Education Research Newsletter Relaunched (November 18, 2009)
Read Education Research News, the relaunched IES newsletter that highlights new initiatives from the IES Director, as well as other activities and accomplishments of IES and its Centers. Includes staff news, training opportunities and other upcoming events, and the latest on web research tools.
Employees in Postsecondary Institutions, Fall 2008, and Salaries of Full-Time Instructional Staff, 2008-09 (November 18, 2009)
This First Look presents data from the Winter 2008-09 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), including data on the number of staff employed in Title IV postsecondary institutions in fall 2008 by primary function/occupational activity, length of contract/teaching period, employment status, salary class interval, faculty and tenure status, academic rank, race/ethnicity, and gender.
Publications Emerging From Research Funded through the National Center for Education Research (November 17, 2009)
Interested in learning more about findings from research supported by NCER? A comprehensive list of publications from research grants funded since 2002 is now available.
Technical Methods Report: Using State Tests in Education Experiments: A Discussion of the Issues (November 16, 2009)
This reference report is designed to help researchers evaluate and make decisions about whether and how to use state test data in education experimental studies and includes discussions on issues for non-experimental studies. The report's four recommendations are (1) Gauge the alignment of specific assessments with the outcome objectives of, and research questions about the intervention of interest; (2) Ensure that the assessment is reliable and appropriate for the study target population; (3) Whenever possible, collect and use baseline measures; and (4) Carefully consider whether and how to combine results based on distinct assessments.
Public Elementary and Secondary School Student Enrollment and Staff From the Common Core of Data: School Year 2007-08 (November 10, 2009)
This First Look presents national and state level data on student enrollment by grade and by race/ethnicity within grade, the numbers of teachers and other education staff, and several student/staff ratios for the 2007-08 school year.
REL Northwest releases report on "New and experienced teachers in a school reform initiative: the example of Reading First" (November 9, 2009)
This study compares the experiences and perceptions of new and experienced teachers in 235 schools in six western states (Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Washington, and Wyoming) that have adopted the Reading First school reform initiative. Using previously collected data from surveys and interviews, the study considers four areas of the reform initiative for bringing all K-3 students up to grade level in reading by grade 3: instructional coaches, teacher collaboration, use of student assessment data, and support for reform. The study found three differences in new teachers' experiences with their reading coach (in amount of feedback, requested help, and belief that interactions with coaches changed their instruction practices), but not in overall perceptions of support from reading coaches. It also found that new teachers' confidence in their ability to use data for tasks such as grouping students and understanding schoolwide trends was significantly lower than that of experienced teachers. The study found no differences between the two groups in their perceptions of collaborative grade-level meetings--both agreed that the meetings were a good use of their time--or in their overall support for Reading First.
Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007 U.S. restricted-use datafile (November 6, 2009)
This datafile contains school IDs that can be linked to the public-use U.S. TIMSS 2007 datafile to allow for merging with data from the Common Core of Data (CCD) and Private School Universe Survey (PSS). This datafile can only be obtained by those who apply for a restricted-use license through NCES. Information on how to merge the restricted-use datafile with the U.S. TIMSS 2007 public-use datafile is included.
Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007 U.S. public-use datafile (November 6, 2009)
This datafile contains the U.S. TIMSS 2007 data, including data that were collected only in the United States and not included on the international database available from the IEA. The additional data relate to the race and ethnicity of students and the percentage of students in a school eligible for the Federal free and reduced lunch program, among other variables. This datafile is intended to be used in conjunction with the international datafile available from the IEA. SAS and SPSS macro and control files are included to facilitate the use of the TIMSS database by researchers.
2007-08 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:08) Restricted-Use Data File (November 6, 2009)
The NPSAS:08 restricted-use data file is now available to restricted-use data licensees. NPSAS:08 contains the data on a sample of about 114,000 undergraduate students and about 14,000 graduate and first-professional students who were enrolled at any time between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2008 in about 1,730 postsecondary institutions. The survey focuses on how students and their families pay for postsecondary education, and contains a wide range of demographic information about the nation's postsecondary students.
WWC releases report on YouthBuild, a dropout prevention intervention (November 3, 2009)
The Clearinghouse's review of the research on the effectiveness of YouthBuild found no studies that fall within the scope of the WWC Dropout Prevention review protocol that meet What Works Clearinghouse standards. The lack of studies meeting WWC evidence standards means that, at this time, the WWC is unable to draw conclusions based on research about the effectiveness of ineffectiveness of YouthBuild.
