U.S. Department of
Education
The Department's mission is to ensure equal access to education and
to promote educational excellence for all Americans. A directory of staff and
offices and a list of ED-funded internet
resources are available. On the Department's website,
information is presented in multiple ways, including in five
categories: grants and contracts, financial aid for students,
education resources (by level of education and topic), research and
statistics, and policy. Additional pages for specific audiences
provide selected ED information for teachers, principals, parents
and families, students, higher education administrators and
institutions, and grantees and technical assistance providers. The
Guide to Education
Programs includes descriptions of all funded activities, who
may apply, and whom to contact for more information. Several tools
assist in navigating the site: a search option for
the Department only and a crossite search that
also includes the ED-funded organizations; an AtoZ Index of topics;
and a site
map.
Assessments
--The National
Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is NCES' primary
assessment of what American elementary/secondary students know and
can do in academic subjects. NAEP results are published as The
Nation's Report Card. This NCES program also assesses the profiency
of adults in performing basic literacy and mathematical tasks.
Early
Childhood -- provides detailed information on children's
health, early care and early school experiences through two
cohorts, the Kindergarten Cohort and the Birth Cohort.
Elementary/Secondary
-- provides information on the condition of public and private
education. Through the Common
Core of Data (CCD) Survey, national, state, and local data on
public elementary/secondary education is collected. Important
additions to NCES' data collection programs in the last decade
include the Schools and Staffing Survey, the Private School
Universe Survey, and the National Household Education Survey.
International
-- provides statistical information comparing the educational
experiences and trends in other countries to those of the United
States.
Library
-- This program, begun in 1989, includes surveys on academic
libraries, federal libraries and information centers, public
libraries, school library media centers, state library agencies,
and library cooperatives.
Postsecondary
-- provides statistical information used by planners, policymakers,
and educators in addressing a multitude of issues. One major source
of this information is the annual Integrated Postsecondary Education Data
System (IPEDS) Survey which provides a variety of data on the
nation's 10,600 public and private postsecondary institutions.
Special studies of student financial aid, postsecondary faculty,
doctoral degree recipients, transcript studies, and various
longitudinal studies, complement IPEDS.
National
Library of Education (NLE)
NLE is the federal government's main resource center for education
information and its collections are available to the public. Its
reference staff responds to in-person, phone, mail, and electronic
inquiries with information on: programs and activities in the
Department of Education; Department publications; education
materials from other federal agencies; services and resources
available through ERIC, the research institutes, and the national
education dissemination system; and statistics through the National
Center for Education Statistics. Among the major special projects
managed by NLE are:
Gateway to Educational
Materials (GEM)--is a Consortium effort to provide educators
with quick and easy access to thousands of educational resources
found on various federal, state, university, non-profit, and
commercial Internet sites. One can find thousands of high quality
educational materials, including lesson plans, activities, and
projects.
U.S. Network for
Educational Information (USNEI)--is an interagency and
public/private partnership whose mission is to provide official
information assistance for anyone seeking information about U.S.
education and for U.S. citizens seeking authoritative information
about education in other countries. Resources are available about
study and teaching abroad.
Virtual Reference Desk
(VRD)--is dedicated to the advancement of digital reference and
the successful creation and operation of human-mediated,
Internet-based information services.
Other Selected U.S. Dept of Education Offices and Government
Funded Programs
Educational Resources
Information Center
The ERIC database indexes over 1.2 million journals and educational
materials. ERIC is funded by the the U.S. Department of Education's
Institute of Education Services (IES). More information about the ERIC
database.
Institute
of Education Sciences (IES)
IES, the Department's main research arm, compiles statistics; funds
research, evaluations, and dissemination; and provides
research-based guidance to further evidence-based policy and
practice. Its four operational divisions are the Evaluation Center,
Research Center, Statistics Center, and Special Education Research
Center. The IES was established as part of the Education Sciences
Reform Act of 2002.
Office
of Postsecondary Education (OPE)
The Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) "formulates federal
postsecondary education policy and administers programs that
address critical national needs in support of our mission to
increase access to quality postsecondary education'.
Regional Educational
Laboratory Network
Ten regional educational laboratories work to help educators and
policy makers solve education problems in their states and
districts. The labs research education issues, print publications,
and provide training programs to teachers and administrators. Each
lab puts out a catalog of its publications, covering a wide range
of topics such as teaching strategies, school improvement, and
parental involvement. Catalogs and publications are available to
anyone, regardless of region, and can be requested directly from
the labs; other services (training programs, etc.) are
region-specific, and must be acquired through district education
officials. Illinois is served by the North Central Regional Educational
Laboratory (NCREL). A list of the national specialty
areas is available.
Comprehensive
Centers Network
The US Department of Education established the CC Network to
provide technical assistance services focused on the implementation
of reform programs. The 15 Comprehensive Centers work with states,
local education agencies, tribes, schools and other recipients of
funds under the No Child Left Behind Act. Priority for services is
given to high-poverty schools and districts, Bureau of Indian
Affairs schools, and NCLB recipients implementing schoolwide
programs.
R*TEC=Regional Technology in
Education Consortia
From 1995-2005, the Regional Technology in Education Consortia
(R*TEC) was a grant program offered by the then-titled Office of
Educational Research and Improvement with the objective to help
states, schools, districts, and other educational institutions
implement advanced technologies to improve teaching and student
achievement, and was primarily concerned with identifying,
providing, and promoting professional development, technical
assistance, and resources to support technology integration within
the K-12 classroom. In 2005, Comprehensive Centers were
established, replacing R*TEC.
What Works
Clearinghouse
Research syntheses began to appear on this website in Summer 2004.
"The What Works Clearinghouse was established in 2002 by the U.S.
Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences to
provide educators, policymakers, researchers, and the public with a
central and trusted source of scientific evidence of what works in
education. The WWC aims to promote informed education decision
making through a set of easily accessible databases and
user-friendly reports that provide education consumers with
ongoing, high-quality reviews of the effectiveness of replicable
educational interventions (programs, products, practices, and
policies) that intend to improve student outcomes. To do this, the
WWC developed standards for reviewing and synthesizing research and
selected topics for review."
