Determining whether a state's young people are on track for a life of opportunity is a difficult task for governors and state leaders. States can be both awash in data and unable to easily access and use that data to inform policy. State longitudinal data systems that meaningfully connect workforce, higher education, K-12, and early childhood…

The School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS) is managed by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) within the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education. SSOCS collects extensive crime and safety data from principals and administrators of public schools in the United States. Data from this collection can be…

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…

Over the last years, principals in schools have had to contend with numerous governmental regulations that change with each passing year. The change from instruction based on concepts to instruction based on standards to instruction based on student performance has created a need for principals to utilize data in ever-increasing forms. Both…

The learning sequence described in this article was developed to provide students with a demonstration of the development of box plots from authentic data as an illustration of the advantages gained from using multiple forms of data representation. The sequence follows an authentic process that starts with a problem to which data representations…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of missing physical activity (PA) data of children and youth. Method: PA data from the Chinese City Children and Youth Physical Activity Study ("N" = 2,758; 1,438 boys and 1,320 girls; aged 9-17 years old) were used for the study. After the data were sorted by the…

Investment in state incentive policies to support National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) prompt consideration of their distribution and retention. This study examines the results of a state's incentive program for NBCTs, including a targeted bonus for those working in high-poverty schools. A quantitative analysis was conducted of state data…

This study adopted a quantitative methodology involving a matched sample of federated and non-federated schools and utilising multilevel modelling techniques to explore the impact of federations on student outcomes. The sample involves a total of 50 school districts and 264 schools. These are grouped into 122 federations; 264 comparator schools…

We provide an expanded environmental scan to assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) faced by education communities. Grounded in the literature, we identified 48 indicators and grouped them into 6 broad categories: (1) budget levels, (2) funding patterns, (3) community needs, (4) external economic conditions, (5)…

The issue of underrepresentation in gifted and talented (GT) programs has developed into a critical educational concern. At the core are ambiguous identification assessment practices, especially for bilingual students. To illustrate, this article reports data from the last decade that supports the underrepresentation of gifted Hispanic bilingual…

This paper serves as a supplement to the "This School Works for Me: Creating Choices to Boost Achievement. A Guide for Data Analysts" report. This paper contains the following sections: (1) Initial Steps; (2) Developing Baseline District Facts; (3) Identifying Effective Options; (4) Identifying Effective Options: Preventative; and (5) Identifying…

Using logistic regression, this study sought to understand the relationship between district characteristics, district finances, levy characteristics, and campaign expenditures with new operating levy outcomes. We found that employee benefits as a percentage of the district's budget were negatively associated with levy outcomes, while salaries…

This paper provides evidence on the sources of differences in inequality in educational scores and their evolution over time in four European countries. Using Programme for International Student Assessment data from the 2000 and the 2006 waves, the paper shows that inequality decreased in Germany and Spain (two "decentralised" schooling…

Since its inception, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has been committed to the practice of documenting its statistical methods for its customers and of seeking to avoid misinterpretation of its published data. The reason for this policy is to assure customers that proper statistical standards and techniques have been observed,…

This document presents an interactive visual guide that explains what data are, how they help, and what people can do with them. It also offers ways to enact statewide policies that support effective data use.