The National Education Longitudinal Studies (NELS) program is a long-term effort that now encompasses the educational experience of youth from three decades, the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The NELS program studies the educational, vocational, and personal development of students at various grade levels, and the personal, familial, social,…

This paper describes current efforts to collect data on classroom instructional processes and to recommend ways to advance those efforts. The paper begins with a review of current survey methods for gathering such data; it continues with an evaluation of their appropriateness for use in the Teacher Followup Survey (TFS) (Schools and Staffing…

This report describes a 1997 survey which examined performance funding in higher education and offers guidelines for states' and institutions' explorations of performance-based funding. Among highlights of the survey are: 32 states are planning or using performance measures in the state budget process; legislatively mandated initiatives are…

This report presents the most recent salary and benefits data available for the U.S. child care workforce. Data for average wages for preschool teachers and child care workers are presented for each state. A graph comparing median hourly wages between child care jobs and other occupations is also included. Appendix 1 of the report presents:…

This report contains data on state library agencies in the 50 states and the District of Columbia for state fiscal year 1996. The data were collected through the State Library Agencies (STLA) Survey, the product of a cooperative effort between the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies, the United States National Commission on Libraries and…

This study of 543 English teachers and school executives examined teachers' occupational motivation, satisfaction, and health and tested a model of teacher satisfaction developed in Australia in a previous research phase. Teachers came from schools representative of all types of schools and all levels of socioeconomic status. Teachers completed a…

This comprehensive guide to alternative, authentic assessment in early childhood education provides discussions of the most current research and practical ways to integrate assessments into teaching. It shows assessment as a process that teachers can use in their own classrooms, using the latest procedures, such as portfolios, standards,…

This book shows the advantages of Rasch measurement (G. Rasch) for school district testing programs. The results of Rasch methods are contrasted with conventional statistics for assessing student responses to basic skills testing. Chapter 1 shows how the Rasch probability-based method produces measures that are more useful for students, parents,…

This publication reports on the rate at which minorities earned Bachelor's and Master's degrees in science and engineering in the 12-month period ending June 1995. This report contains general notes, data highlights, technical charts, detailed statistical tables, and a classification of programs. Data is displayed by gender, geographic location,…

This study investigated how teachers built trusting relationships with their school principals. Study participants were a group of elementary and secondary school principals, associate principals, and assistant principals in southeast Texas. A total of 119 of these administrators completed two Likert-like surveys to identify factors that led them…

The Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) of the National Center for Education Statistics offers the most comprehensive picture available of elementary and secondary schools in the United States. The value of the SASS would be even greater if information on districts and schools could be related directly to student outcomes. A relatively inexpensive…

The 1987-88 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) looked at a national sample of elementary and secondary public and private schools. Components of the SASS, a data collection effort of the National Center for Education Statistics, were surveys of teacher demand and shortage, schools, administrators, and teachers. Approximately 13,000 schools and…

The North Carolina State Board of Education, as part of the Quality Assurance Program, established a computer proficiency requirement for students in grade eight for the 1996-97 school year and beyond in order to receive a North Carolina high school diploma. The first opportunity to meet the requirement is during the eighth grade. Passing the…

This book contains illustrative maps, tables and graphs depicting North America's: size; population; resources; commodities; trade; languages; religions; cities; environment; food and agriculture; schooling; jobs; energy; industry, demographic statistics; women; aspects of government; and territorial disputes. Sections of the book include: (1)…

Relatively little is known about private school finance in the United States. Since this lack of data impoverishes educational policy discussions that compare public and private schools, a strategy, was developed to collect finance data from private schools. High-quality data can be used to determine the total amount spent on elementary and…