Student Information Tracking

States are required to collect data on students experiencing homelessness, including the number of students, their demographics, and educational outcomes. Pennsylvania’s Department of Education (PDE) facilitates the state’s data collection for students experiencing homelessness (birth through grade 12) in conjunction with the statewide ECYEH Program and homeless liaisons. Other than homeless liaisons, data is also collected from homeless service providers and early childhood programs. Ultimately, data collection is extremely important, as it can assist homeless liaisons and Pennsylvania’s ECYEH Program in increasing the capacity of a local education agency’s (LEA) McKinney-Vento program. Additionally, collecting data on students experiencing homelessness can also be used to gauge educational development and create new interventions that support educational stability. PDE publishes new data annually, and a compilation of this data can be found on the Homeless Education section of PDE's website. All LEAs in Pennsylvania must identify students experiencing homelessness under the McKinney-Vento Act and enter each student accordingly into the ECYEH data website. The Region 2 ECYEH Office recommends that LEAs utilize an intake form when a student is identified as experiencing homelessness under the McKinney-Vento Act. The intake form will outline most of the information that must be entered into the ECYEH data website.

General Requirements

• All students enrolled in your school(s), their younger siblings, and any school-age out-of-school youth identified as experiencing homelessness during the program year must be reported.  This includes children and youth from birth to age 22, who have not completed high school/a GED equivalent. This is also true even if they withdrew from school or became housed before the school year began.

• Any student from the prior program year who continues to experience homelessness as of July 1 or any student who is identified as experiencing homelessness between July 1 and the start of the school year must be reported once the system re‐opens in September. This is true even if they withdrew from school or became housed before the school year began. The same applies to any younger siblings of such students who are not yet enrolled in school. 

• Users are expected to log in monthly, even if their school has not identified any new children/youth experiencing homelessness. If the reporting entity has no new students to report and no updates to make, the user should click the ‘no updates’ button on the home screen.

• No field should be left blank unless that information is unavailable. All entries should be updated as new information becomes available or changes. An incomplete record will be noted as such, indicated by a red thumbs down, in your event search. 

• You must click "Submit" at the bottom left of the entry screen to save your record. A confirmation screen should appear. 

• Entries can now be deleted if entered in error.

• The data site is cleared every summer after June 30th. Ensure that all records are exported to save your data internally.

For additional information and instructions on reporting, see the ECYEH Reporting App Directions/ User Guide

Intake Forms

Utilizing an intake form allows for more efficient and immediate access to transportation and other support services for students experiencing homelessness. You may utilize the sample forms below or modify the forms for your LEA's specific needs. *English and Spanish forms updated September 2023*

• ECYEH Intake Form (PDF/Printable)

• Spanish ECYEH Intake Form (PDF/Printable)

• ECYEH Intake Form (Fillable Form) (Downloading as a Word Document is highly recommended)

• Spanish ECYEH Intake Form (Fillable Form) (Downloading as a Word Document is highly recommended)

Sample Student Information Tracking Tool

Liaisons are also required to track educational outcomes for MKV students, including attendance and academic performance for LEA state monitoring. Tracking this information and data on the number of nurses' office visits, counseling office visits, etc., can help liaisons ensure that the needs of MKV students are being met. 

• Sample Data Tracking Google Sheet

Local Education Agencies (LEAs) are required to internally track additional data for LEA State Monitoring.

LEA Facts

This information comes from the LEA Profile provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Education to LEAs as part of the ECYEH evaluation and technical assistance. This data should be used by Homeless Liaisons to determine if the level of identification of MKV students is adequate. For example, districts with a high percentage of economically disadvantaged students will likely see a similarly high percentage of students experiencing homelessness. LEA Profile can be found on the ECYEH data site under the "Report" tab. For more information about how to use the LEA Profile, see the Questioning the Data Guide

• Total # of Students Enrolled

• Total # of Identified MKV Students

• % of Students Economically Disadvantaged

• Total Title I Allocation

• Title I Allocation per Student

• % Students Experiencing Homelessness

Educational Success Outcomes

Much of this information is available for identified MKV students through the LEA profile. LEA-wide data is available through the Future Ready PA Index, School Performance tab (https://futurereadypa.org/). Additional data should be maintained by the LEA.

• English Language Arts/Literature (% Proficient and Advanced)

• Mathematics/Algebra (% Proficient and Advanced)

• Science/Biology (% Proficient and Advanced)

• Attendance

• Graduation

• High school dropout rate

Additional District Data Review Requirements

• Grade-level promotion and retention 

• Retention in school

  • Length of time enrolled in their current school

  • Number of school placement moves

• Number of visits to the school nurse

• Number of disciplinary referrals

MKV Student Educational Outcomes should also be monitored through district Student Assistance Program (SAP) Programs.