School-level Correlates of Academic Achievement

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal entity for collecting, analyzing, and reporting data related to education in the United States and other nations. It fulfills a congressional mandate to collect, collate, analyze, and report full and complete statistics on the condition of education in the United States; conduct and publish reports and specialized analyses of the meaning and significance of such statistics; assist state and local education agencies in improving their statistical systems; and review and report on education activities in foreign countries. We strive to make our products available in a variety of formats and in language that is appropriate to a variety of audiences. You, as our customer, are the best judge of our success in communicating information effectively. If you have any comments or suggestions about this or any other NCES product or report, we would like to hear from you. Please direct your comments to: iii Foreword The Research and Development series of reports has been initiated for the following goals: 1. To share studies and research that are developmental in nature. The results of such studies may be revised as the work continues and additional data become available. 2. To share results of studies that are, to some extent, on the cutting edge of methodological developments. Emerging analytical approaches and new computer software development often permit new, and sometimes controversial, analysis to be done. By participating in " frontier research, " we hope to contribute to the resolution of issues and improved analysis. 3. To participate in discussions of emerging issues of interest to educational researchers, statisticians, and the Federal statistical community in general. Such reports may document workshops and symposiums sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) that address methodological and analytical issues or may share and discuss issues regarding NCES practice, procedures, and standards. The common theme in all three goals is that these reports present results or discussions that do not reach definitive conclusions at this point in time, either because the data are tentative, the methodology is new and developing, or the topic is one on which there are divergent views. Therefore, the techniques and inferences made from the data are tentative and are subject to revision. To facilitate the process of closure on the issues, we invite comment, criticism, and alternatives to what we have done. Such responses should be directed to: for …