Former NCES leaders explain how chronic staffing, contracting, and bureaucratic barriers undermined the agency’s ability to produce timely education statistics. They offer practical recommendations for rebuilding a stronger, more agile NCES.
congress
New Report Concludes Federal Statistics at Risk
The Nation’s Data at Risk: Meeting America’s Information Needs for the 21st Century—a report by a team of American Statistical Association and George Mason University researchers—concluded federal statistical agencies are struggling with growing challenges that prevent them from innovating enough to meet the information and evidence demands of the 21st century.
ASA, INFORMS Lead Webinar on Data Literacy
The webinar, aimed at congressional staffers, was hosted by the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, known as INFORMS, and moderated by INFORMS Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer Jeff Cohen.
FY23 Budgets, FY24 Budget Request Show Strong Support for Research, Statistical Agencies
The December deal to fund the US government for the current fiscal year included an increase of 14% for the National Science Foundation and 6% for the National Institutes of Health, along with double-digit percent increases for several statistical agencies. Released in March, the president’s requested budget for fiscal year 2024 (FY24) also has favorable increases for the agencies but will face the new Republican majority in the US House of Representatives, where there is a desire to reduce federal government spending to FY22 levels.
Data Science and Literacy Education Bill Gets Bipartisan Introduction
Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), Rep. Jim Baird (R-IN), Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), and Rep. Young Kim (R-CA) introduced the Data Science and Literacy Act in the House of Representatives February 14, following advocacy by the ASA and its members that formally kicked off at the Joint Statistical Meetings.
What Is COSSA Doing for You?
The Consortium of Social Science Associations serves as a bridge between research and government and lobbies Congress directly to translate scientific information and findings into sound policy and increased funding.
People News for December 2022
ASA member Mulugeta Gebregziabher won an award, while Hollylynne Lee and Gemma Mojica were given a grant.
State of the Education Data Infrastructure: What Three Experts Have to Say About the National Center for Education Statistics
For the state of the data infrastructure series, the ASA Count on Stats team spoke with three experts on the National Center for Education Statistics: James L. Woodworth, Jack Buckley, and Felice J. Levine.
Demystifying Apportionment Computations for the US House of Representatives
Basic arithmetic skill (multiplication, division, and taking square roots) is all one needs to remove any mystery concerning the details of the computations about how to determine the number of seats each state gets based on its population.
Legislative Advocacy and Data Science
Sarah Warner offers up tips to help Data for Good statistician-advocates.