Dept. of Ed. & National Center for Education Statistics

Table of Contents

• U.S. Department of Education
• Federal Resources for Educational Excellence
• NCES What's New
• NCES Publications

U.S. Department of Education

The home page of the U.S. Department of Education offers easy access to the latest news and a wide range of Department publications, policy and funding opportunities.

• Vote on Videos
  Help pick the winners for the "I Am What I Learn" video contest. Watch these 10 videos and vote!
• Race to the Top Begins
  Secretary Arne Duncan released the final application for more than $4 billion from the Race to the Top Fund.
• State Fiscal Stabilization Fund
  Application requirements are now available for the final $11.5 billion under the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund.
• Economic Security and a 21st Century Education
  Secretary Arne Duncan spoke at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Education and Workforce Summit.
• Outstanding Principals Receive Bell Award
  Eight school principals who transformed their schools were given the Terrel H. Bell Award for Outstanding School Leadership.

Return to Top

Federal Resources for Educational Excellence

The FREE website makes hundreds of federally supported teaching and learning resources easier to find.

• NASA Images
  

  provides photos and video related to space exploration, aeronautics, and astronomy. Topics include the universe, solar system, earth, and astronauts. A space flight interactive timeline shows images and video from the 1959 launch of Explorer 1, the first spacecraft successfully launched by the U.S., to the Mars Rovers and International Space Station. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

  
• Science Nation
  

  is an online magazine that each week looks at discoveries and researchers that will change our lives: an artificial retina that can help the blind to see, new materials for building things stronger and lighter, what we're learning from organisms in hot volcanic vents, and ice core secrets that could reveal answers to global warming. (National Science Foundation)

  
• Estuaries.gov
  

  features "Estuaries 101 Curriculum" -- three modules for Grades 9-12 that focus on life science, earth science, and physical science. Students use historic and real time data and hands on activities to investigate estuaries -- the thin zone along a coastlines where freshwater systems and rivers meet and mix with the ocean. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

  
• NOAA Environmental Visualization Lab
  

  provides dozens of animations and images about topics such as coral reefs, ocean acidification, humans' impact on the ocean, the dead zone, hurricanes, African droughts, and more. Images of data are included. These resources draw on NOAA data sources, satellite images, and computer models. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

  
• Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site
  

  offers lessons on initial battles of the U.S.-Mexican War. Topics include key individuals in the war, regular soldiers and volunteers, uniforms, war medicine, "debating the boundary," the price of expansion, and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The lessons are designed for elementary and middle school students. (National Park Service)

  

Return to Top

NCES What's New

For the latest in events, developments, and updates to the NCES website, check back here often.

• Employees in Postsecondary Institutions, Fall 2008, and Salaries of Full-Time Instructional Staff, 2008-09
  This First Look presents data from the Winter 2008-09 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), including data on the number of staff employed in Title IV postsecondary institutions in fall 2008 by primary function/occupational activity, length of contract/teaching period, employment status, salary class interval, faculty and tenure status, academic rank, race/ethnicity, and gender.
• Public Elementary and Secondary School Student Enrollment and Staff From the Common Core of Data: School Year 2007-08
  This First Look presents national and state level data on student enrollment by grade and by race/ethnicity within grade, the numbers of teachers and other education staff, and several student/staff ratios for the 2007-08 school year.
• Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007 U.S. restricted-use datafile
  This datafile contains school IDs that can be linked to the public-use U.S. TIMSS 2007 datafile to allow for merging with data from the Common Core of Data (CCD) and Private School Universe Survey (PSS). This datafile can only be obtained by those who apply for a restricted-use license through NCES. Information on how to merge the restricted-use datafile with the U.S. TIMSS 2007 public-use datafile is included.
• Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007 U.S. public-use datafile
  This datafile contains the U.S. TIMSS 2007 data, including data that were collected only in the United States and not included on the international database available from the IEA. The additional data relate to the race and ethnicity of students and the percentage of students in a school eligible for the Federal free and reduced lunch program, among other variables. This datafile is intended to be used in conjunction with the international datafile available from the IEA. SAS and SPSS macro and control files are included to facilitate the use of the TIMSS database by researchers.
• 2007-08 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:08) Restricted-Use Data File
  The NPSAS:08 restricted-use data file is now available to restricted-use data licensees. NPSAS:08 contains the data on a sample of about 114,000 undergraduate students and about 14,000 graduate and first-professional students who were enrolled at any time between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2008 in about 1,730 postsecondary institutions. The survey focuses on how students and their families pay for postsecondary education, and contains a wide range of demographic information about the nation's postsecondary students.

Return to Top

NCES Publications

NCES Publications and Products from the last 90 days.

• Employees in Postsecondary Institutions, Fall 2008, and Salaries of Full-Time Instructional Staff, 2008-09
  This First Look presents data from the Winter 2008-09 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), including data on the number of staff employed in Title IV postsecondary institutions in fall 2008 by primary function/occupational activity, length of contract/teaching period, employment status, salary class interval, faculty and tenure status, academic rank, race/ethnicity, and gender.
• Public Elementary and Secondary School Student Enrollment and Staff From the Common Core of Data: School Year 2007-08
  This First Look presents national and state level data on student enrollment by grade and by race/ethnicity within grade, the numbers of teachers and other education staff, and several student/staff ratios for the 2007-08 school year.
• Undergraduate Financial Aid Estimates for Six States: 2007-08
  These tables show the types and amounts of financial aid received by undergraduate students enrolled in Title IV-eligible public 2-year, public 4-year, private not-for-profit 4-year, and private for-profit degree-granting institutions in each of six states: California, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, New York and Texas. Data from the 2007-08 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:20008) were used to describe the distribution of aid at the state level, providing more detailed information about state-funded grants and the role of state grant programs in the awarding of financial aid. For each state and institution type, estimates include average in-state tuition and fees, average total price of attendance, and the percentages and characteristics of undergraduate students receiving any financial aid, grants, or student loans. The tables also provide information on net price (price minus grants), out-of-pocket net price (price minus total aid), average federal Expected Family Contribution (EFC), remaining need after financial aid, and students’ level of work and their annual earnings while enrolled in school.
• Mapping State Proficiency Standards Onto NAEP Scales: 2005-2007
  This research and development report compares the standards that states use in reporting 4th- and 8th- grade reading and mathematics proficiency using NAEP as a common metric. The state standards used in reporting 2006-07 results were mapped onto the NAEP scales to compare the standards across the states and in relation to the NAEP achievement levels.<br /><br /> The mapping procedure offers an approximate way to assess the relative rigor of the states’ adequate yearly progress (AYP) standards established under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Once mapped, the NAEP scale equivalent score representing the state's proficiency standards can be compared to indicate the relative rigor of those standards. The term rigor as used here does not imply a judgment about state standards. Rather, it is intended to be descriptive of state-to-state variation in the location of the state standards on a common metric.
• The Children Born in 2001 at Kindergarten Entry: First Findings From the Kindergarten Data Collections of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B)
  Using data from the final two rounds of the ECLS-B, a longitudinal study begun in 2001, this First Look provides a snapshot of the demographic characteristics, reading and mathematics knowledge, fine motor skills, school characteristics, and before- and after-school care arrangements of the cohort at the time they first began kindergarten. Information has been collected from and about these children when they were 9 months old, 2 years old, 4 years old, and at kindergarten entry. This survey provides a comprehensive and reliable data about children’s early development; their home learning experiences; their experiences in early care and education programs; their health care, nutrition, and physical well-being; and how their early experiences relate to their later development, learning, and success in school.