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Appendix D
Current Projects on Indicators
The report of the National Commission on Excellence in Educa-
tion (1983), the report of the National Science Board Commission on
Precollege Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education (1983),
and other recent national reports found that better information is
needed on the status of education in American schools and recom-
mended that better indicators be developed for measuring change in
the quality of education. The committee's first report (Raizen and
Jones, 1985) provided an analysis of the current state of indicators
for assessing precollege science and mathematics education, and that
report reviewed existing data-collection efforts that may contribute
to indicators. The report also highlighted the kinds of data and in-
formation that should be available to policy makers, but often are
not.
Since that report was completed, a number of studies and activi-
ties have begun at the national level to fill the gaps and inadequacies
in indicators of science and mathematics education. Many of these
studies and activities are proceeding or being completed as the com-
mittee is writing this report, and since many of the findings and
recommendations are likely to complement this report, the objec-
tives, designs, and potential findings of these studies and activities
are outlined below.
197
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APPENDIX D
Development of Indicators from Existing Research
arid Data Bases
A new synthesis of information was created in direct response
to the report of the National Science Board Commission. The board
decided to include a chapter on science education in its biennial Sci-
ence indicators report to Congress. The chapter included in the 1985
Science Indicators report (National Science Board, 1985) provides a
review of available data that can be used to monitor and assess the
quality of science education, such as academic performance of stu-
dents, academic standards for science and mathematics, adequacy
of the curriculum, and qualifications and supply of teachers. The
chapter also identifies some problems in answering questions about
the quality of science and mathematics education that derive from
the failings of existing indicators.
The U.S. Department of Education (1985) also responded to the
expressed need for indicators by developing a new report, "Indicators
of Education Status and Trends," which was released in 1985. This
report identifies 20 indicators for measuring the quality of schooling,
using existing national data. Department of Education staff worked
with a consortium of 20 national education organizations to select in-
dicators in three categories outcomes, resources, and context- that
would provide the most meaningful and useful measures of educa-
tional quality in elementary and secondary schools. More recently,
the department released a briefer version (U.S. Department of Ed-
ucation, 1987) containing 17 indicators derived from existing data
bases and research studies. The definition of an education indicator,
as given in the department's first report, has been frequently cited
in other studies and activities on indicators.
A study report by the Rand Corporation (Shavelson et al., 1987)
for the National Science Foundation is concerned with the design of
a national indicator system for monitoring science and mathematics
education. The two major objectives of the study were, first, to
consider the benefits of alternative monitoring systems and, second,
to determine the feasibility and cost of each alternative system.
The study report incorporates findings and recommendations on
indicators from the committee's first report as well as recent research
and data collection that would contribute to a monitoring system.
The Educational Testing Service is conducting a study for the
National Science Foundation to determine the possibility of devel-
oping a comprehensive unified data base for science education indica
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APPENDIX D
199
tors. The goal of the project is a single data base that will provide
current information on the number and quality of students in science
and engineering at several stages in their development. The plan
is to integrate data from about 25 existing large data bases that
have information on demographic characteristics and educational
achievement of precollege and college students, such as the National
Assessment of Educational Progress, the Scholastic Aptitude Tests
(SATs), the High School-and-Beyond Longitudinal Survey, and the
Graduate Record Examinations. The integrated data base would be
updated annually to provide the capacity for analyses of the status
of students in science and engineering from one year to the next. The
comprehensive data base would allow the National Science Founda-
tion to answer regularly such questions as the change in quantitative
ability of high school seniors from year to year, the expected number
of graduates planning to enroll in college science majors, or the sci-
ence achievement of specific groups of minority students planning to
enter teaching.
A study recently completed by the Center for the Study of EvaTu-
ation at the University of California, Los Angeles (Burstein et al., no
date) explored the feasibility of using existing data collected by the
states to construct education indicators. The study was conducted
for the U.S. Department of Education in response to questions about
using state testing data for state-by-state comparisons of student
performance at the national level. The goal of the study was to
examine methodological and implementation issues in aggregating
data from state testing programs and then to recommend ways of
facilitating their use on a national basis. The study included anal-
yses of the current state testing programs, discussion of alternative
approaches to linking test results across states to create a common
scale, and assessment of the availability of information about schools
and students that could be used to construct more valid indicators
of achievement.
The Center for Policy Research in Education, funded by the U.S.
Department of Education, conducts research on state and local edu-
cation policy in order to foster educational improvement. The center
recently published a guide to indicators (Oakes, 1986) designed to ac-
quaint policy makers with the development, interpretation, and use
of education statistics. Topics covered include definition and types of
indicators, the use of indicators, indicators in a policy context, and
state of the indicator art.
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APPENDIX D
In response to states' interests in better indicators of education,
the Council of Chief State School Officers has created a state edu-
cation assessment center to develop and coordinate an educational
indicators system for use by all the states. The center will work with
states to develop a common set of indicators, including selection of
indicators, identification and improvement of existing data gathered
by states, and design of new data bases when necessary. Indicators
will be developed in three areas: (1) the context in which educa-
tion takes place, including the demographics of the population, the
resources available, and student descriptors; (2) educational policies
and practices, including amount and use of instructional time, the in-
structional program, preparation and characteristics of teachers, the
allocation of resources, and policies on school participation; and (3)
educational outcomes, including student achievement, attendance,
school completion, and post-school outcomes and attitudes. A spe-
cial task force, supported by the National Science Foundation, is
working on state science and mathematics indicators. The commit-
tee has worked closely with the assessment center staff in ensuring
that the interests and needs of states for improved indicators are
reflected in this report.
Studies to Improve Basic Data Collection
Another study of the National Research Council concerns statis-
tics on supply and demand for precollege science and mathematics
teachers. The pane! of experts conducting the study was selected
in consultation with the Committee on National Statistics and this
committee. The panel is currently evaluating models used at na-
tional and state levels for estimating and projecting teacher supply
and demand; it is also assessing the measures of teacher qualifications
used in these models. The goals of the study are to develop a method
for constructing a national profile of teachers, to recommend fur-
ther data collection necessary to provide more adequate information
on teacher supply and demand at national and state levels, and to
outline improved models for projecting teacher supply and demand
and estimating effects of alternative policies. An interim report is
available (Pane! on Statistics on Supply and Demand for Precollege
Science and Mathematics Teachers, 1987~.
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APPENDIX D
201
The Center for Education Statistics, in the reorganized Office
of Educational Research and Improvement of the UeSe Department
of Education, has initiated several studies to improve basic data
collection activities. In response to the need for better information on
the characteristics of the teaching force in elementary and secondary
schools, a study is being carried out by the Rand Corporation to
redesign existing surveys concerning teachers. The redesign effort
has the goal of providing better estimates of teacher supply and
demanct as well as better information on qualifications of teachers,
job characteristics, and conditions for teaching. A pilot study of
the new design, which will include surveys at the teacher, school,
and district levels, was conducted in 1986, with full implementation
scheduled for 1987.
The redesign of data collection on teachers may contribute to
a plan for revising the Center for Education Statistics' collection
of data on elementary and secondary education. Among other pro-
posed new data collection activities are new assessments of cognitive
learning of students at several grade levels. A new long-term study
of the educational performance and occupational attainment of a
national sample of students, the National Education Longitudinal
Study (NELS), will begin in 1988.
The Center for Education Statistics is also working with the
Council of Chief State School Officers to ensure that the common
core of data reported by school systems to the states and by the
states to the center is accurate and timely. The goals are to describe
state collection of data elements currently contained in the common
core of data, to consider and describe what elements might be added,
and to recommend means for making the common core of data more
comprehensive, comparable, and timely.
Because of the general dissatisfaction with current achievement
tests, the National Science Foundation supported a project at the
Educational Testing Service to develop better measures for assess-
ing student knowledge and performance in science. A manual has
been published for science and mathematics coordinators and teach-
ers on exercises designed for hands-on assessment of such skills as
classifying, observing and making inferences, formulating hypothe-
ses, interpreting data, designing an experiment, and conducting a
complete experiment (National Assessment of Educational Progress,
1987~.
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APPENDIX D
New Survey Data Applicable to Indicators
Several surveys being completed during the same period as this
study will provide new data relevant to indicators of precollege sci-
ence and mathematics education. A national survey of science and
mathematics education is currently being conducted by the Research
Triangle Institute with funding from the National Science Founda-
tion. This survey of teachers and principals will produce nationally
representative data on the condition of science and mathematics
education in elementary and secondary schools. Included in the sur-
vey are questions on course offerings and enrollments, availability of
facilities and equipment, instructional techniques, textbook usage,
teacher background, and needs for in-service education. Since the
survey will provide follow-up data to a similar 1977 survey, analy-
sis of trends in science and mathematics education during the last
decade will be possible.
New sources of data on teachers in elementary and secondary
schools will be available from three studies supported by the Depart-
ment of Education. First, the 1985 Public School Survey conducted
by the National Center for Education Statistics (now the Center
for Education Statistics) focused on the status and characteristics
of public school teachers. A nationally representative sample of ap-
proximately 10,750 teachers and 2,800 school administrators was
surveyed through mall questionnaires. The teachers were asked for
information on their teaching activities, background and experience,
conditions for teaching, specific teaching practices (e.g., homework
assigned), salary level, and work outside teaching. The adminis-
trator questionnaire asked for information on school characteristics,
staffing, teacher incentive plans, and conditions for teaching. Special
analyses of science and mathematics teachers will be possible with
the data.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) for
the 1985-1986 school year included an assessment of science knowI-
edge for students in grades three, seven, and eleven. A new feature
of the 1985-1986 NAEP is a survey of the teachers of students in
the assessment sample. The objective is to gather information on
teachers' training and experience, classroom conditions, and teach-
ing practices. The results will provide a new source of information
on science in elementary and secondary schools.
The Department of Education is also supporting the fifth follow-
up survey for the National Longitudinal Study of the senior class of
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APPENDIX D
203
1972. This is the first follow-up that will include a special survey sup-
plement for persons in the sample who are teachers or former teach-
ers. This teacher supplement, partially supported by the National
Science Foundation, will provide information on career patterns and
decisions related to the teaching profession.
Another project that will provide data for indicators is the School
Mathematics Monitoring Center, established at the University of
Wisconsin with the support of the National Science Foundation. This
center is collecting, analyzing, and reporting data on key indicators
of change in mathematics instruction and performance. A major
purpose of the center is to analyze the response of schools to current
reform efforts and their progress in improving mathematics education
over the coming years. Center products will include a data retrieval
system that will be available to the National Science Foundation
(NSF) and to other federal and state agencies and a report to NSF
on the status of mathematics education in the United States.
Efforts to Develop Indicators of the Quality of Curriculum
One response of professional science associations to the need for
better indicators of science and mathematics education has been to
work on new standards for curriculum and instruction. A major
long-term project, Project 2061, has been initiated by the American
Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to define essen-
tial learning in science and mathematics that should be attained by
all high school graduates. AAAS is working with panels of scientists,
mathematicians, and educators to establish the core elements of sci-
ence and mathematics that should be learned in school and where
in the curriculum and at what age levels these elements should be
taught.
Several professional associations have developed goals for im-
proving curriculum and instruction in specific subject areas. For ex-
ample, a special committee of the American Chemical Society (1984)
developed a set of recommendations and guidelines for quality chem-
istry education programs at the high school and college levels. The
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (1980, 1981a, 1981b)
has recommended actions for improving the quality of education in
mathematics, and the National Science Teachers Association (1983)
has established standards for preparation and certification of teachers
in science for kindergarten through grade 12. These recommenda-
tions from professional associations can provide a basis for schools,
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204
APPENDIX D
districts, or states to measure the quality of their programs in science
or mathematics.
Another approach to improving assessment of the quality of cur-
riculum and instruction in science and mathematics has been to
develop "frameworks" for curriculum content. Some states, such as
South Carolina and California, have developed frameworks for sci-
ence for specific grades and courses. These frameworks have been de-
veloped in conjunction with efforts to develop statewide competency
examinations to assess student learning. A curriculum framework
defines the core concepts to be learned by each student and, thus,
can be used as a standard for assessing the curriculum and program
of a school in a given subject area.
REFERENCES
American Chemical Society
1984 Tomorrow: The Report of the Task Force for the Study of
Chemistry Education in the United States. Washington, D.C.:
American Chemical Society.
Burstein, Leigh, Baker, Eva L., and Keesling, Ward J.
No Using State Test Data for National Indicators of Educational
date Quality: A Feasibility Study. Final Report. Available from the
Center for the Study of Evaluation, University of California, Los
Angeles.
National Assessment of Educational Progress
1987 Learning by Doing. Princeton, N.J.: Educational Testing Service.
National Commission on Excellence in Education
1983 A Nation At Risk: Thc Imperative for Educational Reform. Supt.
Of Doe. No. 065-000-00204-3. Available from the U.S. Govern-
ment Printing Office. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of
Education.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
1980 An Agenda for Action Reston, Va.: National Council of Teachers
of Mathematics.
Guidelines for the Preparation of Teachers of Mathematics. Prepared
by the Commission on the Education of Teachers of Mathematics.
Reston, Va.: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Priorities in School Mathematics. Reston, Va.: National Council of
Teachers of Mathematics.
National Science Board
1985 Scicnec Indicators: Thc 1985 Report. NSB 85-1. Washington, D.C.:
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National Science Board Commission on Precollege Education in Science, Math
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1981a
1981b
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APPENDIX D
20S
National Science Teachers Association
1983 Recommended Standards for the Preparation and Certification of Tcach-
crs of Scicnec at the Elemcntary and Middlc/Junior High School Leocl`.
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Oakes, Jeannie
1986 Educational Indicators: A Guide for Policymaler~. OPE-01. Santa
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
precollege science
