Education researchers use surveys widely. Yet, critics question respondents' ability to provide high-quality responses. As schools increasingly use student surveys to drive local policy making, respondents' (lack of) motivation to provide quality responses may threaten the wisdom of using questionnaires for data-based decision making. To better…

Against the backdrop of the ever-increasing influx of big data, this article examines the opportunities and concerns over big data in education. Specifically, this article first introduces big data, followed by delineating the potential opportunities of using big data in education in two areas: learning analytics and educational policy. Then, the…

At a time when more and more of what people learn both in formal courses and in everyday life is mediated by technology, "Learning Online" provides a much-needed guide to different forms and applications of online learning. This book describes how online learning is being used in both K-12 and higher education settings as well as in…

The U.S. Department of Education's Policy to Performance project was funded in 2009 to build the capacity of state adult basic education (ABE) staff to develop and implement policies and practices that would support an ABE transition system. Policy to Performance states were selected though a competitive process. State adult education directors…

The "Policy to Performance Toolkit" is designed to provide state adult education staff and key stakeholders with guidance and tools to use in developing, implementing, and monitoring state policies and their associated practices that support an effective state adult basic education (ABE) to postsecondary education and training transition…

Drawing on Sanford's notions of challenge and support, coupled with Tinto's theory on retention, this quantitative investigation sought to measure the association between supportive relationships and success in college for a sample of Black men. Results suggest that supportive relationships are associated with higher levels of satisfaction but not…

This training guides is designed to teach educators how to use data for school improvement. There is an emphasis on student achievement data, because achievement is the "bottom line" in assessing schools and school systems, but other types of data necessary to measure school quality are also considered. The chapters are: (1)…

The steps of policy analysis are similar to those of any research project; however, they focus on problems, issues, and needs. Using the introduction of microcomputers in a school district as an example, these steps are explained. (MLF)

This report used national data to assess the participation and degree completion status of Blacks and Hispanics in U.S. graduate and professional schools. Objectives of the report were: (1) to examine national data on the graduate and professional school enrollment and degree attainment of race and sex groups in various major fields of study; (2)…

This guide aims to facilitate research and policy analysis in rural education by linking substantive issues to the data sources of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The guide may be used in two ways: as a handy tool for scanning NCES data that are presented with immediately applicable issues; and to stimulate, with sample…

The Center for the Study of Evaluation, of the Graduate School of Education at the University of California at Los Angeles (CSE) hosted a two day conference on "Paths to Excellence: Testing and Technology" on July 14-15, 1983. Attended by over 100 educational researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, the first day of the conference…

This report evaluates the degree to which current assessment practices and programs include students with disabilities. It notes the difficulty of accurately determining the participation of students with disabilities in large-scale assessment programs due to a lack of data, differing definitions of eligible testing populations, and the…

This paper examines the influence of race and ethnicity on who goes to college and who graduates, and discusses policy issues surrounding higher education access and outcomes. Based on case studies of 10 majority institutions in 8 states, the paper proposes a conceptual scheme for dealing with such issues as the appropriate balance between…

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) integrated some of its national surveys of educational information into the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), which was initiated in 1987-88 and is being repeated at intervals to provide information about the nation's schools and their educators. The 1988-89 Teacher Followup Survey (TFS), a…

Efforts focused on improving quality processes based upon the Malcolm Baldrige Education Criteria for Performance Excellence may hold promise for fundamentally improving K-12 education. This policy report examines the information available on improving school quality through implementation of the Baldrige criteria. It provides a snapshot of what…