Title: National Center for Education Statistics

Source/Sponsoring Agency: National Center for Education Statistics

URL: http://www.nces.ed.gov/

Date Checked: 8/19/2010      Status: Active

Date Annotated: 8/19/2010

Topics: Economics; Politics

Other keywords: Education; Datasets; Schools; Libraries; Statistics,

Contents: Positioned within the U.S. Department of Education and the Institute of Education Sciences, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is responsible for collecting and analyzing educational data obtained within the U.S. and from around the world. Its website provides a summary of NCES’s mission and activities, but more importantly serves to fulfill its Congressional mandate by making collected, collated and analyzed data available for research and education. NCES statistics are used by Congress, federal agencies, state education agencies, state and local officials, educational organizations, the news media, business organizations and the general public. Multiple publications and datasets are issued each year, including early releases, issue briefs, statistical reports, directories and handbooks of standard terminology. Some publications are very narrow, others take a broader perspective. A search feature is available for querying not only publications but also tables and figures and the website as a whole. Publications are available online as PDFs and many are contained in zip files due to their size. Materials are well organized through tabs located at the top of the webpage. A “Surveys and Programs” tab serves to sort the data into the following categories: Assessment, early Childhood, Elementary/Secondary, International, Library, Postsecondary and Resources. Multiple data tools are available through another tab, including an instrument that allows users to build custom tables and datasets. Yet another tab provides a search feature for locating information about specific schools, colleges and libraries of both public and private natures. Despite the practical purpose of the website, its homepage provides a lively welcome to visitors through features such as “What’s New,” “Kids’ Zone,” “Did You Know?” and “Data Snapshot.” These features give warmth to cold statistics and provide a simple entry point into the extensive world of data contained within the website. To remain current, visitors may subscribe to receive emails on specific topics through NewsFlash, an alert service accessed via a link located at the top of the page.

Author of Annotation: A. Emerson