Department resumes civil rights school survey but drops nonbinary gender category

The Department of Education has resumed the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) for K-12 schools, following a period of uncertainty caused by federal funding and staff reductions. The CRDC is an important source of nationwide data on student experiences across various demographic groups.

Earlier this year, the department delayed sending out CRDC surveys to school districts, citing a need to revise questions for consistency with federal civil rights laws. This delay was part of broader changes during the Trump administration, which included significant cuts to education research contracts totaling $881 million.

Despite these setbacks and a government shutdown in early October that is expected to slow progress, the department has committed to finalizing data for the 2025-26 school year and preparing for data collection in 2027-28. The most recent CRDC data available covers the 2021-22 school year and was released in January.

Tabbye Chavous, executive director of the American Educational Research Association, emphasized the importance of this data: “Schools use these data to identify gaps and develop solutions, researchers to track equity outcomes and uncover patterns over time, and families to advocate for their children. All rely on the CRDC to support student access and participation and to evaluate the effectiveness of programs and practices for all students. Any delay in implementation would leave schools and communities in the dark, making it harder to spot disparities and act on them.”

The latest update removes the nonbinary gender category that had been added in 2021. This change aligns with a January executive order stating that only two genders are recognized at the federal level.

The National Center for Youth Law criticized this decision, expressing concern about its impact on nonbinary students: “We believe these data are valuable and believe that the removal of the collection of data on non-binary youth will likely increase these students’ exposure to bigotry,” according to public comments submitted about upcoming CRDC changes.

Additionally, recent announcements from the Department include plans to stop collecting state-level data identifying districts where students with disabilities or from certain racial groups face disproportionate discipline or removal from classrooms. Critics argue that this could limit advocates' ability to monitor potential inequities affecting students of color.

Meanwhile, efforts continue within the administration to centralize information related to how colleges consider race and sex in admissions decisions—a task made more challenging by reduced staffing levels among education data personnel.