United States

U.S. Government

• 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.
  
  
• National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
  The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the major U.S. agency responsible for gathering, analyzing, and distributing educational data. The website offers a number of ways to quickly retrieve basic information, to conduct searches for more in-depth data, and to locate publications. The content is organized into the such major sections as: | Publications | Surveys & Programs | Quick Tables & Figures | Data Tools | General Search Page | Help Pages | Site Index . NCES also offers a Staff Directory (browsable by name, program area, and topic) and an email alerting service. The NCES conducts major surveys of all levels of education and these are described in the Surveys and Programs section of the website. These are grouped as follows:
  • 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.
  • National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities (NCEF)--is a free public service that provides information about K-12 school planning, design, financing, construction, operations and maintenance.
  • 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

• The National Academies
  The National Academies bring together experts to address critical issues and provide advice on issues of science and technology to the federal government and the public at large. Four organizations comprise the Academies: the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council.
  
• 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."