The Comprehensive Education Data and Research System (CEDARS) is a longitudinal data system that will allow Washington's Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to collect, store and report data related to students, courses, and teachers in order to meet state and federal reporting requirements and to help educators and policy makers to make data driven decisions. CEDARS replaced the former data collection tool used by OSPI, the Core Student Record System (CSRS), in September 2009. This manual provides a diagram of how data flows from a district Student Information System (SIS) to OSPI via the CEDARS data collection process. Once the data reaches OSPI, the data is validated and moved to the CEDARS database. Red text in the manual indicates a change since the last version. Additional resources are provided. [To review "Comprehensive Education Data and Research System (CEDARS) Data Manual Appendices: For the 2012-2013 School Year. Version 5.1," in ERIC see ED565688.]