NCES Handbooks
NCES developed the Handbooks Online in the 1970s to improve the consistency of data definitions and data maintenance, so that education
data can be more accurately aggregated and analyzed. The Handbooks were intended to serve as a reference document for K-12 public and
private education agencies, schools, early childhood centers, and other educational institutions, as well as for researchers involved in
the collection of education data. The Handbooks Online was neither a data collection instrument nor did it reflect any type of federal
data maintenance requirement.
How to find NCES Handbook Properties
The Handbook properties that overlap with CEDS are part of the CEDS search functions and tools. The Handbook properties that are not the
same as CEDS are now included in Extend and can be accessed in four different ways:
- Property Search Tool: When searching and viewing CEDS properties by name users may choose to "Search Extend Properties" to expand your search to include the Extend properties.
- Domain Entity Schema: When using the drill down function of the Domain Entity Schema users may choose "Extend Your Search" to see the Extend properties.
- Downloads: Users may choose "Include Extend Properties in Download" when using the new Excel dynamic download tool.
- PDF Format: The zip files below contain the NCES Handbooks in their full, print formatted form.
NCES Handbook Documents
Below are the main Handbook domains in PDF format.