In 2019, approximately 91,000 child care and early education (CCEE) providers cared for one or more young children in a home-based child care (HBCC) setting and were "listed" by state or local CCEE agencies (National Survey of Early Care and Education [NSECE] Project Team 2021). Listed HBCC providers experience three predominant CCEE…

Previous survey research has found that prompt interventions for speeding and straightlining were effective at reducing these undesirable response behaviors in web surveys. However, the effects of prompt interventions on data quality measures are mixed, and it is unclear how prompt interventions affect key survey estimates. We conducted an…

Cooperative Extension Systems (CESs) provide programming to early care and education (ECE) professionals. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the needs of ECE professionals. The purpose of this study was to document how CESs helped ECE professionals respond to the pandemic during its first year and how Extension programming was altered in…

The authors of this report provide technical information about the fall 2024 American School District Panel survey of district leaders. This survey was administered to a nationally representative sample of nearly 8,000 K-12 public school districts. The authors describe the survey administration and weighting processes they used to produce…

This study explored the relationship between regular reading for pleasure and deviant behavior among young individuals. Prior research has demonstrated that reading for pleasure is related to empathy and personal development, prompting this examination of its association with deviance. The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 97 provided the…

This study investigates the role of college major choices in labor market outcomes, with a focus on racial minorities and immigrants. Drawing upon research on school-to-work linkages, we examine two measures, "linkage" -- the connection between college majors and specific occupations in the labor market -- and "match" -- the…

Scholars have developed theories that suggest that people's educational outcomes are determined by characteristics at multiple levels, including the individual, family, school, and community. They have suggested that variation at all the levels may shape educational differences between rural and non-rural students. Yet they have not fully…

This bibliography lists resources in the Research Connections collection related to the National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) and is intended as a reference tool for researchers and policymakers. It is divided into sections: data sets; user guides, training webinars, and methodological reports; official research findings; studies…

Many school nurses experienced increased work burden and stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. This analysis examined data from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cross-sectional, nationwide survey of school nurses in March 2022 to examine associations between school nurses' ability to conduct their core responsibilities and selected…

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected adolescent mental health due to school closures, isolation, family loss/hardships, and reduced health care access. Methods: We compared adolescent mental health in Rhode Island before versus during the pandemic, separately among middle and high schoolers. This serial cross-sectional study used…

This research study explored the level of student engagement that transfer students experience and how these levels can predict their persistence. This quantitative study utilized secondary data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). George Kuh's Theory of Student Engagement guided this study and influenced the development of the…

This paper examines the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the returns to education in the United States. Using data from the Current Population Survey 2011-2022, the analysis reveals that, after a period of decline, returns to education increased significantly because of COVID, particularly for men and those with university education. The…

This paper examines changes from 1996-2019 in U.S. parents' time investment at their children's schools using data from the National Household Education Survey (N [approximately equal to] 116,000). The most common way parents spend time at their child's school is by attending a general school meeting, which rose from 76% to 85% over this period.…

This short technical report presents detailed information about the sample, survey instruments, and resultant data for the spring 2024 American Public School Pre-K Teacher Survey. The technical report is accompanied by Excel tables that present survey questions and results.

The authors of this report present selected findings from the first American Pre-K Teacher Survey, administered to public school-based pre-kindergarten (pre-K) teachers in March and April 2024. The authors provide new information about the well-being, pay, and working conditions of public school-based pre-K teachers. The authors compare pre-K…