Textbook data is essential for teaching statistics and data science methods because it is clean, allowing the instructor to focus on methodology. Ideally textbook datasets are refreshed regularly, especially when they are subsets taken from an ongoing data collection. It is also important to use contemporary data for teaching, to imbue the sense…

This Statistics in Brief adds to existing research on early-career teachers by presenting findings on their preparation and supports from data from the 2011-12 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). This brief, like past research, investigates several specific areas of preparation and types of support. For the purposes of this brief, early-career…

In the quest to improve measured educational outcomes national governments across the The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and beyond have instituted large-scale assessment (LSA) policies in their public schools. Controversy almost universally follows the implementation of such testing, related to such topics as: a)…

Over the past few years, there has been an ever-growing chorus of those who grumble that teachers are unhappy with their lack of control and freedom and have grown to deeply dislike their jobs. This article asks if teachers really lack autonomy and freedom, and wonders if as a nation, whether or not we have reached the right balance of…

Many universities and colleges have placed increased emphasis on teaching excellence in higher education. Efforts to promote teaching excellence vary from the development of alternative new pedagogies as well as research exploring strategies to improve existing teaching practices. Logically, different disciplines employ different instructional…

Findings from the ninth triennial administration of the National Survey of First-Year Seminars, describing the nature and extent of first-year seminars on American college campuses. Drawn from a broad sample of colleges and universities from every institutional type, control, and size, the survey addresses topics including seminar characteristics…

The 2012 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education was designed to provide up-to-date information and to identify trends in the areas of teacher background and experience, curriculum and instruction, and the availability and use of instructional resources. A total of 7,752 science and mathematics teachers in schools across the United…

Competence in mathematics is integral to a wide range of disciplines, professions and areas of life. This Eurydice report reveals crucial elements of the policies and practices that shape mathematics instruction in European education systems, focusing on reforms of mathematics curricula, teaching and assessment methods, as well as teacher…

A description is given of a college course in survey research and attitudinal measurement offered by the School of Education at the University of Louisville. The graduate level course focuses on the principles of social research; survey research methods; and data analysis, interpretation, and application. National survey data are used to teach all…

Outlines efforts of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to improve the collection and analysis of data relevant to classroom instructional processes. These include (1) the inclusion of videotaping in studies of classroom methods; (2) improved surveys of instructional practices; and (3) studies of daily instructional logs kept by…

A College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB)-sponsored survey presents data derived from the questionnaire responses of a representative sample of 1,814 secondary school seniors who took the CEEB Latin Achievement Test during the 1965-66 academic year. Written analyses of questionnaire data, along with many supporting graphs and charts, offer…

A national survey of 753 elementary teachers found that only 13 percent (95) teach keyboarding, there is insufficient time for mastery of touch typing, access to equipment is limited, teachers do not have thorough knowledge of theory related to psychomotor skill development, and no formal evaluation is used. (SK)

This report summarizes the highlights and presents statistical data (two-thirds of the report) from a national survey of 35,478 full-time college and university faculty members at 392 two-year colleges, four-year colleges and universities, carried out in the fall and winter of 1989-90. The 200-question survey focused heavily on how faculty members…

A study was conducted to identify barriers that have prevented large numbers of disadvantaged youth from attaining access to vocational education and to identify specific program elements associated with successful recruitment and vocational training of the educationally disadvantaged. Two modes of data collection were employed: (1) a…

Using data from the national research project "A Study of Schooling," researchers sought to describe teachers' educational beliefs and to relate those beliefs to the teachers' classroom teaching practices. From 13 elementary schools in the national survey, 182 teachers were selected, based on their scores on two dimensions of belief:…