The National Forum on Education Statistics (Forum) is a voluntary, democratic, participative group that is committed to improving the quality, comparability, and usefulness of elementary and secondary education data while remaining sensitive to data burden concerns. The mission of the Forum is to plan, recommend, and develop education data resources that will support local, state, and national efforts to improve public and private education throughout the United States. Its membership includes representatives from federal offices involved with education data, including the U.S. Department of Education; representatives from state and local education agencies in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico; representatives from education agencies in the extra-state jurisdictions; and national organizations with an interest in elementary and secondary education data.
About the Forum
The work of the Forum is a key aspect of the National Cooperative Education Statistics System (Cooperative System). The Cooperative System was established by the Hawkins-Stafford Education Improvement Amendments of 1988 (Public Law 100-297) to “produce and maintain, with the cooperation of the States, comparable and uniform educational information and data that are useful for policy making at the federal, state, and local levels.” It retains this responsibility under the mandate of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (Public Law 107 -279). The National Center for Education Statistics established the Forum to assist in meeting the goals of the Cooperative System by improving the collection, reporting, and use of elementary and secondary education statistics.
Forum Mission
To plan, recommend, and develop education data resources that support local, state, and national efforts to improve pre-kindergarten through secondary education throughout the United States. To read more about the Forum's mission and goals, please see the Forum Brochure.
Forum Organization
The Forum meets to discuss and work on data issues and specific topics related to education data in the U.S. Department of Education (ED), state and local education agencies (SEAs and LEAs), and schools. The Forum achieves its mission and objectives primarily through the deliberations and work of the Forum Steering Committee and three standing committees that are designed to address the major interests of the Cooperative System. The committees may propose and support working groups, which are appointed for a specified time to develop products about a specific topic (for example, data privacy, education technology, and data governance).
Forum Members
The Forum membership includes representatives from federal offices involved with education data, including ED, and representatives from SEAs and LEAs in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. All Forum SEA and LEA representatives are appointed by their respective chief state school officers. The Forum also includes representatives from education agencies in the extra-state jurisdictions and national organizations with an interest in elementary and secondary education data.
Forum Resources
The Forum develops free resources on a variety of issues that are of interest to schools, school districts, and state education agencies, including best practice publications, online courses, and the School Courses for the Exchange of Data. The Forum has produced close to a hundred publications and online tools designed to promote good practices relating to the comparable collection, maintenance, and use of education data.
Related Links
Forum New Member Training Suite
Welcome to the National Forum on Education Statistics (Forum)! The Forum is a collaborative group whose members share a commitment to improving the quality, comparability, and utility of elementary and secondary education data while remaining sensitive to data burden concerns.
The Forum has developed this training to introduce newly appointed members to the Forum and provide information on Forum history, processes, and resources. The materials on this page are designed to help new members learn important content and understand their responsibilities as Forum members. The training outlines six steps to guide users through the process, which include an introduction to the Forum, more in-depth resources, an assessment for new members, and information about how to get involved in the Forum.
"About the Forum" provides an introduction to the history, purpose, and goals of the Forum. It describes the role of Forum members, highlights the types of education data issues addressed by the Forum, and explains the types of resources developed by the organization.
The Forum Resources presentation offers information about the Forum's many free resources, including best practice guides, online courses, and videos. These resources address topics in education data collection, management, and use; data standards; and data privacy and security.
The member handbook is designed to serve as a comprehensive resource about the purpose and operations of the Forum. It is written for Forum members to improve their understanding of the Forum's goals and objectives, the processes and mechanisms the Forum uses to accomplish those goals and objectives, and the resources it develops for the education community. New members may find the Forum Member Handbook helpful as they prepare for their roles in the Forum, whether as a federal agency member, a liaison from a state or local education agency (SEA or LEA), or an associate member. Typically, it takes some time for a new member to become familiar with the Forum's culture, processes, and opportunities; consulting the member handbook should help expedite and simplify that process.
This presentation highlights key points from the New Member Handbook, and new members can use it as a review tool before taking the New Member Assessment.
Click here to take the Forum New Member Assessment. If you correctly answer at least 80 percent of the questions you will earn a certificate upon completion. This assessment is intended for members who want to test their knowledge or use the assessment as professional development.
After your official appointment, you can expect to receive additional information from an established Forum member who will serve as your mentor. You also will receive newsletters, webinar announcements, and email updates from the Forum. As the annual Forum meeting approaches, you will receive information about the new member orientation and ways that you can contribute your ideas to help develop the meeting agenda.
Throughout the year, you can expect to receive invitations to review and contribute to new Forum resources that are in development. Feedback from Forum members is essential to developing each new resource and ensuring that resources meet the needs of education agencies across the country. In addition, opportunities often arise for new members to take part in Working Groups, the Communications Subcommittee, and project groups that develop the Forum's online resources. Be sure to share your thoughts at Forum meetings, and consider ways to volunteer your expertise!
Online Courses
The National Forum on Education Statistics has created online courses based on some of its best practice publications. These courses, which include multimedia videos, PowerPoint™ presentations, notes, quizzes, and other supporting materials, offer the education community an opportunity to learn about important education data issues. These resources can be used to train staff at many levels.
Current Projects
The Forum convenes working groups to produce resources that are:
- related to education data standards, quality, collection, use, reporting, or management;
- useful to a large audience within the education data community (often staff in schools, school districts, and state education agencies);
- consistent with the Forum mission; and
- not currently available from other organizations.
Working groups are comprised of Forum members, representatives of collaborating organizations (when, for example, a topic overlaps with another organization's area of expertise), Federal staff, and other experts. To ensure that working group products meet the high quality standards of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the National Forum on Education Statistics, working groups are expected to share progress reports and review drafts throughout the development process so that Forum members have an opportunity to review, offer feedback and, ultimately, approve all Forum resources prior to publication. Upon final publication of a document, the working group is disbanded and assigned status as a "completed project."
Working Groups
Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education Working Group: The working group is developing a new resource that will help education agencies understand how AI works, recognize current and potential uses of AI in education, and consider key issues for its application. This new resource will provide a foundational introduction to AI in education, with the goal of helping education agency staff develop the capacity to use AI responsibly.
College and Career Readiness (CCR) Data Working Group: The working group is developing a new resource that will help education agencies effectively collect, integrate, report, and use CCR data. The new guide will reflect developments in CCR data systems, requirements, and uses, and provide real-world examples from districts and states that have implemented successful CCR data practices.
Data Literacy Online Course Working Group: The working group is developing a new online training resource that will be based on the Forum Guide to Data Literacy. The Data Literacy Online Course will be designed to help education agencies build data literacy skills among staff.
Educator Workforce Data Working Group: The working group is developing a new resource that will help education agencies identify the types of workforce data that are most useful for understanding immediate teacher shortages and monitoring educator supply and demand, as well as best practices for using these data. This new resource will describe how state and local education agencies (SEAs and LEAs) communicate about educator shortages, discuss lessons learned in addressing workforce data-related challenges, and provide case studies from districts and states that have implemented successful data practices.
School Courses for the Exchange of Data (SCED) Working Group: The working group is developing SCED Version 13, which will include new and updated courses based on recommendations from SCED users. The group also is updating SCED tools and resources, including the SCED Finder and the Master List.
Student Mobility Data Working Group: The working group is developing a new resource to provide best practices that will help SEAs and LEAs manage data related to students who frequently change schools, with a focus on ensuring that data are transferred in a timely manner to minimize student learning disruptions and enable the provision of supports.