National Center For Education Statistics Research Articles

Novel Feature-Based Difficulty Prediction Method for Mathematics Items Using XGBoost-Based SHAP Model

The level of difficulty of mathematical test items is a critical aspect for evaluating test quality and educational outcomes. Accurately predicting item difficulty during test creation is thus significantly important for producing effective test papers. This study used more than ten years of content and score data from China’s Henan Provincial College Entrance Examination in Mathematics as an evaluation criterion for test difficulty, and all data were obtained from the Henan Provincial Department of Education. Based on the framework established by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) for test item assessment methodology, this paper proposes a new framework containing eight features considering the uniqueness of mathematics. Next, this paper proposes an XGBoost-based SHAP model for analyzing the difficulty of mathematics tests. By coupling the XGBoost method with the SHAP method, the model not only evaluates the difficulty of mathematics tests but also analyzes the contribution of specific features to item difficulty, thereby increasing transparency and mitigating the “black box” nature of machine learning models. The model has a high prediction accuracy of 0.99 for the training set and 0.806 for the test set. With the model, we found that parameter-level features and reasoning-level features are significant factors influencing the difficulty of subjective items in the exam. In addition, we divided senior secondary mathematics knowledge into nine units based on Chinese curriculum standards and found significant differences in the distribution of the eight features across these different knowledge units, which can help teachers place different emphasis on different units during the teaching process. In summary, our proposed approach significantly improves the accuracy of item difficulty prediction, which is crucial for intelligent educational applications such as knowledge tracking, automatic test item generation, and intelligent paper generation. These results provide tools that are better aligned with and responsive to students’ learning needs, thus effectively informing educational practice.

Who’s the best? Investigating the NAMM Foundation’s “Best Communities of Music Education” awardees

The “Best Communities for Music Education” (BCME) award from the National Association for Music Merchants (NAMM) Foundation is intended to celebrate school districts committed to supporting music education. However, despite its over twenty-year history, little is known about the awardees themselves. The purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics of school districts that received NAMM’s BCME award in 2021 and 2022. We utilized publicly available data from NAMM and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to analyze demographic data of 2021 and 2022 awardees along several categories. We also gathered and analyzed BCME lists from 2005–2020 to provide an insight on the frequency of repeat awardees. Findings show that awardees primarily represent suburban communities that skew more affluent, more educated, and more white than national averages. These findings may help interrogate conceptions of quality, highlight issues of inequity among school districts, and bring insight into policy tools underpinning public music education advocacy efforts.

Requirements of the undergraduate economics major: An update and comparison

The undergraduate economics curricula for most of the 793 U.S. colleges and universities that conferred an economics bachelor’s degree in 2019 are described in this article. Besides updating the prevalence of the economics major core requirements and their differences by institution type, the authors record new information on requirement variations across economics degree types, as classified by the National Center for Education Statistics, including STEM-designated degree types. They also investigate the prevalence of calculus-based intermediate courses and find that 63 percent of economics degrees require calculus for intermediate microeconomics and macroeconomics. In addition, 67 percent of degrees require single-variable calculus, 10 percent require multi-variable calculus, and 54 percent require basic econometrics (up from 41% in 2010). These requirements also vary highly by degree type.

Supplementing a Paper Questionnaire with Web and Two-way Short Message Service (SMS) Surveys

Abstract When deciding which modes to offer, researchers consider cost, known respondent contact information, and potential mode effects. For a short survey on employment, we evaluate the effect of adding one of two new electronic data collection modes to a mailed questionnaire. We sent a survey to principals who previously responded to the National Center for Education Statistics’ (NCES) National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS) asking about their current job status. This questionnaire, known as the Principal Follow-up Survey (PFS), has typically been administered as a short paper form that is mailed to NTPS respondents. In 2022, the PFS introduced two new modes of completion, and principals were randomly assigned to receive: (i) a paper form only; (ii) a paper form, as well as emails with a direct link to complete a web survey; or (iii) a paper form, as well as invitations by text message to complete an automated two-way short message service text survey by responding to texted “yes/no” questions. This article compares overall response rates and time-to-response by mode to determine respondent preferences for completing short surveys. Adding either electronic mode significantly increased response rates and decreased the number of days in which completed surveys were received, compared to offering only a paper questionnaire. Although email and text messages are both forms of electronic communication that may be accessible on a smartphone, the added text message survey resulted in higher response rates than the added web survey. This suggests that respondents interact differently with emails and text messages they receive and that offering an option to complete a survey by text message can increase the speed and efficiency of data collection for short surveys.

Examining the relationship between Hispanic Serving Community college Title III grants and STEM associate degree completion

AbstractHispanic‐Serving Community Colleges enroll and educate a large share of Hispanic postsecondary students. Due to work trends and demographic changes, Hispanic and other historically underrepresented students play a crucial role in shaping the next generation of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) scholars and practitioners. We use data from the National Center for Education Statistics and a difference‐in‐differences technique to estimate the association between federal capacity building grants aimed at improving STEM degree attainment outcomes and associate degree completion. We find receipt of a Title III grant was associated with about a 30% increase in the total number of STEM associate degrees awarded. Further, the grants nearly doubled the number of STEM associate degrees awarded to Hispanic students, on average. This positive relationship is driven by institutions receiving more than one grant. We conclude by discussing these findings and providing federal and institutional recommendations.

Portrait of Rural Social Studies Teachers (and Their Students)

In this study, we first provide a snapshot of key demographics and characteristics of social studies teachers in a rural setting based the 2017-2018 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS) restricted-use data file from the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), administered by the Institute for Education Sciences (IES). Second, we look at potential implications based on specific insights from the data, including recognition of the change happening in the demographics of rural communities and a need for sustained PD about teaching students with diverse identities.

Chicana/Latina feminism: What is it and how does it define us?

AbstractLatinas holding doctoral degrees are few and far between in the academic world as compared to their White female counterparts (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2020). We explore a crucial topic of Chicana/Latina feminism, which resists traditional theoretical concepts and methodologies in the field of adult education. Chicana/Latina feminism is a feminist theory that has transcended academic disciplines since its conception in ethnic women's studies. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to offer an in‐depth look at Chicana/Latina feminism by defining the origins of a Chicana feminist theory, exploring the need to decolonize adult educational research to allow a more inclusive space for women of color in academia, attesting to the application of a Chicana feminist epistemology with the use of testimonios, and discussing the implications of embedding Chicana feminist perspectives in adult educational research.

미국 Title I 프로그램이 학생 성취에 미치는 효과

[Purpose] This paper aims to empirically investigate the impact of the federally funded Title I program on the performance of students from low-income families, as assessed through the state's own assessments. Additionally, the study seeks to discern the relative effectiveness of two specific program, namely the school-wide program and the targeted assistant program, to see which program is more effective.
 [Methods] To accomplish these objectives, the research leverages two national data sets from 2008-09 to 2013-14, sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's EDFacts and the National Center for Education Statistics' Common Core of Data. Employing fixed-effects and mixed-effects models with the school-level data, the study conducts a rigorous examination of the program's impact across various grade levels.
 [Results] The findings of this study reveal that the Title I program exerts substantially positive effects on academic outcomes of economically disadvantaged students in lower grades, with moderate positive effects observed in middle grades. However, no discernible impact is observed at the high school level. In terms of the specific program effects, lower grade levels exhibited higher achievement when implementing the “school-wide program”, whereas high schools showed lower achievement. Conversely, transitioning from the “targeted assistant program” to the “school-wide program” demonstrated positive effects only at the high school level.
 [Conclusion] The results of this study demonstrate the importance of prioritizing investments in early grades when providing educational services or support to students in need. As students progress to higher grades, there is a need to design and implement programs that are tailored to their levels and circumstances. Furthermore, in allocating education finances for low-income groups, prioritize elementary schools for 'whole-school programs,' and support high schools in developing the capacity to run comprehensive programs.

2320. Impact of Lifting School Mask Mandates on Community COVID-19 Cases and Hospitalizations: A Nationwide, Retrospective Cohort Study with an Event Study Design

Abstract Background During the school re-opening process, masking mandates were widely adopted in schools in the United States to reduce spread of SARS-CoV-2 in in-school settings and in the surrounding community. The aim of this nationwide, retrospective cohort with an event study design was to evaluate the impact of masking policy de-adoption on SARS-CoV-2 cases and hospitalizations in the surrounding community. Methods Data collected from 9/2021-6/2022 on SARS-CoV-2 cases, hospitalizations, and vaccination rates at the county-week level obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were combined with manually-validated, weekly district-level masking policy data obtained from Burbio and district-level school demographic data from the National Center for Education Statistics. Data were analyzed using an event study design, a causal inference method, to estimate the primary outcome: incidence of SARS-CoV-2 cases per 100,000 county residents during the 8-week period following the policy change, stratified by age (in decades). Hospitalization rates per 1,000,000 residents were estimated secondarily. Results N= 3,970 districts composed of 53,453 schools and an estimated 31,264,546 students were included. Prior to masking mandate de-adoption, there was no clear trend in case rates in any of the age categories evaluated. Within one-week following policy de-adoption, a small increase in case rates was seen in all age groups evaluated, ranging from 6.92 to 37.34 per 100,000 county residents in the 0-9 year old age group to 25.08 - 120.36 cases per 100,000 residents per week in the 20-49 year old age group. A small increase in hospitalization rates following masking policy de-adoption was seen in all age groups evaluated. Among 0–49-year-olds, increases were seen one week following the policy change. Increases in hospitalization rates were not evident for 50–69-year-olds and >70 year olds until 3 and 4 weeks after the policy change. Conclusion Lifting mask mandates in schools were associated with a small increase in case rates in the surrounding community, with the highest increase in individuals of parental age (20–49-year-olds). A small but measurable impact on severe disease, as measured by hospitalization rates, was identified. Disclosures Elissa Schechter-Perkins, MD, MPH, Gilead Sciences: Grant/Research Support Westyn Branch-Elliman, MD, MMsc, DLA Piper, LLC/Medtronic: Advisor/Consultant|DLA Piper, LLC/Medtronic: Expert Testimony|Gilead Sciences: Grant/Research Support

Bolstering Education Statistics to Serve the Nation

Despite providing objective, benchmark statistics on the condition and progress of U.S. education since 1867, the National Center for Education Statistics has been the center of scrutiny over the last dozen years for its lack of resources and agility as well as for its diminished stature and autonomy. Motivated by the COVID-19 pandemic exposure of NCES’ bureaucratic hurdles, Congress’ interest in reauthorizing the agency and its umbrella organization, and the 2022 National Academies’ report, A Vision and Roadmap for Education Statistics, we explore legislative changes and attendant administrative actions that would contribute to building the trust of respondents who provide data to NCES and users who depend on the agency’s products; our article offers recommendations to that end.

FOREIGN EXPERIENCE OF TEACHING STAFF QUALIFICATION IMPROVING

The article is devoted to the problem of training teaching staff in the USA. It is noted that today in the USA considerable attention is paid not only to the training of teaching staff, but also to the improvement of their qualifications in the postgraduate education system. The purpose of the article is to reveal the features of professional development of teaching staff in the US postgraduate education system. Research methods: study of American scientific literature, analysis, systematization, concretization, generalization of the obtained data.  Improving the qualifications of teaching staff is coordinated by the relevant bodies of the country. Thus, the Ministry of Education is a state body responsible for the implementation of government policy in the country on a wide range of issues in the field of education. Its composition, along with other subdivisions, includes: the National Center for Education Statistics, the National Council of Pedagogical Research, the National Institute of Education, the Department of Education, the Fund for the Improvement of Higher Education, the Bureau of Professional Development of Pedagogical Personnel. The main unit dealing with issues of retraining and professional development of teaching personnel in the USA is the Bureau of Professional Development of Pedagogical Personnel. The Bureau is headed by a chairman appointed by the Minister of Education of the country, usually from among specialists in the field of higher education who have an impeccable reputation and extensive experience of practical work in this field. In addition to the Ministry of Education and the Bureau of Professional Development, which reports to it, there are other federal state and public institutions that deal with problems of professional development, but they are not subordinate to the Ministry of Education. The study of scientific sources makes it possible to formulate the main principles on which the system of improving the qualifications of teachers in the USA is built today and will, according to the leaders of educational policy, be built in the future: continuity; focus on the variety of forms and technologies of professional development and personal development; participation of various categories of teaching staff in determining policy in the field of professional development; unification of all parties interested in the professionalism of teachers; recognizing the priority of education and increasing the prestige of the teaching profession in society; relationship between the system of professional development and the system of pedagogical education; focus on the optimal combination of special subject knowledge with professional and pedagogical knowledge and skills; professionalism, competence; focus on the use of research methods for improving the qualifications of teachers, on the development of their creative potential and initiative.

Personal memories of the development of united states participation in large scale international assessment surveys

This essay reflects on my personal experiences conducting international comparative statistical studies in education as an employee of two U.S. federal statistical agencies between 1981 and 2011. Before 1982, the U.S. government involvement with large-scale international studies had been sporadic. By 1990, as a result of my initial support for the IEA, two U.S. federal agencies, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) supported research and development projects that raised the quality of international statistical comparisons on student achievement. My goal was to enhance existing international surveys so that the resulting statistical analyses would be perceived as a valid measurement of the performance of elementary and secondary students in multiple countries.

Rates of crime decrease on campus — except for sexual assault

Overall, crimes on college campuses were generally less prevalent in 2020 than a decade earlier — but forcible sex offenses increased. That finding comes from the Report on Indicators of School Crimes and Safety: 2022, released by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, and Department of Education.

Southern Hospitality: Democracy and School Finance Policy Praxis in Racist America

ABSTRACT Recent evidence suggests school resources are continually segregated from minoritized communities. This funding disparity impacts students’ long-term outcomes in school and in their community. Political discourse has prioritized school defunding, privatization through vouchers and related policies, and tax relief and at the same time greater regulation of curriculum, content, and pedagogy in schools. Southern states in particular have moved to restrict access to a discourse of liberation and are threatening sanctions if schools implement specific content (e.g., race, and oppression). We explore the potential for school finance to create spaces that decrease democratic participation through school funding disparity. We use district-level panel data that combines National Center for Education Statistics and Census data from 2000 to 2018 to explore the patterns of school funding disparity in nine southern states; Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. We find racial/ethnic make-up interacts with specific funding variables so that districts with higher percentages of minoritized students are at a disadvantage financially. We also find that states may over rely on local and federal funds to maintain funding levels despite increases in cost pressures.

Minding the Gap in Education Discourse: Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in Independent and International Schools

This special issue of Teachers College Record—“Minding the Gap in Education Discourse: Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in Independent and International Schools”—aims to bring attention to independent and international private schools through the lenses of equity, inclusion, and belonging. In this issue, scholars and practitioners address gaps in education and education leadership discourse regarding considerations of equity, inclusion, and belonging. Historically, education discourse regarding equity, inclusion, and belonging has skewed largely toward public and charter education. While, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), just 9% of PK-12 students nationally are enrolled in independent schools, independent schools nationally have much to contribute to the critical conversation concerning equity across the educational ecosystem. When we expand our attention to include international private schools, the numbers and scale shift dramatically. According to ISC Research, international private schools serve 6.74 million students. When the growing engagement of international private schools in the work of equity, inclusion, and belonging is considered, even more questions and possibilities emerge for the examining, understanding, and acting in research-informed ways on behalf of equity, inclusion, and belonging in education writ large. This special issue insists on the importance of considering schools as national and global systems of learning and socialization, and independent and international schools in particular as important players in the ecosystem of education in the United States and globally. The works in this issue tune us to the complex, multileveled ecosystem that we refer to as PK–12 schooling and to the importance of noticing and acting at all levels of that ecosystem to ensure research-informed thinking, decision-making, action, and impact.

The 100 Leading Contributors to English-Language Gerontological Journals: An International Study of Scholarly Impact

ABSTRACT The two aims of this study were to: 1) identify the 100 most impactful contributors to English-language gerontological journals, and 2) map their respective disciplinary affiliations to help illuminate the perspectives shaping gerontological discourse. Toward that end, we conducted a secondary data analysis of a publicly available database of the world’s leading scientists. After extracting all scientists in the gerontological category, we rank ordered them according to a composite measure of scholarly impact that controls for self-citations and author order while also calculating other bibliometric statistics. Disciplinary affiliations were assigned based upon the Classification of Instructional Programs codes developed by the National Center for Education Statistics at the United States Department of Education. The results reveal the mean contributor to the gerontological literature published 241.15 (SD = 203.95) papers and – after correcting for self-citations – had an h-index of 50.05 (SD = 25.00), and an hm-index 23.67 (SD = 7.50). A diverse array of professional affiliations characterized the contributors with a plurality being located in the health professions category, followed by the biological and biomedical science, and social sciences categories. The results reveal that gerontology is home to some of the world’s leading scientists. Leveraging their expertise can help advance the field’s collective knowledge development.

How many Latino studies programs are there? Tracking departmental growth, stagnation, and invisibility 1960–2020

This study provides the first systematic analysis of the founding and growth of Latino studies programs across the country. Drawing on a unique data set compiled from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), we show that even though Latinos now constitute close to 20% of the US population, less than 4% of all four-year colleges and universities have an established Latino studies program. Most Latino studies programs/departments in existence today were founded in the 1960s and 1970s, during the height of the Chicano and Puerto Rican youth movements. Since then, the rate of new program establishment has fallen considerably, despite substantial growth in the Latino college student population and Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs). Of the small number of programs founded since 2000, we find that nearly half have one or fewer core faculty allocated to them, and most are at private schools. Beyond tracking growth rates, we also provide insight into how Latino studies programs represent themselves on their websites and find a significant decline in racial and social justice discourse in recently established programs. Overall, the data shows that Latino studies departmental/programmatic growth is tenuous at best. Implications for understanding Latino public knowledge, the Latino academic pipeline, and the future of ethnic and racial relations more generally are discussed.

There is no future without Native and Black faculty in higher education

Using a letter-based methodology, we assert that higher education in the United States needs faculty members from Native and Black communities in order to be viable for presence and futures. We recognize that decolonization in higher education requires epistemological shifts that must be achieved by the people. Without people well-attuned to these epistemologies, such as critical Native and Black professors, this decolonization cannot happen. We also draw from extant literature and data from the National Center for Education Statistics to show how demographic disparities among faculty have been persistent over the past four decades. Throughout, we create a dialogue between decolonial and postcolonial literature. In doing so, we draw connections between these theories and education policies, practices, and pedagogies that advance more equitable and sustainable relationships in the relational flow of life where everyone and everything –both human and non-human–are deeply interconnected.

Trends in Quick-Service Restaurants near Public Schools in the United States: Differences by Community, School, and Student Characteristics.

More than one-third of children and adolescents consume foods from quick-service restaurants (QSRs) daily, which is associated with an increased risk of diet-related adverse health conditions. To examine trends in the proximity of top-selling QSR chains to all public schools across the United States between 2006 and 2018 by community-, school-, and student-level characteristics. This longitudinal study examined changes in the number QSRs between the 2006-2007 and 2017-2018 school years using data from National Center for Education Statistics, Infogroup US Historical Business Data, and the US Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service. A mixed-model analysis of variance using census tract as a random effect and accounting for repeated measures by school was used to examine the proximity of QSRs near schools. Models adjusted for demographic characteristics and census tract population density. Data were analyzed in2021. During 2006, 9% of schools had QSRs within 400 m, and 25% of schools in the most populated areas had at least one QSR within 400 m. There were more QSRs near schools with a high percentage of poverty (12%), and near schools with high school students with the highest population of Black or African American (16%) and Hispanic or Latino (18%) students. By 2018, the percent of all public schools within 400 m of QSRs increased to 12%. The increase over time was greater near schools with a high percentage of poverty (16%) and near schools with high school students with the highest population of Black or African American students (22%) and Hispanic or Latino (23%) students. This is the first nationwide study to examine trends in QSR proximity to all public schools. QSRs were most likely to be located near schools with high school students, near schools with a high percentage of poverty, and near schools with a higher proportion of racial and ethnic minority students. Over time, there were greater increases in QSRs near these schools which may have important implications for children's health and diet-related disparities.

Educational Inequality: The Role of Digital Learning Resources

The digital technologies employed in education have skyrocketed due to widespread online learning during the pandemic. Subsequently, the recent development has brought into question whether new digital learning resources online tools that students can use to supplement their learning challenge the century-old class inequality in education. As we return to face-to-face learning, it is critical to evaluate whether digital resources can be combined with conventional school resources to uplift students' academic achievement in low-income households. The methods of literature review of past papers and theoretical investigation are applied in this paper to discuss empirical observations and offer explanations. Sources of materials include the United States Census Bureau and the National Center for Education Statistics. By synthesizing classical Bourdieus theory of capital and a nascent digital pedagogical framework, the author finds that, contrary to popular clamor, digital learning resources are not benefiting the lower class significantly. In fact, digital inequality is emerging from three compounding factors: access, surroundings, and the self. By discussing the learning environment, parents' background, self-regulation, and motivation, this paper not only underscores the interacting components that amount to the corruption of meritocratic education but also advances the inquiry into online resources and possible future pathways for the empowerment of low-income students.