This article presents a descriptive, critical analysis of the comparability of information concerning students, teachers, and school resources gathered by organisations within government jurisdiction, and the pitfalls for the unwary researcher using government data banks. Differences in the method of compiling information about citizens, and…

The Education Insights Center produced a series of reports culminating in recommendations for the structure and governance of a preschool through higher education and into the workforce (known as a P20W data system). This brief follows up on that series, with a focus on data quality; the brief was informed by the author's experience using…

The COVID-19 pandemic upended the U.S. education system and the economy in ways that dramatically affected the jobs of K-12 educators. However, data limitations have led to considerable uncertainty and conflicting reports about the nature of staffing challenges in schools. We draw on education employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics…

In order to demonstrate the value of higher education and evaluate the effectiveness of various policies and practices, researchers are increasingly expected to merge data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) with a range of other federal and private-sector data sources. In this article, I detail a number of the most…

Secondary data analysis can benefit researchers of advanced academics by providing large sample sizes and a variety of data on multiple topics. However, using secondary data comes with unique challenges. This article will outline how gifted education researchers can find, access, and use secondary data. Data are available on children from birth to…

Higher education is a key driver of economic mobility and future growth in California. Yet there is much unknown about how students advance from K-12 schools to postsecondary education and into the workforce--and where they falter. This lack of knowledge stems from the fragmented nature of California's education data and inhibits informed decision…

This article reports the results of a nationwide questionnaire survey of 1,104 Japanese higher education institutions conducted in late 2015 and early 2016. Its goal was to investigate the current status and issues related to the utilization and disclosure of educational information. A total of 248 institutions responded to the survey. Based on…

Challenges in collecting comprehensive health surveillance data on people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are numerous. A number of important issues and strategies are discussed in the articles contained in this special issue of "Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities." In this article, we focus on the…

California has long been a national and global leader in developing and maintaining quality higher education options, as well as in providing financial aid and consumer protections for Californians who access that education. However, although California's colleges and the state government do collect, receive, and report a great deal of data, these…

Sprockets collaborated with Wilder Research to conduct Journey Mapping sessions with its network partner organizations to learn more about the experiences they have had with Sprockets and to hear from them about future hopes for Sprockets. Information gathered is intended to inform Sprockets' continuous improvement efforts in providing effective…

The objective of this commentary is to call attention to the feasibility and importance of large-scale, systematic, quantitative analysis in international and comparative education research. We contend that although many existing databases are under- or unutilized in quantitative international-comparative research, these resources present the…

Administrative data on employment and earnings, commonly referred to as wage data or wage records, can be used to assess the labor market outcomes of workforce, education, and other programs, providing policymakers, administrators, researchers, and the public with valuable information. However, there is no single readily accessible federal source…

States invest heavily in education, providing funding either directly or in the form of financial aid from preschool through college, with positive outcomes from those impacting nearly every other area of public policy, particularly the workforce. To understand and assess results, states collect and analyze information about these investments at…

While computational biology and bioinformatics became an inherent part of most life science degrees, it remains challenging to encourage students to employ these diverse skills in a practical research context. In this education paper, we present a method to enable students to acquire hands-on skills by the data-driven study of complex biomolecular…

This article uses topological approaches to suggest that education is becoming-topological. Analyses presented in a recent double-issue of "Theory, Culture & Society" are used to demonstrate the utility of topology for education. In particular, the article explains education's topological character through examining the global…