Introduction

Education statistics encompass a broad range of data collection, analysis, and utilization activities. A commensurate number of Federal agencies' are involved in varying degrees in the development and use of statistics concerning: the condition of education in the Nation; the analysis of current education practices and delivery systems; the funding, management and evaluation of federally supported education programs; and the development of new techniques, services, and support systems for the U. S. educational system.

Responsible Agencies

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the general-purpose Federal statistical agency responsible for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating statistics about education. NCES is charged with the tasks of producing base line statistics, and of analyzing and presenting these data to describe the condition of education in the United States. Although primary analysis, including tabulation of data and preparation of descriptive narrative, is conducted within NCES, the specific task of policy interpretation of the information collected rests with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Education, and with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (DHEW).

The Office of Education (OE) has primary responsibility for accumulating information on the administration and impact of federally supported programs. These data comprise a substantial portion of the education statistics obtained through current Federal information collection activities.

Responsibility for the collection of program specific data is spread throughout the various components of the Office of Education, including the Bureau of School Systems, the Bureau of Education for the Handicapped, the Bureau of Postsecondary Education and the Bureau of Occupational and Adult Education. In addition, the Office of Planning, Budgeting, and Evaluation (OPBE) within the Office of Education is responsible for the collection of information required to evaluate the effectiveness of specific Federal education programs in terms of their impact on the educational system. OPBE also prepares a comprehensive annual evaluation report on federally supported education programs.

The National Institute of Education (NIE), the third major component of the Education Division, is responsible for research on long-range issues in education. To meet this objective, NIE employs a variety of strategies, including the collection and analysis of data specific to the development, testing and implementation of new education techniques, services, and delivery mechanisms. In addition, NIE shares with NCES and OE the responsibility for meeting the requirements of certain congressionally mandated studies.

A number of other Federal agencies responsible for the administration of programs affecting the educational system gather and use data to measure the impact and effectiveness of activities under their purview. Such programs include, on the one hand, regulatory activities of the Office for Civil Rights and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which are designed to ensure equal access to educational services and equal opportunity for employees of the educational system and, on the other hand, grant programs which provide funds for the delivery of specified services to students. In the latter category, examples include the school breakfast and lunch programs of the Department of Agriculture; the Headstart program of the DHEW Office of Child Development; support for schools on Indian reservations of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior; the institutional certification programs of the Veterans

Administration; and various educational programs sponsored by the Department of Defense.

Finally, there are at the present time certain general-purpose education statistics gathered by agencies outside the Education Division. The Bureau of the Census collects elementary and secondary school system financial statistics as part of the census of governments. It also collects statistics on school enrollment and educational attainment in the decennial census, as well as in the October and May Current Population Surveys. Data on support of graduate science and engineering students and postdoctorals, on academic employment and characteristics of scientists and engineers, and on academic research and development activities are collected by the National Science Foundation. The Bureau of Labor Statistics gathers information on manpower as well as on certain aspects of vocational education. Data on the intelligence and achievement of children aged 6-17 years are collected in the Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, and statistics on health education institutions and students are collected by the Bureau of Health Manpower.

Major User Groups

Federal education statistics, which have evolved over an extended period in response to a wide variety of needs, have been developed primarily to serve users at the Federal/national level. The general statistical program of NCES provides recurring information on the finances, students, staff, and facilities involved in or devoted to the education.of the Nation's youth and adults. More recently initiated longitudinal and cross-sectional studies have contributed to developing an understanding of the progress and achievement of students in the educational system. These base line data are complemented by information made available from the program and evaluation offices dealing with the impact and effectiveness of specific Federal initiatives.

On the executive side, both base line and program statistics are used by policy analysts and program developers within the Education Division and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation to determine the size of various populations to be served, recommend alternative programs for the financing of the educational system and tuition support for individuals, and assess changes in the population which may affect the education delivery system. Data collected by the National

Science Foundation are used by the National Science Board, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and other agencies responsible for policy concerning the direction of national science and technology efforts.

On the legislative side, general statistics as well as program specific information are used by Members and staff of the Congress to assess current programs, to draft new or revised legislation, and to modify administration proposals. Congressional committees which make use of these data include: the Committee on Education and Labor of the House (including the Subcommittees on Elementary, Secondary, and Vocational Education; Select Education; Postsecondary Education and Equal Opportunities); the House Appropriations CommitteeSubcommittee on Labor-Health, Education, and Welfare; the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare Subcommittee on Education; and the Senate Committee on Appropriations— Subcommittee on Labor; Health, Education, and Welfare. The Congressional Budget Office uses federally developed education statistics to plan expenditures, while the General Accounting Office uses such information to evaluate the effects of specific legislation, such as the impact of a tax deduction for college expenses.

In addition to the numerous Federal Government users, there are many national associations whose members regularly employ data gathered through the Federal Statistical System as a basis for assessing the current status of educational services and recommending legislative or programmatic changes. Although the list is far too long to cite in its entirety, some key examples will serve to illustrate the scope and nature of these organizations. Major organizational users include the National Education Association, the American Council on Education, the Council of Chief State School Officers, the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, the Research Council of the Great City Schools, the Association of American Universities, the Council of Graduate Schools, the Association for Institutional Research, and the Council for American Private Education.

Representatives of these groups have demonstrated increasing interest in working with the National Center for Education Statistics to ensure that priority needs for data are incorporated into the Federal Statistical System, both to improve the information available, and to eliminate the need for the associations to seek statistics independently, at the cost of duplicating Federal efforts.

Adequacy of the Education Statistics

Program

NCES is mandated to document statistically the condition of American education, to prepare special analyses of such statistics, and to assist State and local education agencies in developing and implementing standardized statistical systems. The core program of the Center includes the collection of data on elementary/secondary education, postsecondary education, educational manpower, and libraries.

Elementary/Secondary Education

The Elementary-Secondary General Information System (ELSEGIS), initiated in 1969 and conducted annually, is the primary instrument for acquisition of quantitative data on the pupils, staff, finances and facilities in public elementary and secondary education in the United States and outlying areas. The Elementary/Secondary Common Core of Data, a proposed census of local school systems, intermediate education agencies, and State education agencies, is currently being pilot tested by NCES. Full-scale implementation of the directory, staff, and pupil components is scheduled for the 1978-79 school year; the fiscal data component will be operational for local school districts in the 1980-81 school year. The Common Core of Data has been designed to replace ELSEGIS and to provide improved data for education planners, administrators and researchers. Implementation of this new system, which is central to the improvement of the Center's base line statistics on elementary and secondary education, must include substantial technical assistance and adequate financial aid to the data producers. Such assistance will be critical to strengthening the data production capabilities of State and local agencies, an essential ingredient in producing statistics of higher quality and comparability at the Federal level. Once installed, the program should be subjected to careful evaluation to determine the utility of data being collected, the necessity for universe coverage of school districts, and the need for annual collection of all data elements. Differences in State and local recordkeeping systems which affect the quality of the data provided should be documented and assessed; efforts should be made to develop mechanisms for adjusting State level data as necessary to produce accurate national totals and interstate comparisons.

Complementing the general statistical base now acquired through ELSEGIS are additional NCES activities designed to obtain fuller data on elementary

2 Public Law 93-380, The Education Amendments of 1974.

and secondary education. Chief among these studies are: a survey of nonpublic elementary and secondary school enrollments, staff, and finances; a survey of preprimary enrollments of children under six; and a series of studies concerned with the financing of public schools, which includes periodic surveys on expenditures for public elementary and secondary education and statistics of local public school systems' finances.

National Assessment of Educational Progress

Efforts by NCES to measure the outcomes of elementary-secondary education, as contrasted with various enumerations concerning educational institutions and participants, are concentrated in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). NAEP is an annual survey of the knowledge, skills, understandings and attitudes of selected groups of young Americans. The project focuses on two main questions: (1) What is the educational attainment of various population groups in major school-related subject areas? and (2) What are the changes in attainment over time, if any, in these areas? More recently, NAEP has been modified to incorporate the collection of data concerning the mastery of basic life skills and knowledge. To enhance its potential utility for users at all levels of the educational system, NAEP has: (1) extended efforts to interpret findings; (2) increased the number of background variables being collected; (3) expanded technical assistance to State and local education agencies using NAEP materials and methodology; (4) increased efforts to provide comparative data or "derived estimates" for use with State and local "piggybacks" of the assessment; and (5) involved numerous organizations, groups, and individuals in examining present and future directions of the national assessment.

The Center's evaluation of the NAEP program should continue efforts underway to determine the users of the data, and the uses made of the information for Federal/national policy development. Based on the results of this evaluation, the program should be streamlined to reflect national data needs. In particular, greater emphasis should be given to measuring functional abilities of the population (in) contrast to assessments of subject area knowledge). It is further recommended that priority be given to measuring the abilities of individuals who have completed their educational experience to determine whether those who have left the educational system are equipped to function in society. Efforts to assess the benefits of combining the NAEP program with the Center's National Longitudinal Study should be continued by NCES.

Postsecondary Education

Central to the postsecondary education statistical program of NCES is the Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS), which systematically collects institution-based, quantitative data on the Nation's colleges and universities, including community and other 2-year colleges. Annual surveys acquire basic information on the number of students and selected characteristics of institutions, students, staff, financial structure and operations. Data collected on other than an annual basis include information on enrollment for advanced degrees, student residence and migration, institutional libraries, and physical facilities.

The nature of postsecondary educational opportunities, and patterns of student participation have changed significantly in the past decade. The Federal Government has not, as yet, adequately adjusted its data collection, analysis and dissemination programs to reflect current and future issues, nor has it made substantial progress in developing a common core of data for postsecondary education to complement the program under development for elementary and secondary education. Analyses of changes in the information reported from year to year should be conducted on the specific data items in the HEGIS surveys to determine the needed periodicity and coverage for the information being collected. In particular, the need for annual, universe coverage of opening fall enrollment and earned degree data should be studied; the use of sample data to provide estimates for these indicators in alternate years should be considered. In addition, a study of the uses and users of HEGIS data should be undertaken to assess the relevance of the information collected and the publications disseminated. It is anticipated that such a study would lead not only to recommendations for the elimination of particular data elements (for example, information on facilities construction is expected to be less important in the absence of Federal support programs) but also to proposals for new items which should be collected (for example, data on facilities renovation is needed to determine the scope of problems anticipated as a result of the need to conserve energy as well as from inadequate renovation programs in past years). In alternate years, NCES should substitute for its institution-based HEGIS survey of staff an individual-based survey of faculty to obtain needed data on faculty salaries, tenure, mobility and other items which cannot be obtained through the current system and which are required for the development of national policy with respect to the support of teacher education.

In addition to HEGIS, the postsecondary statistics

program of NCES currently includes: the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS); surveys of noncollegiate postsecondary career schools; and statistics on adult and continuing education. NLS provides data on the extent to which career plans and aspirations persist over time and are eventually fulfilled or thwarted; the characteristics and abilities of those choosing various kinds of postsecondary education and occupations; the impact of Federal funds on initial educational plans, on perseverance of intention and on success; and the extent to which educational experiences have prepared youth for work. The individual experience and outcome data which are provided through the NLS constitute a valuable resource for education planning. Priority should be given by NCES to the funding of a new cohort, so that changes in experiences and outcomes which have been effected by changes in economic conditions and educational alternatives may be assessed. In addition, as noted earlier, consideration should continue to be given to merging selected NLS data with information from the NAEP study.

The program of surveys of noncollegiate postsecondary career schools is currently focused on the collection of data to provide national estimates of vocational program enrollments by program, sex, race/ethnic group, full-time/part-time status, and completions and noncompletions. A survey of the characteristics of students in noncollegiate postsecondary schools will provide data on the socioeconomic characteristics, education, and work experience of participants, as well as on the students' reasons for school and curricular selections and plans for the future. This survey, which will provide needed information for planning Federal student aid program support levels, should be pursued on a recurring basis to complement HEGIS data and fill a serious gap in the postsecondary education statistics program. NCES should ensure that the proprietary schools, which comprise a significant portion of the postsecondary institutions, are included in all phases of the noncollegiate postsecondary surveys. In addition, provision should be made to obtain information on enrollments in nondegree programs of the junior and community colleges in order to fill a notable gap in the current vocational program enrollment data.

The Adult and Continuing Education Statistics Program is designed to develop a base of information on what has been described as the most rapidly growing segment of education in America. Through a series of triennial surveys of individuals, trend data are provided on the extent to which adults are participating in educational programs, their activities, and related socioeconomic information.