Education Indicators

In the push to bring data to bear on all of the important education issues of the day, one important fact is often overlooked: Not all indicators are created equal. This book provides a comprehensive approach for understanding how statistical measures of achievement are developed, evaluated, and interpreted. Given the extent to which accountability measures determine outcomes for schools and students, this practical introduction is essential reading for a wide audience that includes school administrators, teachers, policymakers, and the media. The authors strive to increase "statistical literacy" by engaging readers in the process of becoming thoughtful and critical users of data.

With the practitioner in mind, this hands-on primer:

• Outlines a viable approach to interpreting the vast array of available data about education in the United States.
• Uses clear, jargon-free language with real examples from local, national, and international indicator systems.

"You would be upset, of course, if you read that there were 1.5 million crimes in schools in 2005, or that only 33 percent of fourth graders are proficient in reading. I put facts like that in the paper all the time. But in many cases, including these two examples, the context and the details in which we find these indicators may significantly change your feelings about them. Mike Planty and Deven Carlson have taken pity on non-expert readers of the glut of information about schools and in this incisive and clearly written book show how to figure it all out."

—Jay Mathews, Washington Post education columnist

"Michael Planty, the longtime force behind the U.S. Department of Education's annual report The Condition of Education, has penned an invaluable reader's guide to the often-bewildering mass of education statistics. In a 'data-driven world' where competing experts will cite conflicting stats and figures to make their case, Planty and co-author Deven Carlson have penned a volume that will prove invaluable to parents, practitioners, and policymakers trying to separate fact from fiction. If you want to know what's really going on in education today, read this book."

—Frederick M. Hess, Director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute

"There are hundreds of statistics textbooks out there but few that fill the gap between classroom formulae and the real, messy world of education statistics. Education researchers, policy analysts, and journalists interested in understanding what really is going on behind  the "simple" data that drive the education policy debate need this book."

—Jack Buckley, New York University and former Deputy Commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics

Click HERE to purchase.