universal collections in which all public school districts and their schools will be required to participate. As soon as the proposed 2021–22 and 2023–24 CRDCs are approved, OCR will notify you. In the interim, OCR urges you and your schools to prepare for the 2021–22 CRDC by reviewing the proposed data elements in the OMB Supporting Statement A document available.
Please note! User names and passwords will be disseminated when the submission system opens for registration.
CRDC SY 2020-21 Registration Instructions from the Partners Support Center (PSC)
CRDC & U.S. Department of Education Resource Links

Not Available Yet:
- U.S. DoE - Office of Civil Rights CRDC Survey Tool - OCR
- CRDC LEA Data Support Plan V1.3
- Reginfo.gov - Overview and Burden Statement, OMB Supporting Statement A.09 20 22.docx, OMB Supporting Statement B.09 16 22.docx
Currently Available:
- Getting Started web page has tutorial videos
- New User Starter Kit
- Search Resources from their Home page
- Click "Collaborate" to search their Public Domain Clearinghouse of Documents.
-
2020-21 CRDC General Overview, Changes and List of Data Elements
-
LEA Form
-
School Form
-
Master List of Definitions: Master List of CRDC Definitions includes LEA Form Terms and School Form Terms.
- CRDC Collection Tool - Add New Users and Set Permissions
What is the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC)

Office of Civil Rights (OCR) Background
Since 1968, the U.S. Department of Education (DoE) has conducted the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) to collect data on key education and civil rights issues in our nation's public schools. The collection was formerly administered as the Elementary and Secondary School Survey (E&S Survey).
The CRDC collects a variety of information including student enrollment and educational programs and services, most of which are disaggregated by race/ethnicity, sex, limited English proficiency, and disability. The CRDC is a longstanding and important aspect of the DoE Office for Civil Rights (OCR) overall strategy for administering and enforcing the civil rights statutes for which it is responsible. Information collected by the CRDC is also used by other DoE offices as well as policymakers and researchers outside of the DoE.
For further general information about the CRDC, visit the CRDC FAQ page.
2020-21 Changes to the CRDC - Office of Civil Rights
On December 28, 2020, OCR received OMB approval to require all local educational agencies (LEA) in the country, including every public school district, charter school, juvenile justice facility, alternative school, and school serving only students with disabilities to respond to the CRDC for the 2020-21 school year. Changes were made to the CRDC, which had the net effect of reducing the burden on school districts. The 2020-21 CRDC survey includes new questions that will collect key data in areas of increasing civil rights concerns such as incidents of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault committed by school staff members and incidents of harassment and bullying based on perceived religion or shared ancestry. For more details about changes in the 2020-21 CRDC, go to Questions and Answers PDF (322.4K).
DPI - GENERAL DISCLAIMERS (since 2015-16)
- RESPONSIBILITIES: The federal CRDC survey is mandatory, but your use of DPI state data files is voluntary. Data files are provided by DPI as a value-added service to Wisconsin school districts. Districts that do not supply data to DPI, such as private schools, cannot be supported. If your district did opt out of DPI pre-populating the two starter files, the burden for compiling data is solely the responsibility of the school district. It is the district's responsibility to evaluate whether or not the data provided by DPI is sufficient and accurate enough for local CRDC reporting. DPI can provide only partial survey answers, and the remainder must be supplied by the local district in accordance with the Data Matrix and Course Code Matrix.
- DATA DELIVERY: The CRDC survey schedule conflicts with the DPI data collection close dates. Given this conflict, DPI will make every effort to deliver accurate and timely data to districts based on the condition of your data at file generation time. Once delivered to the school district's CRDC interface section, DPI will not revise the data files. All explanations of data sources and calculations are available in the Data Support matrix. DPI reserves the right to reduce the number of supported survey questions and will immediately notify districts should this occur.
- QUALITY CHECKS: DPI data file quality is based on the data quality that districts build into their own DPI data collections. If a district knows that issues exist with the district's submission for a given collection, especially with the data elements used in the CRDC survey, local data sources should be used rather than the DPI-provided data. Districts must confirm the quality of DPI data. Any and all data in the DPI data files can and should be overwritten where local data provides a more accurate answer.
- DATA USE: The data files DPI sends to districts should only be used to complete the CRDC survey. Data should not be used for any other purpose due to the unique formatting and data definitions.
- DATA DEFINITIONS: In most cases, the DPI data definitions as found in our state collections match the definition requested in the CRDC survey. In other cases, the state definition is close but not identical to what CRDC requires. DPI will make as close a match as possible within our collections. The DPI data sources used, including filtering criteria, are listed in the CRDC Flat File Specifications, updated 8/16/21 document. Ultimately, interpretation of the data definitions to produce a survey answer is the responsibility of the district in conjunction with the federal CRDC staff.
- PRIVACY: The CRDC data is un-redacted at the school level and thus falls under DPI student data privacy guidelines. DPI will neither release your district's project data files to the public nor post it on the web. Your data files will only be released securely to the CRDC contacts registered with the CRDC. Contact us for information on data privacy.
- CONTACTS: The Department of Public Instruction Project Sponsor, Civil Rights Compliance Officer is the owner of this project.
What is the Data Support Project?

DPI provides PARTIAL data files to districts to help complete the CRDC survey.
About 60 percent of the data an LEA submits is replicated in state data, such as in the WISEdata Roster data collection.
By converting the identical data that an LEA submits to DPI into a CRDC compatible file format, the CRDC survey burden on LEAs is greatly reduced. Accuracy and timeliness is increased as well.
-
What are my schools' NCES numbers? How do I look them up? An NCES number is the federal number assigned to your school for reporting purposes. Look them up in an NCES School and District Search.
-
Should You Report Homeschool Students enrolled in 1 or 2 classes within your district? Since students are to be counted where they are receiving 50% or more of their education, the students enrolled in 1 or 2 courses from homeschool would not be included in the student counts for those courses.
-
Is DPI asking for this CRDC data? DPI is not. The federal agency asking for this data is the Office for Civil Rights in the Dept. of Education, Washington, DC. DPI assists districts completing the federal survey by extracting data schools submitted to DPI and pre-populating the CRDC format. DPI data should be carefully checked and overwritten if incorrect. Remember, this is your district's data. DPI pulls in the data as it was submitted.
-
What if we don't want DPI's help? To opt out of DPI starter file uploads from DPI should be received by November 1, 2021. Forward your Opt Out Request to Susan Rose-Adametz.
-
I'm getting emails, but I'm not the right person to contact about this survey. Your superintendent should help determine who are the CRDC principal and alternate contacts. You can update your contacts in the CRDC Survey Tool. Registration will open November 4, 2021. Prior to November 4th please send all LEA contact updates to the PSC via phone (855) 255-6901 or email at crdc@aemcorp.com.
-
Why can't DPI do the survey for us? DPI is not allowed to complete the survey. The law requires the school district to load or to participate in the one-time DPI starter file upload and certify the civil rights survey. Also, districts may want to change data that DPI provides. You have the right and the opportunity to change any data we pre-populate in the federal interface.
-
Why is DPI only sending partial data? There's some data we don't collect from districts, such as teacher absences, sports, physical restraint, in-school arrests, etc. DPI is pulling as many answers as possible from collections, such as WISEdata Enrollment, Roster, WISEstaff, and School Directory. DPI will not have all student enrollments in Roster courses. WISEdata Roster does not allow secondary student enrollments and DPI is planning to correct this in a future release.
-
How do I know what DPI will send or not send? The CRDC Flat File Specifications, updated 8/16/21 shows all the question numbers, and we indicate by question what data DPI collects. If DPI doesn't send data (on matrix = None), the district must supply it and enter that data into the federal CRDC interface. DPI will extract data from the data warehouse once districts have completed their 2020-21 End of Year reporting deadlines. Districts can always change any data by typing over it in the CRDC survey web interface.
-
How will we receive the DPI data files? DPI will send the data files directly to the federal interface. Your district will see the data pre-populate your questions. Reminder, this is your district's data as submitted to DPI. If it is incorrect, you may change it.
-
We're late getting started. How does our district get caught up? To prepare for the 2020–21 CRDC, LEAs should use the updated 2020–21 CRDC forms that are available on the CRDC website and the CRDC Resource Center website. OCR also encourages you to contact the CRDC Partner Support Center for technical assistance via email (crdc@aemcorp.com) or by phone (855-255-6901). The Center is staffed with experts who are here to support you in fulfilling this important responsibility.
DPI will continue to update our WI CRDC Support for Districts web page, https://dpi.wi.gov/wise/federal-reporting/crdc with timeline updates, LEA announcements and resources that we provide.
-
WI DPI CRDC Contacts
Susan Rose-Adametz, Project Manager
(608) 267-9013 email Susan Rose-Adametz
Sara Baird, Project Sponsor, Civil Rights Compliance Officer
(608) 266-9609 email Sara Baird
The Department of Public Instruction Project Sponsor, Civil Rights Compliance Officer is the owner of this project.