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Instructions for Using and Downloading
New Jersey 2003 School Report Card Database

Consistent with prior report cards, the New Jersey 2003 School Report Card is accompanied by a database that can be downloaded. However, for the 2003 edition, the report card database has been completely redesigned and implemented to provide the public with a large collection of data that can be easily navigated and retrieved.

The new database has been designed based on the relational database standards and principles. The following are the new features:

Each table has several indicator variables (or fields) in addition to the county, district, and school codes:

1. YEAR. This is a variable created to indicate the school year in which the events/status the data collected represents. It is a four-digit field combining the last two digits of the beginning and ending school years. For example, the 2001-2002 school year’s GEPA data has the value of "0102" in the YEAR field.
2. LEVEL. This field indicates the level of the data. School-level data is represented by an "S," district-level data is assigned a "D," DFG data an "F," and state-level data a "T". The selection of the level indication letter is based on the order of the letters appearing in a word. If the words for the different levels have the same first letter, the second letter is used for the higher level indicator value, and so forth. For example, S in the word "school" is used for school-level data, and T in the word "state" for state-level data.
3. DUMMY CODES. Three sets of dummy codes were created to generally indicate the following three levels of data: district, DFG, and state. The district-level data has the actual county and district codes, but a dummy school code of "888". The DFG-level data has "88" for the county code, "8888" for the district code, and "888" for the school code. The state -level data has "99" for the county code, "9999" for the district code, and "999" for the school code. These dummy codes can be used, in addition to the level field, to merge/combine different levels of data.

As some of the state averages were calculated based on the school-type groupings, the dummy county, district, and school codes for state-level data are expanded to indicate such variations:

99-9999-111 represents state averages of the elementary schools (including charter elementary) as a group.

99-9999-222 represents state averages of the secondary schools (including charter secondary and what is called comprehensive high school).

99-9999-333 represents state averages of the special services school districts.

99-9999-444 represents state averages of the special education schools.

99-9999-555 represents state averages of the vocational schools.

99-9999-999 represents state-level data, including all types of schools.

4. DUMMY DFG CODES. Charter schools are assigned a dummy DFG code of "R," special education/services schools an "S," and vocational schools a "V". These codes are used solely for the grouping purposes, and, therefore, do not represent a DFG group in its real sense.

All these indicator fields and dummy county, district, and school codes make it possible for the database to have the same field names for the same data across years and levels, that is, for a single table to contain data for different years and levels. Therefore, they make it possible for the database to be compact and streamlined.

5. SAMPLE QUERIES. In an attempt to demonstrate how the report card database may be used taking advantages of its relational features, a dozen sample queries are included in the database.

a) OneYearOneTestDFGComparison: This query generates a comparison of the 2002-03 HSPA total students performances by DFG.

b) SingleDistrictMultipleYearEnrollment: This query generates a listing of the multiple year enrollment data of each of the schools in one district.

c) SingleDistrictOneYearEnrollment: This query generates a listing of one year enrollment data of each of the schools in one district.

d) SingleSchoolOneYearTotEnr_SchInfo: This query combines total number of enrollment and the general school information data for a school for one school year.

e) SingleSchoolMultipleYearEnrollment: This query generates for a school a list/report of the enrollment data for the years included in the 2003 report card.

f) SingleSchoolOneYearEnrollment: This query generates for a school a list/report of the enrollment data for the particular year specified that is included in the 2003 report card.

g) TwoDistrictMultipleYearEnrollment: This query generates a list/report of the enrollment data for the years included in the 2003 report card for two districts.

h) TwoDistrictOneYearEnrollment: This query generates a list/report of the enrollment data for the particular year specified for two districts.

i) TwoSchoolCurrentYearTotEnr_Schinfo: This query generates a list/report that combines the current year (2002-03) total number of enrollments and the general school information data for the two schools specified.

j) TwoSchoolMultipleYearTotStudentTest: This query generates a report of the performance of the total students on the statewide tests for all the years included in the 2003 report card for the two schools specified.

k) TwoSchoolMultipleYearTotStudentTestswithDFG: This query compares two schools’ total students’ performance on the statewide tests with corresponding DFG data.

l) TwoSchoolSingleYearTotStudentTestswithDFG: This query compares the two schools specified regarding their total students’ performance on the statewide tests with corresponding DFG data for the particular single year specified.

These are just some simple examples to show that how the data in the 2003 Report Card Database may be merged, combined, and manipulated to suit the user’s purposes. The possibilities for other ways of combining the report card data are numerous.

The 2003 Report Card Database is provided in two formats: MS Access and MS Excel. The data manipulations described above can be conveniently done in MS Access.

The database can be either downloaded or opened remotely for viewing purposes. For data manipulation, it is recommended that the user download the report card database and save it onto the hard drive on the local computer. To download the database and its related documentation, click the related link(s) and follow the instructions on the screen.