• Working to Meet Customer Expectations
• An Annual Release Calendar

Each year, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) releases over 100 publications and data products, including analytic reports, data compendiums, issue briefs, data files, institution and agency directories, procedural handbooks, and CD-ROMs. These products are derived from more than 30 major ongoing statistical studies currently under way at NCES in the areas of early childhood education, elementary/secondary education, postsecondary and adult education, vocational education, educational assessments, longitudinal studies of student development and educational outcomes, international statistics, and libraries. The ever-increasing demand for information on education in the United States and in other countries has resulted in expanded data collection activity at NCES and has greatly increased the NCES storehouse of statistical information. While our customers continue to ask for more data, they also want it to be produced more quickly and presented in ways that will facilitate different kinds of analysis.

NCES customers are numerous and diverse, and they use our data for many different purposes. Our customers include policymakers at all levels of government, educators, academic researchers, education associations and advocacy groups, businesses, the news media, parents, and members of the general public. Our data are used for such purposes as planning federal education programs, evaluating educational progress in the nation, performing secondary analyses, developing new education policies, measuring market opportunities and forecasting demand for products, informing the public about such issues as student achievement and school expenditures, and becoming more knowledgeable and making informed decisions about current educational issues.

Feedback from NCES customers, obtained through customer surveys and other sources, informs us about areas where we are doing well and where we need to improve. One issue that customers have frequently brought to our attention is their need to know when key reports will be released each year. In an effort to better satisfy our customers’ need for predictability, NCES has recently developed an annual calendar for popular publications that it releases regularly. (This schedule is now available on the NCES Web Site—http://nces.ed.gov—along with more information about these publications.) The Digest of Education Statistics, featured in this issue of the Education Statistics Quarterly, is one of our “mandatory” publications—that is, it is one of a limited number of high-profile publications that NCES is committed to releasing at a specific time. Here is our current release calendar for these publications, beginning with upcoming releases:

• The Condition of Education—June 1 (congressionally mandated release date). This annual report to Congress describes the current status and recent progress of education in the United States. The Condition is an indicator report that covers numerous aspects of education, including enrollments and participation, student performance and other outcomes, the quality of educational environments, and support for education.
  
• Projections of Education Statistics—August. This annual report provides data on enrollments, teachers, graduates, degrees, and expenditures for the past 14 years and projections for the next 12 years.
  
• Indicators of School Crime and Safety—October. A joint effort of NCES and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, this annual report provides the latest indicator data on the status of crime in the nation’s schools. It represents the perspectives of students, teachers, principals, and the general population.
  
• Dropout Rates in the United States—November. This annual report presents the latest available data on high school dropout and completion rates, as well as time series data covering almost 30 years. It also examines the characteristics of dropouts and completers.
  
• Digest of Education Statistics—January. The Digest is an annual report providing a compilation of statistical information covering prekindergarten through graduate school. It includes a selection of data from many sources, both government and private, but draws especially on the results of NCES studies.
  
• Education Statistics Quarterly—spring, summer, fall, and winter. The Quarterly offers an accessible, convenient overview of all NCES products released in a given quarter. Each issue also includes a featured topic with invited commentaries from experts in the education research and policy communities.

NCES is committed to maintaining this annual release schedule, and our customers tell us that they are pleased with it. We would like to hear what you think about the schedule. Please direct your comments to the Quarterly Editorial Board at the following address:

Education Statistics Quarterly
National Center for Education Statistics
1990 K Street NW
Washington, DC 20006