In the United States, the National Center for Education Statistics creates Statistical Standards in order to assist education decision makers and inform the population on educational policy and present a clear statement on how to use the statistical data in meeting and improving all educational needs at any particular school. This paper reviews the steps the National Center for Educational Statistics, an agency that is part of the U.S. Department of Education, take in creating, using, and analyzing their statistical data.
Development Of Methods For Education Statistics
Survey Planning: Providing an initial planning document that includes the information required for a decision on whether to proceed with the preliminary design and implementation plans of a specific survey or survey system.
Initial planning survey document
Product Planning and Publication: Attempting to prevent replication and to amplify collaboration of publications within branches and divisions; all suggested NCES products are incorporated in a yearly NCES publication proposal. The publication proposal makes clear the position of all expected publications for the following year, gives projected dates for all obligatory and required publications and ensures that appropriate attention is given to all necessary aspects of the planning process.
Calculation and Recording of Response Rates: Ensuring that the calculation and reporting of response rates are reliable and consistent throughout NCES surveys.
Abbreviations and Codes: Furnishing consistent, codes, acronyms, and abbreviations, in the collection and processing of NCES information. This processing will ease and expedite the exchange of statistical material and guarantee consistency and equality in NCES data statements.
Race Defining and Cultural Data: Providing a mutual language to promote uniformity and comparability for the collection and reporting of data on race and ethnicity.
(NCES, 2012)
This clear outline of how the government develops the country’s educational statistics is useful to policy makers, educational leaders, and parents, each for different reasons. The greatest outcome of the statistical data is the final Condition of Education Report’. When all the data has been analyzed and recorded, the report is created to assist policymakers and the public monitor educational progress (NCES Blog Editor, 2017).
This constitutes one of the ways that educational policy makers will be able to look at the district’s statistics and see which schools need adjustments in areas having to do with higher level decision making. For example, the hiring or moving of administrators, guidance counsellors, and county lead teachers where programs like that are in place. Many times, an administrator gains a reputation for bringing test scores up with a certain group in his or her previous school.
If statistical scores show that another school in the district is struggling in this area, district policy makers might move that particular administrator for the good of that one school, now that the previous school has the tools to continue succeeding.
Another way that administrators use the same statistical data is by sharing it with his or her staff. Usually, at the beginning of the school year and a few times throughout the year, staff meetings are held and discussions take place on how areas of improvement are going to occur. Administrators are given tools by the county to share with their staff to give to students to help them prepare for standardized tests and improve these statistics.
Staff of education
Parents are going to want to see these statistics to know the various different pieces of information gathered and made available on these tests. Data shown is socioeconomic, ethnic groups, test scores, and the school’s ‘grade’ as given to them by the county or district based on various factors. In many states, with this information, parents can decide where to send their children to school under the School Choice program.
New Data becomes available throughout the year as students are tested at various times and dates. In addition, NCES produces numerous types of reports and tests that all are part of the statistical report.
In the past, I was an educator, an administrator, and a parent, and in all those roles I was able to make use of this report and I found the statistical informational was extremely useful.
This Statistical data served its purpose and was part of what made me a Highly Effective educator as defined by my county and the Department of Education.
(FDOE, 2017).
