The Teacher Compensation Survey (TCS) was a research and development effort by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to explore the possibility of developing an administrative records survey that would compile compensation and demographic data on all public school teachers in the nation. A pilot survey in 2007 collected data from…

Including all children in large-scale educational studies is a pressing concern. Omitting certain types of children from studies can lead to skewed findings that promote inaccuracies about learning levels or educational quality. Increasingly, assessments are a method for investigating the quality of education systems, but national assessments are…

In my PhD research, I explore the reflective schooling experiences of recently graduated First Nations students in New Brunswick (Canada) provincial schools. Improving educational experiences and academic outcomes for First Nations students is currently considered a priority across Canada; however, most previous research focuses on quantitative…

A study examining the evaluation components of merit pay programs in Illinois suggests that such components significantly influence a program's success or failure. Merit pay programs should incorporate evaluation systems tht emphasize their formal purpose, target variables related to effective teaching, and utilize sound data collection…

Analyzes and documents classification issues as part of the assessment of data quality in the Common Core of Data (CCD). Focuses on the Public Elementary/Secondary Education Agency Universe Survey. Indicates shortcomings in the definitions used for the CCD. (SLD)

Responding to critique of "The Economic Consequences of State Lotteries" (Praeger, 1991), coauthor praises reviewers' analysis and deplores their harsh criticism. Income coefficient used is justifiable, since, in Florida, number of children attending state-funded schools is positively associated with income. Would have received even…

An approach to research that was conceptualized with the idea of replicating one study in dozens of locations simultaneously is described, focusing on two research projects with simultaneous replication. In 1988 researchers in 85 locations collected data in 276 schools as part of the Phi Delta Kappa Study of Schools At Risk. In 1982, data were…

The gender of participants in 1,929 articles (1991-2000) in journals relevant to mental retardation was determined. Gender was not reported in 26%. When gender was reported, 6% of the investigators used females only, 8% used males only, and 60% used both sexes, respectively. The need to specify gender is stressed. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

The following organizations and agencies sent their suggestions and comments on the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Elementary/Secondary Education Data Redesign Project: American Association for Counseling and Development, American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, American Library Association, Indiana University,…

Problems associated with combining observations taken from intact classrooms were examined. Clarification of basic entities to be studied was a critical step in research planning. Classroom observers usually study instructional arrangements and other classroom phenomena. The author used activity structure and its component activity segments as the…

Research is reviewed on the use of direct observation methods to collect special education data focusing on seven major factors: reactivity; observer drift; the recording procedure; location of the observation; reliability; expectancy and feedback; and characteristics of subjects, observers, and settings. Recommendations are offered for increasing…

The Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) is an integrated set of surveys that has been conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in 1987-88, 1990-91, and 1993-94. In each of those school years, the Census Bureau also conducted a reinterview of the administrators, schools, and teachers. This report…

This document contains two papers related to the 1993-94 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). The first paper documents some of the problems that were encountered during student sample selection and the methods used to resolve those problems. It also provides some suggestions to alleviate some of the problems in future SASS studies. Significant…

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), in its expansion of data reporting, should consider approaches for studying the curricular content of elementary and secondary instruction and student achievement of curricular goals. More specific information is needed about the curricular content of U.S. education. For example, data collected…

This paper acknowledges that research on school dropouts presents problems in the definitions and computation of dropout indices. It considers a variety of methods for computing dropout rates, using dropout rates which are real and which were available at the end of the 1986-1987 school year. Fall enrollment, average daily membership, and total…