The increased use of quantitative education data is often regarded by scholars as evidence of the emergence of 'governing by numbers'. These scholars ascribe major stakeholders such as the OECD and nation states agency as they produce, distribute and consume data, and respond to these with policy and management initiatives. This paper argues that…

A small subset of education studies analyzes school data collected seasonally (separating the summer from the school year). At first, this work was primarily known for documenting learning loss in the summers, but scholars have since recognized that observing how inequality changes between summer and school periods provides leverage for…

With the introduction of the Teaching Excellence Framework a lot of attention is focussed on measuring learning gains. A vast body of research has found that individual student characteristics influence academic progression over time. This case-study aims to explore how advanced statistical techniques in combination with Big Data can be used to…

This study builds on a 2019 Fordham Institute report that examined the relationship between charter school enrollment share--the share of students in a community who enroll in a charter school--and the average achievement of all the students in that community, including those in traditional public schools. Like its predecessor, this report seeks…

The 2012 National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES:2012) Data File User's Manual provides documentation and guidance for users of the NHES:2012 data files. The manual provides information about the purpose of the study, the sample design, data collection procedures, data processing procedures, response rates, imputation, weighting and…

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has expended considerable effort to ensure high quality in data collection by developing standardized materials and survey operation procedures and using well-trained professional administrators. However, schools are allowed to minimize the disruption associated with pulling students out of…

Data-mining technology's predictive modeling was applied to enhance the prediction of enrollment behaviors of admitted applicants at a large state university. (Contains 4 tables and 6 figures.)

In this article, the authors clarify and provide additional tests of the key elements of their age-period-cohort analysis of non-marital birth rates in this March 2009 issue of "Social Forces." Where Steve Martin, in his commentary, has suggested specific alternative specifications or interpretations of their findings, the authors have…

This study examines the use of Internet online polling at a suburban junior high school as a means for decision makers to systematically acquire student perceptions about local conditions of learning. Federal and state mandates result in curricular, instructional, evaluative, and organizational changes that affect students' conditions of learning.…

This article discusses the five studies included in this issue. Each article addressed the same topic, population invariance of equating. They all used data from major standardized testing programs, and they all used essentially the same statistics to evaluate their results, namely, the root mean square difference and root expected mean square…

The American Evaluation Association's (AEA) Independent Consulting Topical Interest Group (IC TIG) has a membership of over eight hundred individuals who generally work as sole proprietors, in partnerships, or in small consulting firms. Well over a decade ago, the IC TIG conducted a survey of its membership (Bonnet, 1992). To gather current data…

The issue of the disproportionate identification and placement of racial/ethnic minorities in special education has been investigated extensively. One of the most useful tools in this research is the risk ratio, which compares one racial/ethnic group's risk of receiving special education and related services to that of all other students. The risk…

The consequences of the separate and unequal education policies of the apartheid years in South Africa persist into the present, and without specific redress measures will persist into the future. The disparities are most serious in the higher education gateway subjects Mathematics and Physical Science. In order to track education redress it is…

Instructional Accomplishment Information (IAI) Systems data bases provide the opportunity for new and powerful studies relevant to educational policy issues at a local and/or national level. This report discusses the methodology for "schooling policy studies." The procedures are illustrated using a yet-to-be-completed analysis of the Los…

Recent studies have argued that there is a dropout crisis in the U.S. But the authors in this article, find that this contention is based on flawed analyses of inadequate data. Using a much wider range of sources, they conclude that the situation is not nearly so dire as is commonly believed. (Contains 14 endnotes.)