State education agencies, once passive, have assumed an important role in the collection and dissemination of education-related data for use at all levels of government and for a variety of purposes. (Author)

The Education Commission of the States conducted interviews in six school districts in five different states (California, Colorado, Iowa, Maryland, and Texas) to understand how districts can use data most effectively. These districts had used data to dramatically improve student achievement. Districts that make wise use of data have strong…

When a school system chooses to buy into modern computer technology as the way to solve some existing problems and to meet pressing needs, a myriad of new problems and issues are created. However, the new problems are worth solving to allow the system to benefit from the new technology. In other words, the conversion to using the latest computer…

Information gathered from the Bureau of the Census and a review of the literature available indicate that few school districts make use of the comprehensive data collected by the decennial federal census or the data collected and updated annually by the individual state departments of education. Educational planners should have a complete…

This digest highlights features of the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), explains how to use the system most effectively, and offers suggestions on how health and physical education teacher education faculty can present and use the ERIC system to supplement classroom instruction. Following a description of how resources in ERIC can…

This guide to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is designed to help the secondary data analyst use the NAEP and to introduce some of the sophisticated technology used by the NAEP. The NAEP has been gathering information on American students since 1969. It samples populations that consist of all students in U.S. schools, both…

Designed to help educators locate the most up-to-date research and information available for decision making, this handbook summarizes a vast collection of current educational, technical, and sociological information in computer databases. As online information systems multiply and become more consumer-oriented, and as microcomputers and modems…

This paper discusses the main analytical techniques used in "Mapping Educational Research and Its Impact on Schools." The study considered the impact of the outcomes of educational research on the practice of teaching and learning in Australian schools and on educational policy and administration. Mixed methods were used, beginning with…

A project conducted in Tennessee from 1984 through 1989, Student Teacher Achievement Ratio (Project STAR), serves as a context for a discussion of educational research. The decisions required in major research projects and the problems in carrying out research are seldom discussed in conferences that present research results as completed efforts.…

The Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) was designed by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to provide recurrent information about public and private elementary and secondary schools, teachers, and administrators. The NCES commissioned these papers to examine the SASS and to make recommendations about its future. The following…

American taxpayers are currently investing more than $160 billion annually in public elementary and secondary education. Concerned citizens continue to ask: For what purposes is the money being used, and is it accomplishing its purposes? This seven-chapter study addresses these concerns and provides factual answers to related questions about the…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the Longitudinal Studies Program (LSP) are major survey projects on educational outcomes performed by the Center for Education Statistics. NAEP is a continuing cross-sectional survey of young Americans' skills, knowledge, and attitudes. The LSP studies follow a sample of students as they…

The movement toward integration of qualitative and quantitative research methods within the same study has been most evident in social policy research. Four major approaches to integrating can be identified in recent studies. The sequential, the parallel, and the fused models have been rather widely used. The interactive model, developed during…

An analysis of the IBM/NEA Mastery in Learning (MIL) school renewal system, an electronic network that involves school faculties in collegial interaction with researchers and other educators in school reform, is the purpose of this paper. Developed by IBM (International Business Machines) and NEA (National Education Association), the MIL is a…

This videotape introduces resources provided by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to help educators make good educational policy decisions. The NCES is charged with collecting, maintaining, and reporting statistics about U.S. education, and it makes a variety of resources available to educators and the public to help them use…