The first task force meeting, co-organized by the Center for Education Statistics and CCSSO, was convened in Alexandria, Virginia, on March 13?15, 1988. The purpose of this meeting was to explore alternative strategies for a cooperative federal-state education statistics program that would be broad in scope, encompassing the Common Core of Data…

This technical report documents the procedures used to collect and summarize data from the 2000 High School Transcript Study (HSTS 2000). Chapters in the report detail the sampling of schools and students (chapters 2 and 3), data collection procedures (chapter 4), data processing procedures (chapter 5), and weighting procedures (chapter 6).…

This occasional paper updates and extends earlier papers in the Monitoring the Future project. It provides a detailed description of the project's design, including sampling design, data collection procedures, measurement content, and questionnaire format. It attempts to include sufficient information for others who wish to evaluate the results,…

This report describes the methodology and findings of the NSOPF:04 field test that took place during the 2002?03 academic year. The NSOPF:04 field test was used to plan, implement, and evaluate methodological procedures, instruments, and systems proposed for use in the full-scale study scheduled for the 2003-04 academic year. The field test was…

As part of the revised method for quality assurance in higher education in England, a Task Group was established to identify the categories of data, information, and judgments about quality and standards of teaching and learning that should be available within higher education institutions (HEIs), and those that should be published. The Task Group…

The Core Data Collection System of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is an automated collection system with interactive edits that runs on IBM-compatible microcomputers. The data collected include information about school districts, schools, school programs, and student characteristics and achievement. This manual…

A five-question Web-based summer school survey was designed to measure student motivation for taking summer classes. Web technology has several advantages, such as no printing, electronic notification, high student access potential, and automatic collection of data in digital form. Notification was sent to all enrolled students (N=19,837) based on…

This practical guidebook aims to show preschool, kindergarten, and primary teachers how to refine their literacy evaluation practices through careful "kidwatching." By observing and recording children's literacy development, teachers also develop new understandings of the ways children think and learn. Ultimately, through kidwatching,…

This report describes the methods and procedures used for the full-scale data collection effort of the Beginning Postsecondary Students Second Follow-up Student 1996-2001 (BPS:1996/2001). These students, who started their postsecondary education in the 1995-1996 academic year, were first interviewed during 1996, and subsequently interviewed in…

The 2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF:04), conducted by RTI International (RTI) and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), is a nationally representative study that collects data regarding the characteristics, workload, and career paths of full-and part-time postsecondary…

This paper summarizes some of the basic concepts in test equating. Various types of equating methods, as well as data collection designs, are outlined, with attempts to provide insight into preferred methods and techniques. Test equating describes a group of methods that enable test constructors and users to compare scores from two different forms…

This proceedings reports on a forum which explored housing statistics for people with disabilities. An introduction identifies three broad areas of recommendations for consideration that arose from the forum: (1) a definition (and taxonomy) of housing that meets current and future profiles of where people actually live should be developed: (2)…

This handbook is designed to help beginning evaluators of teacher recruitment programs. It addresses the information and assessment needs of teacher recruitment programs. It takes a hands-on approach and includes worksheets and instructions for using them. After presenting tips for getting started, the handbook offers eight steps to successful…

This training guides is designed to teach educators how to use data for school improvement. There is an emphasis on student achievement data, because achievement is the "bottom line" in assessing schools and school systems, but other types of data necessary to measure school quality are also considered. The chapters are: (1)…

Estimates of first-time drug use, referred to as incidence or initiation, provide an important measure of the Nation's drug use problem. They suggest emerging patterns of use and identify periods of heightened risk for an immediate focus on the prevention of substance use, particularly among children and youths. This report contains an analysis of…