Pennsylvania Public School Special Education Enrollment by County and Grade

Historical data from the 2016-2017 school year through the current year tracks full-time out-of-district special education enrollments across Pennsylvania's publicly funded schools. The Pennsylvania Department of Education collects this data via the Pennsylvania Information Management System (PIMS), with counts reported as of October 1 each year.

Use Cases

• Analyze trends in out-of-district special education placements over time using the 'School Year' and 'Total' columns.
• Compare enrollment counts by 'Grade' (e.g., 'K5 Full Day', '12th Grade') and 'Gender' across different 'County' regions.
• Assess the distribution of special education students by age group using columns from 'Pre-Kindergarten Half Day' through '12th Grade'.
• Calculate county-level enrollment rates for specific grades by joining 'County Code' with external population data.

Strengths

• Multi-year time series starting from the 2016-2017 school year.
• Contains granular breakdowns by 'County', 'Grade', and 'Gender'.
• Data is sourced from the authoritative state 'Pennsylvania Information Management System (PIMS)'.

Limitations

• Excludes part-day enrollments from intermediate units and career and technology centers.
• Row counts and sample sizes are unknown, limiting assessment of statistical significance.
• LEA and school-level reports may not sum to the provided county and state totals.

Provenance

Source

Pennsylvania Department of Education, Bureau of Special Education via Pennsylvania Information Management System (PIMS).

Collection Method

Reported by school districts, charter schools, vocational-technical schools, intermediate units, and state-operated facilities.

Time Range

2016-2017 school year through the current school year.

Freshness

Updated through the current school year, with a last platform update in August 2024.

Geography

State of Pennsylvania, United States, aggregated by county.