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EDUC 257: Inquiry and Data Applications: Finding Reports, Policy Papers, and Data

Professional Associations

Professional associations are organizations dedicated to individuals in a specific field. These organizations often focus on professional development opportunities like workshops, conferences, and networking. They can also be good sources of historical and/or current information in the field; some associations formally publish reports or conference proceedings, while others host newsletters or blogs. These kinds of publications are considered grey literature.

General Education

Professional Roles

Subject Specialties

K-12 Publications

Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) Forms
Forms and data elements used in CRDC data collection and distributed to U.S. public schools and other participating educational facilities that receive federal financial assistance. These forms aim to gather data on student enrollment, student demographics, and access to educational programs and services.
Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) Reports & Publications
Documents published by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR), relying on data collected from the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC). Topics in these reports include student discipline, sexual violence and harassment, suspensions and expulsions, corporal punishment, school climate, profiles of students with disabilities, and access to academic programs and school services.
College Board Reports and Research
Reports on SAT tests, college affordability and readiness, advanced placement (AP) performance, and students' attitudes toward higher education and college enrollment.
Condition of Education (COE) Annual Reports
Annual report mandated by Congress assessing preprimary, elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education. Topics (indicators) include family characteristics, educational outcomes, school crime and safety, geographic locations (specifically rural), enrollment, courses, graduation rates, school finances, teachers and support staff, governance, and more. International comparisons are also provided. Condensed versions of the reports are available as "Reports on the Condition of Education".
Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee, NC General Assembly
This list of documents contains data and reports in PDF format from 2000-present. Topics are numerous and cover all aspects of education in North Carolina schools.
Pew Research Center Education Publications
The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan think tank that conducts social science research through opinion polling and demographic analysis. Published content includes full reports, short reports, presentations, and fact sheets. Data is cited and often made available in Appendix charts or through links.
Projections of Education Statistics Reports
Projected future statistics for elementary and secondary school enrollment, teachers, graduates, and school expenditures. This report has been regularly updated since 1964.
Public School Forum of North Carolina Policy Briefs & Reports
Topics include school finance, teacher recruitment and diversity, needs assessments, public schools, and documents about Leandro v. State of North Carolina.
U.S. Census Bureau Education Publications
Reports and policy briefs using U.S. Census data. Topics include educational attainment, elementary and secondary school enrollment, public school finances, libraries, and educational services.
What Works Clearinghouse (WWC)
WWC is part of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) in the U.S. Department of Education. It assesses high-quality scientific evidence on education programs, policies, products, and practices. Resources include evidence-based practice guides, intervention reports, systematic reviews, and data from study reviews.

K-12 Education Data

North Carolina Data

Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) Data, North Carolina State Summary
Data from the CRDC (occurs every two years) on North Carolina schools. Data includes student discipline, sexual violence and harassment, suspensions and expulsions, enrollment demographics, advanced placement (AP) course enrollment, student retention (repeating a grade), and access to teachers and support staff. Data can be analyzed at state-level, district-level, and school-level. This data is collected from U.S. public schools and other participating educational facilities that receive federal financial assistance.
Digest of Education Statistics, North Carolina State Dashboard
Detailed tables on private and public elementary and secondary schools. Topics include student/teacher ratios, teacher salaries, graduation rates, test assessments, enrollment, and finances.
NCES International Comparisons in Education
"Part of the U.S. Department of Education, the IAP supports a variety of activities to make international comparative data available on education and learning. Our main activities are to support U.S. participation in international studies of student knowledge and adult skills and make available the data and findings from these studies." (from website)
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NC DPI)
Data for public schools across North Carolina Topics include school accountability, student testing and performance, graduation rates, teacher performance, school finances, student demographics, dropouts, and student discipline.
North Carolina School Report Cards
Managed by the North Carolina Department for Public Instruction (NC DPI). Data is available for publicly-funded elementary and secondary schools across the state and can be analyzed at the state-, county- district-, or school-level. Indicators included in the assessments include academic growth, college and career readiness, graduation rates, economic disadvantage, subject proficiency, enrollment in advanced courses, teacher qualifications, school environment (suspensions, expulsions, crime and safety, absenteeism, arts education), and school finances. Raw datasets from the School Report Cards are available here.
Urban Institute Education Data Explorer, K-12
Online tool to generate a customized dataset looking at higher education topics. Data comes from multiple major federal datasets. Multiple states can be selected at the same time. Date range starts at 1986. Data can be analyzed at school- or district-levels. Topics include school and school district characteristics, demographics, teachers and staff, absenteeism, college readiness, school safety, student outcomes, student discipline, and course offerings.

U.S. Data

Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) Data
Data from the CRDC (occurs every two years). Data includes student discipline, sexual violence and harassment, suspensions and expulsions, enrollment demographics, advanced placement (AP) course enrollment, student retention (repeating a grade), and access to teachers and support staff. This data is collected from U.S. public schools and other participating educational facilities that receive federal financial assistance.
Common Core of Data (CCD) (NCES)
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.
ED Data Express
Pre-school through grade 12 data provided by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. The scope includes funding, participation, and performance data from 2010-2011 to present.
Elementary/Secondary Information System (ELSi), NCES
Web application using data from Common Core of Data (CCD) and Private School Survey (PSS). Annual data can be found for state-, county-, district-, and school-levels, including both public and private schools. Data includes basic information, enrollment demographics, and teacher/staff information.
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Data Explorer
Known as "The Nation's Report Card." Provides national and state results for all main subject areas including reading, mathematics, science, U.S. history, music, and more. Grade level assessments are available for Grade 4, Grade 8, and Grade 12. Results have been produced for the nation and participating states and other jurisdictions since 1990, and for selected urban districts (on a trial basis) since 2002.

Educational Resource Information Center (ERIC)

ERIC
ERIC is a database produced by the Educational Resource Information Center in the U.S. Department of Education. Along with cataloging articles from education-focused journals, it also catalogs reports from governments, non-profits, policy organizations, professional associations, and many more.
Access: Off Campus Access is available for: UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty, and staff; UNC Hospitals employees; UNC-Chapel Hill affiliated AHEC users.
Coverage: 1966-present

Education Research and Policy Centers

Library Data Services

Library Data Services cater to researchers interested in working with data, mapping, texts, visualization, and technology. Many of these services are available online. Davis Library Data Services, located on the second floor of Davis Library, offers:

A computing lab with specialized software for GIS and data visualization & analysis.
Walk-in assistance provided by knowledgeable student consultants during set hours.
Consultations with specialists for more in-depth inquiries (by appointment).
Spaces for collaboration and presentation, complete with white boards and external displays.
Technology short courses and programs that promote digital scholarship. .