• Data Products
  • Data File: High School & Beyond Sophomore Cohort: 1980-92 Postsecondary Education Transcripts and Supplement, Restricted Data CD-ROM
  • Data File: BPS 96/98 Restricted Data Electronic Codebook CD-ROM
  • Data File: Public Libraries Survey: Fiscal Year 1997
  • Preliminary Data File: Public Libraries Survey: Fiscal Year 1998
  • Preliminary Data File: State Library Agencies Survey: Fiscal Year 1999
• Other Publications
  • The NPEC Sourcebook on Assessment, Volumes 1 and 2
  • SASS & PSS Questionnaires: 1999-2000
  • Highlights From the TIMSS Videotape Study
  • Developments in School Finance: 1998
  • Mini-Digest of Education Statistics: 1999
  • Directory of the 11th Federal Forecasters Conference: 2000
• Funding Opportunities
  • The AERA Grants Program
  • The NAEP Secondary Analysis Grant Program
• Errata
  • Teacher Use of Computers and the Internet in Public Schools

To obtain this CD-ROM, you must be licensed to use restricted data from the High School and Beyond (HS&B) Longitudinal Study. This CD contains the second revision of the restricted data for the 1993 "Postsecondary Education Transcript Study" of the HS&B sophomore cohort (HS&B-So:PETS), along with new derived variables for the sophomore cohort surveys (HS&B-So: 1980/1992). Included are approximately 300 new derived variables that were not in the previous editions of the CD, revisions of some variables that were in the previous edition, and new weights. New edits are variables are described on the CD, as are ways of dealing with cases in which old and new versions of the same variable appear in the data set. The CD includes the new Electronic Codebook for Windows (ECBW) software for accessing the data in Windows 95/98.

In order to protect the confidentiality of respondents, some of the data on this CD are not displayed in the Public-Use Data Analysis System (DAS, available online at http://nces.ed.gov/das. By providing access to complete raw data for HS&B-So:PETS, the CD permits licensed users to conduct analyses not available through the DAS. If you research requires the raw data, you must justify this need and go through formal procedures to obtain the appropriate restricted-use data license.

Available only to those with the appropriate restricted used data license, this CD-ROM contains complete raw data for the 1996 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study "First Follow-up" (BPS: 1996/1998), as well as the Electronic Codebook for Windows (ECBW) software for using these data. The CD includes all data collected to date concerning those students who first began their postsecondary education in the 1995-96 academic year, were initially interviewed as part of the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS: 1996), and completed a BPS follow-up interview in 1998. Included on the CD are data from institutional records, data from Department of Education financial aid records, entrance exam information, and data from the two student interviews.

In order to protect the confidentiality of respondents, some of the data on this CD are not displayed in the Public-Use Data Analysis System (DAS, available online at http://nces.ed.gov/das. By providing access to complete raw data for HS&B-So:PETS, the CD permits licensed users to conduct analyses not available through the DAS.

An analysis of the data from the first follow-up can be found in the BPS: 1996/1998 descriptive report, Descriptive Summary of 1995-96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: Three Years Later (NCES 2000-154). The methodology report for NPSAS: 1996 (NCES 98-073) and the methodology report for BPS: 1996/1998 (NCES 2000-157) describe the base-year and first follow-up surveys. All three reports are available both on this CD and on the NCES Web Site http://nces.ed.gov.

The Public Libraries Survey (PLS) is conducted annually by NCES through the Federal-State Cooperative System (FSCS) for Public Library Data. The data are collected by a network of state data coordinators appointed by the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA). For fiscal year (FY) 1997, the PLS includes data from 8,968 public libraries in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Data collected include population of legal service area, staff, service outlets, library materials, operating income and expenditures, circulation, reference transactions, library visits, public service hours, circulation of children's materials, and electronic technology information.

Five database files, in Microsoft Access and ASCII format, were generated from the FY 97 PLS.

• Public Library Data File;
• Public Library State Summary/State Characteristics Data File;
• Public Library Outlet Data File;
• Administrative Entities Only/State Library Data File; and
• State Library Outlet Data File.

These database files and related documentation are available on the NCES Web Site.

The Public Libraries Survey (PLS) - conducted annually by NCES through the Federal-State Cooperative System (FSCS) for Public Library Data - collects descriptive data on public libraries and their outlets in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and outlying areas. The preliminary data file for fiscal year (FY) 1998 makes preliminary, but state-authorized, data available until the release of the final file and includes all state data submissions received to date. The preliminary file should be used with caution, however, as new state submissions and NCES editing may result in changes to the data.

The preliminary FY 99 data are available in a merged national file (in Microsoft Access and ASCII formats) and individual state files (in ASCII format only). The data and related documentation can be downloaded from the NCES Web Site.

The State Library Agencies (STLA) Survey - conducted annually by NCES as a cooperative effort with the Chief Officers of States Library Agencies (COSLA) and the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) - collects descriptive information about state library agencies. The STLA Survey for fiscal year (FY) 1999 is the sixth in the series. The 421 items in the FY 99 survey include governance; public service hours; service outlets; collections; library service and development transactions; electronic services and information; allied operations; staff; income and expenditures; and services to public, academic, school, and special libraries as well as library systems.

The preliminary FY 99 data file makes preliminary, but state-authorized, data available until the release of the final file. Data for all 50 states and the District of Columbia are contained in the preliminary file. However, users are cautioned that the data have not been fully edited by NCES, and missing data are not imputed. (The final FY 99 file will contain imputations for missing, unlike prior-year files.)

The preliminary data file is available in Microsoft Access and ASCII format. The data and related documentation can be downloaded from the NCES Web Site.

T. Dary Erwin

This two-volume sourcebook was produced by the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative (NPEC) to provide information on cognitive assessment as a way of examining outcomes of postsecondary education. Specifically, the sourcebook focuses on methods of assessing postsecondary students in three skill areas: critical thinking, problem solving, and writing. The sourcebook is of particular interest to policymakers, accreditation agencies, and postsecondary institutions.

Volume 1: Definitions and Assessment Methods for Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Writing is a compendium of information about tests used to assess students in the three skill areas. It describes the various assessment methods currently available and discusses the conceptual and methodological criteria for selecting assessment methods for use in postsecondary education. An interactive version of this volume http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/research/ allows users to specify their area(s) of interest and create a customized search of assessment measures within the three skill areas.

Volume 2: Selected Institutions Utilizing Assessment Results provides eight case studies of institutions that have addressed policy-related issues through the use of the assessment methods presented in Volume 1. Administrators, faculty, and others in postsecondary education can use volume 2 as a resource to learn about how these eight institutions are using student outcomes assessment methods for both internal and external policy-related purposes.

During school year 1999-2000, the NCES Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) and Private School Survey (PSS) collected data on elementary and secondary schools, districts, principals, teachers, and school libraries. This publication presents the entire set of data collection instruments in one bound volume. An introductory overview explains the purpose, design, and data collection procedures for SASS and PSS. The set of questionnaires is designed to aid researchers who need to know the exact wording of the items and the context of particular items within a questionnaire. The individual questionnaires are also available online at http://nces.ed.gov/sass (under "Questionnaires and Items").

This 8-page brochure highlights key findings from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) Videotape Classroom Study, an exploratory projected that collected videotaped records of eighth-grade mathematics lessons in three countries: Germany, Japan, and the United States. Findings from this project provide rich contextual information that adds to our understanding of eighth-grade mathematics teaching and learning. The findings in this brochure are taken from the NCES report entitled The TIMSS Videotape Classroom Study: Methods and Findings From and Exploratory Research Project on Eighth-Grade Mathematics Instruction in Germany, Japan, and the United States (NCES 1999-074).

William J. Fowler, Jr. (editor)

Development in School Finance: 1998 is the fifth education finance publication from the annual NCES Summer Data Conference. Each year, state department of education policymakers, fiscal analysts, and fiscal data providers attend the conference for fiscal training sessions and presentations in the field of education finance. This publication contains seven of the papers presented at the July 1998 conference.

Each of the papers address the theme, "How to measure school performance in a tangible way." Individual papers explore the following specific topics: the limitations of measuring school productivity with only such concrete methods of assessment as test scores; comparisons between comparable school districts based on extant data; the issue of whether school voucher programs cream off the best students from public schools; the impact of shifting control of funding from the district level to the school level; the use of hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) in assessing fiscal equalization; the presentation of financial data in easily grasped graphic displays; and suggestions for enhancing the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS) to allow the collection of additional financial data.

Alean Miller

The Mini-Digest of Education Statistics: 1999 (the seventh edition) is a pocket-sized compilation of statistical information covering American education from kindergarten through graduate school. It is a convenient reference for materials found in much greater detail in the Digest of Education Statistics, The Condition of Education, and Youth Indicators.

The Mini-Digest includes sections on elementary/secondary and postsecondary enrollment, teachers, educational outcomes, and finance. Each section contains short, easy-to-understand tables and figures along with text summaries. Current and past-year data are included, as well as projections for enrollment through 2009.

Debra E. Gerald (editor)

This directory is a publication of The Federal Forecasters Conference. The conference, a collaborative effort of forecasters from federal agencies in the U.S. government, provides a forum for sharing information on forecasting issues. One of the conference's objectives is to build a core network on forecasters who cooperation furthers the use of forecasting as an important tool in the 21st century. The current directory lists forecasters from both federal agencies and the private sector as of August 2000.

Jointly funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), NCES, and the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), this training and research program is administered by the American Educational Research Association (AERA). The program has four major elements: a research grants program, a dissertation grants program, a fellows program, and a training institute. The program is intended to enhance the capability of the U.S. research community to use large-scale data sets, specifically those of the NSF and NCES, to conduct studies that are relevant to educational policy and practice, and to strengthen communications between the educational research community and government staff.

Applications for this program may be submitted at any time. The application review board meets three times per year.

The NAEP Secondary Analysis Grant Program was developed to encourage educational researchers to conduct secondary analysis studies using data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the NAEP High School Transcript Studies. This program is open to all public or private organizations and consortia of organizations. The program is typically announced annually, in the late fall, in the Federal Register. Grants awarded under this program run from 12 to 18 months and awards range from $15,000 to $100,000.

This notice provides corrections to the Stats in Brief report Teacher Use of Computers and the Internet in Public Schools, which appeared in the Summer 2000 edition of Education Statistics Quarterly (volume 2, issue 2). As published in that issue, the first column of table 2 contained incorrect data. In the table below, the erroneous data have been corrected.

Table 2. - Percent of teachers reporting using computers or the Internet for instruction and the percent assigning various uses to students to a moderate or large extent, by school and teacher characteristics: 1999