1995 US Code
Title 20 - EDUCATION
CHAPTER 71 - NATIONAL EDUCATION STATISTICS
Sec. 9003 - Duties of Center

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§9003. Duties of Center (a) Duties

The duties of the Center are to collect, analyze, and disseminate statistics and other information related to education in the United States and in other nations, including—

(1) collecting, acquiring, compiling (where appropriate, on a State by State basis), and disseminating full and complete statistics on the condition and progress of education, at the preschool, elementary, secondary, and postsecondary levels in the United States, including data on—

(A) State and local education reform activities;

(B) student achievement at all levels of education;

(C) secondary school completions, dropouts, and adult literacy;

(D) educational access to and opportunity for postsecondary education, including data on financial aid to postsecondary students;

(E) teaching, including data on course-taking, instruction, the conditions of the education workplace, and the supply of, and demand for, teachers, which may include data on the proportions of women and men, cross-tabulated by race or ethnicity, teaching in subjects in which such individuals have been historically underrepresented;

(F) the learning and teaching environment, including data on libraries;

(G) the incidence, frequency, seriousness, and nature of violence affecting students, school personnel, and other individuals participating in school activities, as well as other indices of school safety;

(H) the financing and management of education, including data on revenues and expenditures; and

(I) the social and economic status of children;

(2) conducting and publishing reports and analyses of the meaning and significance of such statistics;

(3) conducting longitudinal studies, as well as regular and special surveys and data collections, necessary to report on the condition and progress of education;

(4) collecting, analyzing, cross-tabulating, and reporting, to the extent feasible, so as to provide information by gender, race, socioeconomic status, limited-English proficiency, and other population characteristics when such disaggregated information would facilitate educational and policy decisionmaking;

(5) assisting public and private educational agencies, organizations, and institutions in improving and automating statistical and data collection activities; and

(6) acquiring and disseminating data on educational activities and student achievement in the United States compared with foreign nations.

(b) Training program

The Commissioner may establish a program to train employees of public and private educational agencies, organizations, and institutions in the use of the Center's standard statistical procedures and concepts and may establish a fellows program to appoint such employees as temporary fellows at the Center in order to assist the Center in carrying out its duties.

(Pub. L. 103–382, title IV, §404, Oct. 20, 1994, 108 Stat. 4031.)

National Survey of Factors Associated With Participation

Pub. L. 102–325, title XIV, §1406, July 22, 1992, 106 Stat. 818, provided that:

“(a) Authority of the Secretary of Education.—In order to assure improved and accurate data on the participation of at-risk students in postsecondary education, the Secretary of Education, acting through the National Center for Educational Statistics, shall conduct a special purpose survey on a biennial basis of factors associated with participation of low-income, disadvantaged, non-English language background, disabled, and minority students, including (but not limited to) African American, Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, major Hispanic subgroups, and Asian students from disadvantaged backgrounds in various types of postsecondary education. The survey data shall permit comparisons with other groups that have characteristically participated at higher rates than at-risk students.

“(b) Development of the Survey.—The Secretary of Education shall consult with the Congress and the elementary and secondary and higher education community in developing such an annual survey. The survey shall include, but not be limited to—

“(1) academic preparation of groups at key points in the elementary and secondary education process;

“(2) rates of academic progress and graduation from high school;

“(3) participation in postsecondary education by type and control of institution and by program of study;

“(4) persistence rates in postsecondary programs, or, in the case of short-term programs, completion rates; and

“(5) average student financial assistance awarded to groups, including Federal, State, and other assistance.

“(c) Report to Congress.—The Secretary of Education shall report relevant data and conclusions from the survey to Congress on an annual basis, including comparisons of important factors for at-risk and other relevant populations.

“(d) Development of Plan.—In the event of significant findings related to underparticipation rates of at-risk and other students, the Secretary of Education shall submit a plan containing policies and program modifications for ensuring the participation of at-risk students. The plan shall indicate the modifications the Secretary will make to increase participation, including, but not limited to, increasing information and training, and recommending other relevant changes to the programs under this title [see Tables for classification].

“(e) Panel Survey on Income Dynamics.—

“(1) In general.—The Secretary of Education, acting through the National Center for Education Statistics, shall make an interagency agreement with the National Science Foundation to provide for additional questions and an appropriate sample size as part of an existing panel study of income dynamics to provide information on the educational processes and other developmental behavior of Hispanic, black, and non-Hispanic white children and their short-term and long-term consequences.

“(2) Authorization of appropriations.—There are authorized to be appropriated 0,000 for fiscal year 1993 and such sums for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years to carry out this subsection.”

Data Study Required

Pub. L. 99–498, title XIII, §1303, Oct. 17, 1986, 100 Stat. 1580, as amended by Pub. L. 100–50, §23(3), June 3, 1987, 101 Stat. 362, provided that:

“(a) Conduct of Studies.—The Secretary, through the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, shall conduct the studies required by this section and submit reports thereon to the Congress not later than September 30, 1990. The reports shall contain such recommendations, including recommendations for legislation, as the Secretary deems appropriate.

“(b) Cost Study Required.—(1) The Secretary shall conduct a study on the escalating cost of higher education. The study required by this section shall—

“(A) identify the current cost of obtaining a higher education and determine how that cost has changed in recent years,

“(B) determine the specific causes of such changes in cost and the extent to which those causes have contributed to such changes,

“(C) forecast the future cost of obtaining a higher education with consideration given to prospective demographic changes in student enrollments,

“(D) evaluate the impact of such changes in cost on institutions of higher education, their students, and lower-and middle-income families,

“(E) make recommendations on how such changes in cost can be minimized in the future, and

“(F) outline State and Federal policy options which may help to minimize such changes in cost in the future.

“(2) In conducting such study, the Secretary shall give special consideration to the impact of escalating costs on lower- and middle-income students and families, the impact of escalating costs on female and minority students, the impact of escalating costs on the career choices made by students, and the relationship between escalating costs and the Federal student financial assistance programs.

“(3) During the conduct of such study, the Secretary shall consult frequently with the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources and the Chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor.

“(c) Student Aid Recipient Survey.—(1) The Secretary shall survey student aid recipients on a regular cycle, but not less than once every 3 years—

“(A) to identify the population of students receiving Federal student aid;

“(B) to determine the income distribution and other socioeconomic characteristics of federally aided students;

“(C) to describe the combinations of aid from State, Federal, and private sources received by students from all income groups;

“(D) to describe the debt burden of loan recipients and their capacity to repay their education debts; and

“(E) to disseminate such information in both published and machine readable form.

“(2) The survey shall be representative of full-time and part-time, undergraduate, graduate, and professional and current and former students in all types of institutions, and should be designed and administered in consultation with the Congress and the postsecondary education community.

“(d) Teacher Supply and Demand.—(1) The Secretary shall utilize the legislative authority under section 406(b) of the General Education Provisions Act [former 20 U.S.C. 1221e–1(b)] to annually assess current and future supply and demand for teachers with particular attention to—

“(A) long-term and short-term shortages of personnel in various subject areas or teaching specialties;

“(B) shortages in particular States or regions;

“(C) the number of minorities entering teaching;

“(D) the number of women and minorities entering educational administration;

“(E) the effect of State curriculum and graduation requirements on the need for teachers in each State;

“(F) the extent to which demographic characteristics of persons currently employed as teachers and persons studying to be teachers match the characteristics of the students in each State (race, age, sex);

“(G) the academic qualifications of prospective teachers and the academic preparation of persons currently preparing to be teachers;

“(H) the effect of the introduction of State mandated teacher competency tests on the demographic and educational characteristics of teachers and the supply of teachers; and

“(I) an assessment of new and emerging specialties and the technologies, academic subjects, and occupational areas requiring vocational education, with emphasis on the unique needs for preparing an adequate supply of vocational teachers of handicapped students, with added emphasis on the preparation required to teach combined classrooms of handicapped, or other highly targeted groups of students and other students within a vocational education setting.

“(2) The analysis conducted under this subsection may include assessment of other educational needs identified by the Congress, including an assessment of the need for instructional equipment and materials in elementary and secondary schools and in institutions of higher education.

“(e) Equitable Student Aid for Farm Families.—The Secretary shall conduct a study of financial aid formulas under title IV of the Act [20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.; 42 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.] for students in postsecondary educational institutions with special attention to devising a more equitable formula for farm families.

“(f) There are authorized to be appropriated ,700,000 for the fiscal year 1987 and for each of the 2 succeeding fiscal years to carry out the provisions of this section.”

Study by National Center for Education Statistics Respecting Condition of Education for Hispanic Americans

Pub. L. 98–211, §24(b), Dec. 8, 1983, 97 Stat. 1419, provided that: “The National Center for Education Statistics shall not terminate the study of the condition of education for Hispanic Americans unless specifically required or authorized to do so by law.”