Research and Course Guides: Doing Research in Education?--Where to Start!: Statistics

Crunch the Numbers!

What's New From NCES?

Understanding Educational Statistics

Understanding Education Indicators: A Practical Primer for Research and Policy
Call Number: Keffer Stacks LB2846 .P55 2010
Not all education indicators are created equal. This book will help you understand how statistical measures are developed, evaluated, and interpreted. It will help increase your 'statistical literacy' and help you become a more critical user of this data.

Statistics are everywhere. If you need help understanding how statistics related to academic achievement are developed, this book may help.

Finding Statistics for Education

This page includes links to sites that collect and publish data related to education, or the status of children, in the United States and in Minnesota. Check LibrarySearch for print copies of some of these resources. If you are looking for statistics about education in other countries, please check the International Education research guide.

Digest of Education Statistics
Online version of this standard statistical source. The site has links to tables from previous editions back to 1990 in some cases. Unfortunately, it does not have a search feature. Use the table of contents to drill into the theme you need.
National Assessment of Educational Progress
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas. Assessments are conducted periodically in mathematics, reading, science, writing, the arts, civics, economics, geography, and U.S. history.
Condition of Education
Online version of this standard source. It describes the current status and recent progress of education in the United States. For the past several years, each new volume has a special featured topic.
Projections of Education Statistics
Online version of this publication. This link is for the document with projections to 2023.
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
Home page for the federal agency that collects and analyzes statistics on subjects related to education. Use the subject list under "publications and products" or use the search box in the upper right corner. Use more specific titles above first, then search here if needed.
School and Staffing Survey
NCES surveys personnel in public, private, and BIE schools to track trends in areas such as number of students, principals, librarians, library media center, and teachers. Click on the 'publications and products' link, then select a broad subject area to see a list of documents.
Civil Rights Data Center (USDOE)
This office collects data related to equal access and equity in education. It is one of the few places to find information for bullying reports, and discipline (suspension and expulsion) by race. The information is available for individual schools and school districts as a whole. The data is fairly raw, and will require interpretation.
United States Education Dashboard
This site focuses on statistics related to President Obama's goal that by 2020, the United States will have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. It focuses on statistics in these areas: early learning, high school achievement and graduation, college enrollment and graduation, and STEM skills in college, among others.
School District Demographics
This site, part of the National Center for Education Statistics, provides access to basic school district geographic and demographic data. This is useful for describing and analyzing characteristics of school districts, children, and K-12 education.
Education Finance Statistics Center
Use this site to get finance information on public elementary/secondary education. For summary figures and tables, see the finance graphs, or for specific public school district finance data, comparisons with other school districts, and school district fiscal and non-fiscal data over time, visit the data tools page.
America's Children; Key National Indicators of Well-being 2015
From Childstats.gov, this is the 2015 report on the education, social, and well-being status of children. This year's report focuses on children and families.
Child Trends
Child Trends is a nonprofit research center that studies children and their issues at all stages of development. Some of the broad topic areas include poverty, child welfare, parenting, education, indicators of well-being among others.
Child Trends Data Bank
Use this in conjunction with Child Trends above.
MetLife Survey of the American Teacher
The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher, conducted annually (1984-2012) by Harris Interactive (formerly Louis Harris and Associates, Inc.), explores teacher’s opinions and brings them to the attention of educators, policy makers and the public. This page has links to all of the surveys.
Minnesota Kids Count 2015 Report
A primary source for data about the economic security, health, and welfare of children in Minnesota. Individual county reports are also available, as is the capability of generating a customized report.
Minnesota Department of Education--Data Center
This is the main repository for data available from the Minnesota Department of Education. Broad general statistics for the state are under "Schools, Districts and Teachers at a Glance". Information in map form is under 'Maps', and statistics for Adequate Yearly Progress, Child Count, financial reports, NCLB, staffing, students and other topics is under 'Data Reports and Analytics'
Minnesota Report Card
Start by clicking the menu icon in the upper left corner. Choose a broad topic. At first the results will default to a statewide summary. Click on the magnifying glass at the right of the header to choose a more specific report on that topic.
Minnesota Student Survey
Conducted to the MN Department of Health, this survey is conducted every 3 years for students in grades 6, 9, 12 in public schools, alternative schools, and juvenile detention centers. Topics include alcohol and drug use, school climate, safety, connections with school and family, etc. Findings are reported by gender and ethnicity.
Almanac of Higher Education--2015
Published by the Chronicle of Higher Education, this publication focuses on higher education, including statistics on students, professors, administrators, and institutions. It also includes state-by-state profiles.
120 Years of American Education: A Statistical Portrait
NOTE--this document only has historical data. Published in 1993, this has historical statistics on American education from the 1860's to approximately 1990.

Contact me for assistance

Conrad Woxland

he/him/his

Contact:

conrad.woxland@stthomas.edu
Charles J. Keffer Library | MOH 206F

651-962-4662

Subjects: Education, Psychology