Typology of Ohio School Districts

The Department has consistently received requests for a standardized method to categorize districts for research. In 1996, the Department established a classification system for various similar districts, known as the typology of Ohio school districts. The typology was updated in 2007 to incorporate data from the 2000 census. With new data from the 2010 census and growing analytical needs, the Department revised the typology in 2013.

To develop this typology, the Department utilized multiple data sources to group similar districts based on shared demographic and geographic features. Consequently, these classifications can be used to create a stratified sample of districts within the state. They also enable researchers to concentrate on particular district types, such as major urban districts or rural districts with significant poverty levels. For the 2013 typology, eight categories were established, which is one more than in the 2007 version. The classifications of the 2013 typology are outlined in the following table.

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

Amended January 2015

How was the current School District Typology created?

In 2013 the school district typology was created using a comparable method to the previous typologies created by the Department. 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 and Workforce (EMIS), school year 2011-2012
Percentage of students flagged as economically disadvantaged Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (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 and Workforce (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: 11/25/2024 5:10:17 PM