Typology of Ohio School Districts
The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) has long received requests for a consistent way to stratify districts for research purposes. In 1996, ODE created classification for different types of similar districts, referred to as the typology of Ohio school districts. In 2007, the typology was revised to take advantage of the 2000 census data. With the availability of more recent data from the 2010 census and an increasing demand for analytic uses, ODE again revised the typology for 2013.
To create this typology, ODE used several data sources to classify like districts together based on shared demographic and geographic characteristics. As a result, the classifications can serve as a basis for a stratified sample of districts in the state. These classifications also allow researchers to focus on a specific type of district, such as major urban districts or rural districts with high poverty. Eight typology categories were created for the 2013 typology (one more than the 2007 typology). These typology classifications are described in the table below.
School Districts Typology
|
Typology Code
|
Major Grouping
|
Full Descriptor
|
Districts Within Typology
|
Students Within Typology
|
|
1
|
Rural |
Rural - High Student Poverty & Small Student Population |
124
|
170,000
|
|
2
|
Rural |
Rural - Average Student Poverty & Very Small Student Population |
107
|
110,000
|
|
3
|
Small Town |
Small Town - Low Student Poverty & Small Student Population |
111
|
185,000
|
|
4
|
Small Town |
Small Town - High Student Poverty & Average Student Population Size |
89
|
200,000
|
|
5
|
Suburban |
Suburban - Low Student Poverty & Average Student Population Size |
77
|
320,000
|
|
6
|
Suburban |
Suburban - Very Low Student Poverty & Large Student Population |
46
|
240,000
|
|
7
|
Urban |
Urban - High Student Poverty & Average Student Population |
47
|
210,000
|
|
8
|
Urban |
Urban - Very High Student Poverty & Very Large Student Population |
8
|
200,000
|
How was the School District Typology created?
In 2013 the school district typology was created using a comparable method to the previous typologies created by ODE. In brief, a cluster analysis was run using eleven measures, some of which were combined into composite measures. These measures were chosen because they each provide an insight into the characteristics that might best describe the make-up of a school district population and/or its community. These measures also were chosen because they mirror the data used to compute “Similar Districts.” The measures used for the typology and their data sources are listed below.
| Measure |
Data Source |
| Average Daily Membership (ADM) |
Ohio Department of Education (EMIS), school year 2011-2012 |
| Percentage of students flagged as economically disadvantaged |
Ohio Department of Education (EMIS), school year 2011-2012 |
| Median income of the district |
|
| Percentage of population with a college degree or more |
American Community Survey, 2009 |
| Percentage of population in administrative/professional occupations |
American Community Survey, 2009 |
| Population density |
Census Bureau, 2010 |
| Percentage of nonagricultural property value |
Ohio Department of Taxation, tax year 2011 |
| Population within the district |
Census Bureau, 2010 |
| Incorporation of a city larger than 55,000 people (dummy variable) |
Census Bureau, 2010 |
| Percentage of African-American, Hispanic, Native-American, Pacific Islander or Multiracial students enrolled in the school district |
Ohio Department of Education (EMIS), school year 2011-2012 |
| Per-pupil amount of commercial, industrial, mining, tangible and public utility property value |
Ohio Department of Taxation, tax year 2011 |
The data indicated an eighth typology classification was needed to accommodate the outlying towns and county seats that share many characteristics of urban (percent minority) and rural (location) school districts. A detailed description of the methodology behind the 2013 typology is linked below.
Last Modified: 8/29/2023 11:43:28 AM