The Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) is an integrated system of surveys of public and private schools, school districts, school administrators, and teachers conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). This collection contains papers related to the SASS presented at meetings of the American Statistical Association in August…

The comparison of item response theory models for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) was extended to an equating context as simulation trials were used to "equate the test to itself." Equating sample data were generated from administration of identical item sets. Equatings that used procedures based on each model (simple…

This publication provides a comprehensive overview of work done across all parts of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Each issue contains short publications, summaries, and descriptions that cover all NCES publications and data products released during a 3-month period. Each issue also contains a message from the NCES on a…

In an effort to highlight the importance of identifying children who have been lead poisoned, the Illinois Department of Public Health produces its surveillance report to alert the community to the geographical risk of lead poisoning and to report on screening results. The hope is that increased public awareness will result in less harm to…

A study was designed to help teachers discover which tools best predict future success in reading proficiency. It sought to find out whether commonly used reading assessments and/or measures of oral reading fluency could predict reading proficiency as measured by a standardized criterion-referenced achievement test of reading. In the first…

In 1993, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) decided to mount a 2-phase study of civic education, the first phase being more qualitative and the second more quantitative, to complete testing before the end of the 20th century and to be released early in the 21st century. Countries participating in…

This report summarizes current knowledge and research on the quality and reliability of death rates by race and Hispanic origin in official mortality statistics of the United States produced by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). It provides a quantitative assessment of bias in death rates by race and Hispanic origin and identifies…

This paper summarizes data from several recent surveys of the Department of Education concerning postsecondary students with disabilities. Surveys represented include the 1995-96 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System survey (1998), and the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study.…

Differential item functioning (DIF) occurs when the responses of students with approximately equal ability differ systematically based on their group membership. Idaho contracted with the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) to provide the Idaho Standards Achievement Tests of reading, language arts and mathematics at grades 4, 8 and 10. The…

The data for this report describe the tested achievement and educational status of a cohort based on a nationally representative probability sample of 15,362 10th-graders in 752 public, Catholic, and other private schools, who were studied in the spring term of the 2001-02 school year. The base-year data collection for the Education Longitudinal…

A revised version of the IDEA form for collecting student ratings of instructional processes and outcomes has been administered since the fall term of the 1998-99 school year. Results from all administrations of the device from August 1998, through August 2001, constitute the basic data of this report. A total of 122 institutions of higher…

The authors outline a proposed student information system incorporating a cross-section of student characteristics to provide a basis for longitudinal analysis and an examination of changes in students. (Data might include standard biographical information, achievement test scores, and information obtained from a required test battery in…

A modified role projection technique is used to determine the effects of subordinate competence and task complexity on perceptions of leadership behavior. It is hypothesized that subordinates hold expectations of the proper level of structuring that their supervisors should provide. (Author/DN)

Among Negroes living in metropolitan areas outside the South in 1960, those born in the South had higher incomes and less unemployment than those born in the North. (Author/MF)

A study of 141 representative school boards shows that American schools attended primarily by the poor are governed primarily by upper middle class, propertied, moneyed, white, middle-aged Republican men. (DM)