Library Research Guides: QR 180: Statistical Analysis of Education Issues: Home

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Welcome to the research guide for QR 180: Statistical Analysis of Education Issues. If you have questions, please don't hesistate to contact me!

Photo Credit: Bindaas Madhavi - cc

How to Identify a Topic

Some good ways to find topics include:

Scanning articles in education encyclopedias.
Reflect on your class readings and discussions.
Consider your experiences as a student.

What about any of these piques your interest?

What causes you to ask questions?

National Center for Education Statistics

The following are some of the best, most reliable sources of education statistics in the United States.

NCES: National Center for Education Statistics
Primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education. There is a lot of good data in here, but looking for it using the search bar on their main site can be difficult. I would start by trying to navigate to your topic directly in one of the following sub-pages.
Digest of Education Statistics
Compilation of education statistics, pre-K to graduate school, published yearly.
NCES Surveys and Programs
List of program areas by topic and method. Of particular attention:
- NAEP: National Assessment of Educational Progress
- NELS 88: National Education Longitudinal Study
Data Tools
Create your own tables from several data sets. Data Lab is a useful space for combing variables within a data set.
- Data Lab
FastFacts
Concise information on a range of educational issues, from early childhood to adult learning.
NCES Tables and Figures
Search across most NCES products for tables related to a specific keyword or topic.
State Education Data Profiles
Compare up to 4 states on a variety of variables related to education and demographics.
Condition of Education
Look at the tables and figures sections.
Common Core of Data
The Common Core of Data (CCD) is the Department of Education's primary database on public elementary and secondary education in the United States. CCD is a comprehensive, annual, national database of all public elementary and secondary schools and school districts.
- ELSI is the tool used to create tables from CCD data
NAEP Data Explorer
Useful for National Assessment of Educational Progress data.
Choose a subject area, geography, time period, and variables, then export to Excel.

Downloading data from the Census/American Community Survey

Data from the Census bureau (either the decennial census, the American Community Survey, or many other surveys) includes information on educational attainment by location. It is useful because census data allows you to easily connect educational attainment to other outcomes, including location, income, health, family structure, etc. There are many places and formats to download Census data; below are a few of my preferred sources.

American Fact Finder
American Fact Finder lets you quickly and easily look up statistics about a state, county or town

Social Explorer This link opens in a new window
Social Explorer is a fun tool for mapping Census data. Although mapping is its main application, you can use the "Tables" feature to download Census data as a table by location.

Census.gov Education Topic Page
Use the topics at the top/center of the page to get to additional data tables. Clicking the data tab from the menu bar in the middle of the page gets you a lot of dead links :(

Other Sources of Data

Education Week
View the three annual reports from Education Week, or create your own tables using their data.
- Quality Counts
- Diplomas Count
- Technology Counts
MA Department of Education
The Massachusetts Department of Education makes a lot of useful data available online. The School and District Profiles are particularly interesting.
EdStats World Bank
The World Bank compiles education indicators for most countries.