About NCES
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Education. It is one of thirteen principal federal statistical agencies1 whose activities are predominantly focused on the collection, compilation, processing, or analysis of information for statistical purposes.
NCES is located within the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES). NCES has a Congressional mandate to collect, collate, analyze, and report complete statistics on the condition of American education; conduct and publish reports; and review and report on education activities internationally.
1The thirteen principal federal statistical agencies are also referred to as “Recognized Statistical Agencies.”
Collect and analyze education information and statistics in a manner that meets the highest methodological standards
Report education information and statistics in a timely manner
Collect, analyze, and report education information and statistics in a manner that is objective, secular, neutral, and nonideological and is free of partisan political influence and racial, cultural, gender, or regional bias
As the leader in the national educational data ecosystem, NCES must continually evolve to meet the growing and changing demands of educators, policymakers, researchers, and others who need data and statistical analyses that support evidence-based decision-making and thereby improve educational outcomes. NCES also supports the U.S. Department of Education by serving as a model for privacy in educational data, and for states and districts in enhancing their own data systems.
Staff
Meet the Acting Commissioner
Chris Chapman
NCES Staff
Commissioner’s Remarks
The NCES Commissioner's Remarks Archive features past speeches and statements from the National Center for Education Statistics, covering topics such as advancements in educational policy, statistical reports, and key educational trends in the United States.
History
NCES's mission to collect and report education statistics traces back to original legislation establishing a federal agency in 1867 to collect and report information about education for the nation, which called for
Collecting such statistics and facts as shall show the condition and progress of education in the several States and territories, and of diffusing such information respecting the organization and management of schools and school systems, and methods of teaching, as shall aid the people of the United States in the establishment and maintenance of efficient school systems, and otherwise promote the cause of education throughout the United States.2
The agency's name and status, have changed many times: the first change was to a bureau; then to an office; then to a division—initially in the U.S. Department of the Interior, then in the Federal Security Agency, and then in the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW). 3Its name was officially recognized in law as the “National Center for Education Statistics” in 1974, when it was a division of HEW. 4 When the current U.S. Department of Education was established in 1979, NCES became part of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI). 5The Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 then placed NCES within the Institute of Education Sciences (IES).
More detailed historical information is available at: Retrospective Report (ed.gov).
2 See the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994 [P.L. 103–382, H.R. 6, Title IV, § 402(a)].
3 Specifically, NCES became a division in the Department of the Interior in 1869, in the Federal Security Agency in 1939, and in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in 1953. As part of the Office of Education’s reorganization in 1965, the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) was created as a staff unit within the larger agency. For more details on the history of the agency, see 120 Years of American Education: A Statistical Portrait, pp. 1–4.
4 See Elementary and Secondary Education Amendments (1974) [P.L. 93–380, H.R. 69, Title V, § 406(a)].
5 See An act to establish a Department of Education, and for other purposes (1979) [P.L. 96–88, S. 210, Title III, § 301(c)]. For more historical information on OERI and NCES, see Changing Federal Strategies for Supporting Educational Research, Development, and Statistics.
Goals and Objectives
To fulfill our mission, NCES has prioritized the following four goals:
Context: Amid today's monumental educational challenges and disruptions, educators, researchers, and policymakers need valid and reliable data and insights into the condition of education to advance opportunities to learn and improve educational outcomes for all students. NCES's role and history as the nation's independent education statistical agency makes it well-positioned to bring the power of data to help the field of education, from early childhood through postsecondary, to improve the academic trajectory of all students.
1.1 Keep the Center's scope of work aligned with the needs of the 21st-century education data ecosystem to ensure the relevance and value of the Center's work.
1.2 Execute a robust and coordinated dissemination strategy for the Center's data products through a range of formats and platforms to engage and inform key audiences.
1.3 Monitor the use and impact of NCES products to understand how they address the nation's data needs within the U.S. data ecosystems.
Context: NCES will expand upon its investments in dynamic systems and tools to ensure the continued excellence, relevance, efficiency, usability, and improvement of education statistics to fulfill its mission and mandates, and to support resounding improvements in opportunities and outcomes for all students.
2.1 Increase the application of R&D and data science to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and use of NCES data products in ever-evolving data ecosystems.
2.2 Apply a continuous quality improvement model to the Center's publication pipeline to improve timeliness, relevance, usage, and, ultimately, impact of NCES data products.
2.3 Institute a systematic approach to administration management, planning, operations, and coordination to create more flexible, nimble, and dynamic systems for meeting legislative and regulatory requirements as well as for greater efficiency and collaboration across the Center.
2.4 Make improvements to the Statistical Standards to better reflect current methodologies and data dissemination practices.
2.5 Develop Psychometric Standards to establish a common set of guidelines, criteria, and procedures across all NCES programs involving psychometric work to ensure that the programs yield data that allow reliable, valid, and fair inferences.
Context: By continuously strengthening communication and collaboration among key stakeholders across policy and practice and building diverse coalitions, NCES can improve the quality, timeliness, and relevance of education statistics to support advances in the field.
3.1 Continue to develop and improve partnerships with states, school districts, leading education associations, and other stakeholders to increase support for participation in NCES studies and address their data needs.
3.2 Improve external communication and coordination to increase awareness and use of NCES data, products, and services—including collaborative data governance, linkages, and capacity-building.
3.3 Improve internal communications to strengthen collaboration and partnership within NCES and across IES and ED.
Context: A range of data indicators collected by NCES highlight the persistent disparities in academic outcomes among students by family structure, race, ethnicity, geography, and socio-economic status. There is a critical need for NCES to continue to identify and monitor the full range of indicators that illuminate inequitable opportunities and inform solutions for helping all students reach their fullest potential. This will require intentional integration of principles and practices that ensure representation of a comprehensive range of individual and institutional characteristics important for understanding the condition of education into the collection of data and development of products, as well as an investment in the staffing and planning necessary to reflect and foster equitable outcomes.
4.1 Review and update as necessary NCES's Statistical Standards to ensure they promote principles and practices that result in the collection and dissemination of information representative of the diversity of the population, including a comprehensive range of individual and institutional characteristics important for understanding the condition of education.
4.2 Maintain and develop measures of individual and institutional characteristics important for understanding the condition of education, including race and ethnicity, income and socioeconomic status, urbanicity, and institutional sector, to ensure NCES data remain relevant for policymaking.
4.3 Invest in NCES's human capital to ensure staff are representative of a comprehensive range of experiences and skills and can bring diverse perspectives for understanding the condition of education.
4.4 Monitor NCES contractors' activities and performance to achieve representativeness and ensure NCES information is accessible to all.
Functions of NCES
As a Recognized Statistical Agency, NCES has the following four fundamental responsibilities established by law (44 U.S.C. 3563(a)(1)):
- to produce and disseminate relevant and timely statistical information;
- conduct credible and accurate statistical activities;
- conduct objective statistical activities; and
- protect the trust of information providers by ensuring the confidentiality and exclusive statistical use of their responses.
Reports Directed by Congress
The following NCES reports respond to Congressional direction:
Governing Legislation and Regulations
The following list are policies and procedures that affect the four fundamental responsibilities of NCES.