The Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) serves two important purposes for the educational community. The first purpose is providing data that describe and track over time the state of schools and staffing (the capacities of teachers, school libraries, schools, and school districts, and the organization of schools and the teaching profession) in the United States. Major reports have contributed a wealth of information concerning the ongoing state of teaching, schooling, and school administration in the U.S. Other smaller, more focused reports contribute similar information on more specific aspects of the state of schools and staffing in the United States. The second purpose has been underdeveloped: SASS provides valuable data for gaining "enlightenment" regarding emerging and enduring issues concerning teaching and Schooling. This kind of description helps researchers gain a general knowledge about issues that they can then research in more detail elsewhere. In this way, SASS has enormous potential as a research-question generator. This paper begins with a brief description of the 1999-2000 survey. It then discusses status and trend reports that should be generated to help provide a detailed sense of the state and movement of teaching and schools. It closes with suggestions for more specific research.
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