Analysis, Exploration and Inference in Large Educational Data Sets
NISS was hired by the NAEP to develop new statistical methods to analyze complex surveys in the field of education. NISS developed more effective designs for answering basic questions facing education policy. A group of researchers including statisticians, psychometricians, and education... more
Capturing the Conditions and the Impacts of Technology on US K-12 Education
The role of technology in education is expanding and changing. Decisions about the utilization of technology for K-12 learners are made variously by teachers, schools, and all levels of governance. Decisions are enabled by funders, by school boards and communities, by parents. At the,... more
Computer Adaptive Testing for Longitudinal Studies
The Task Force was convened to consider the utilization of Computer Adaptive Testing in NCES longitudinal studies in general and in HSLS-09 in particular. Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT) is distinguished by the adaptive selection of items for an individual test-taker based on... more
Education: Online Reading Comprehension Assessment Study
The Internet is rapidly becoming the main way people read and process information. The Internet requires additional reading, comprehension skills, beyond those needed for printed text. One dilemma is how do students discern what information is correct and what is incorrect? NISS participated... more
Effect Size, Uncertainty, Completeness
The Task Force was convened at ESSI in Washington, DC on December 11, 2006. Also present were NCES Chief Statistician Marilyn Seastrom and Special Assistant to the Commissioner Andrew White. Presentations to the Task Force were made by NCES staff members Chris Chapman, Bill... more
Emerging Issues in Postsecondary Access and Choice
The Postsecondary Choice Project was conducted by the National Institute of Statistical Sciences (NISS) for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to address existing and emerging issues of postsecondary access and choice. The project culminated in... more
Integrity, Independence, and Innovation: The Future of NCES
Summary The NCES has progressed since the NAS report, advancing well beyond the challenges articulated in that report. However, we are in a time of rapid technological change, and every facet of education is evolving. NCES needs to remain current in documenting what is being... more
Metadata and Paradata: Information Collection and Potential Initiatives
Metadata and/or paradata accompany federal statistical agency data files to describe or define the data elements and the collection and processing of these data. Practices vary across the Statistical Community of Practice (SCOP). Distinctions between the two terms are not... more
NCES Roundtable on Imputation in Government Surveys
Imputation at the BLS; Hitting Calibration Targets + INCA Calibration; Three statistical issues on multiple imputation in complex survey sampling; Assessing imputation uncertainty NHES 2012; Outline for Discussion at NCES Roundtable on Imputation; and Match Bias or Nonignorable Nonresponse? Improved Imputation and Administrative Data in the CPS ASEC... more
Non-Response Bias Analysis
The purpose for convening this task force was to assist NCES in understanding the range of methods used currently for nonresponse bias analyses in its data collections, the criteria by which such methods are selected, and other available techniques for Non-Response Bias... more
Remote Sensing to Estimate US K-12 Physical Plant
While the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) collects annually and maintains administrative data on all K-12 schools in the United States, there is no comparable collection of information on schools’ physical plant (buildings, grounds and other infrastructure... more
Secure Statistical Analysis of Distributed Data
This white paper is intended to lay out for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) available algorithms and technology solutions for secure, principled statistical analysis of distributed data, as well as to identify gaps in our current understanding. For concreteness, the following... more
Setting Priorities for Federal Data Access to Expand The Context for Education Data
Passage of the Evidence Act in July 2019 opened opportunities to integrate administrative data across agencies. For the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the Evidence Act this opportunity to broaden the context for NCES data bases expands the potential scope for education research... more
Study and Survey Recruitment Planning and Materials
Surveys and data collections are in a time of flux in almost every aspect; and response rates are declining throughout the federal statistical agencies. Modes of communication are changing, population composition is shifting with new populations of interest emerging, and attitudes... more
Teacher Compensation Survey
The Technical Expert Panel (TEP) was convened to evaluate the quality and utility of the Teacher Compensation Survey (TCS). The TCS is a research and development effort to see whether or not it is possible and realistic to collect and publish teacher-level data from the administrative records... more