National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) U.S. Department of Education

The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is the statistics, research, and evaluation arm of the U.S. Department of Education. We are independent and non-partisan. Our mission is to provide scientific evidence on which to ground education practice and policy and to share this information in formats that are useful and accessible to educators, parents, policymakers, researchers, and the public.

IES conducts six broad types of work that addresses school readiness and education from infancy through adulthood and includes special populations such as English Learners and students with disabilities.

<B>• We provide data that describes how well the United States is educating its students.</B> We collect and analyze official statistics on the condition of education, including adult education and literacy; support international assessments; and carry out the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

<B> • We conduct surveys and sponsor research projects to understand where education needs improvement and how these improvements might be made.</B>  Our longitudinal surveys provide nationally representative data on how students are progressing through school and entering the workforce. Our cross-sectional surveys provide a snapshot of how students and the education system are doing at specific points in time. We fund research that uses these and other data to gain a deeper understanding of the nature and context of needed education improvements.

<B> • We fund development and rigorous testing of new approaches for improving education outcomes for all students.</B>  We support development of practical solutions for education from the earliest design stages through pilot studies and rigorous testing at scale. With IES support, researchers are learning what works for improving instruction, student behavior, teacher learning, and school and system organization.

<B> • We conduct large-scale evaluations of federal education programs and policies.</B>  Our evaluations address complex issues of national importance, such as the impact of alternative pathways to teacher preparation, teacher and leader evaluation systems, school improvement initiatives, and school choice programs.

<B> • We provide resources to increase use of data and research in education decision making.</B>  Through the What Works Clearinghouse, we conduct independent reviews of research on what works in education. The Regional Educational Laboratories offer opportunities to learn what works as well as coaching, training, and other support for research use. Our Statewide Longitudinal Data System grants enable states to more efficiently track education outcomes and provide useful, timely information to decision makers.

<B> • We support advancement of statistics and research through specialized training and development of methods and measures. </B> We fund pre-doctoral and post-doctoral training programs, as well as database training and short courses on cutting-edge topics for working statisticians and researchers. Our empirical work on new methods and measures ensures continued advances in the accuracy, usefulness, and cost-effectiveness of education data collections and research.