Dive Brief:

• New York’s Violent and Disruptive Incident Reporting System required school districts to report incidents across 20 categories, many of which were confusing or overly legalistic, but the state board recently approved changes.
• The New York Times reports the new system will have only nine categories, and state officials have clarified the definitions in each category in hopes of improving reporting accuracy. Once schools submit their data, the state assigns a score that can lead to a “persistently dangerous” designation.
• Critics say the changes ignore the problem of self-reporting, where administrators have an incentive to underreport to improve their scores, and they also skip over any changes to the formula that results in a designation of persistently dangerous, which will continue to be based on a ratio of violent incidents to enrollment.  

Dive Insight:

There is always a problem with self-reported data. The Civil Rights Data Collection, relied upon for its nationwide data on a range of metrics, including discipline, access to rigorous coursework, graduation rates and comparisons across racial and ethnic groups, has similar downfalls. According to the latest round of data, from the 2013-14 academic year, 62% of districts had no bullying incidents at all. Meanwhile, student surveys routinely show one in four students is bullied.

The same is true for sexual harassment. Schools consistently have zero incidents to report even though experts know that is an unlikely statistic. Schools that have curated cultures that support reporting among students can look like they have worse school climates than schools that — intentionally or not — suppress reporting. This is a problem only school officials can solve, and it is one that should be a priority.