School Courses for the Exchange of Data (SCED)

Overview

SCED codes were developed by the NCES. They are stewarded by “a working group of federal, state, and local education agency representatives who receive suggestions and assistance from a wide network of subject matter experts at the national, state, and local levels.” (NCES)

This means that SCED can be adjusted to meet the needs of its users.

SCED represents a “voluntary, common classification system for prior-to-secondary and secondary school courses. It can be used to compare course information, maintain longitudinal data about student coursework, and efficiently exchange course-taking records. SCED is based on a five-digit Course Code that provides a basic structure for classifying course content. Additional SCED elements and attributes provide descriptive information about each course. Many of the education data standards have incorporated SCED as their course standards.” (NCES)