You may also want to include statistic sources in your research. In particular, statistics compiled by the Department of Education are also useful when positioning your research in a practical context.
Common Core of Data (CCD)
From the National Center for Educational Statistics. CCD is a comprehensive, annual, national statistical database of information concerning all public elementary and secondary schools (approximately 95,000) and school districts (approximately 17,000).
Education Week's Quality Counts
Annual reports providing state-by-state data on educational quality.
Kids Count Data Center
Includes numerous measure of child well-being, including state-by-state data and data by topic.
Lost Opportunity: A 50 State Report on the Opportunity to Learn in America
Produced by the Schott Foundation for Public Education. Provides data, including interactive maps of each state, showing how states are doing in terms of providing resources for children.
National Education Association Reports & Statistics
Statistical reports focusing on public schools and educator issues. Covers status and salary issues of school teachers.
Nation's Report Card
Report Cards communicate the findings of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a continuing and nationally representative measure of achievement in various subjects over time.
School District Demographic System (SDDS)
The School District Demographics System (SDDS) is a Web-based resource operated by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the U.S. Department of Education. SDDS enables access to school district demographic and related geographic data that is not available in any other form.
School Districts (from the U.S. Census)
The U.S. Census Bureau develops demographic, economic, geographic, and fiscal data for school districts. It does not collect student achievement information and it does not provide data that identifies characteristics of individual students or staff members.
First Year Performance at Illinois Public Universities and Colleges
Located on the Chicago Tribune's web site, data shows how Illinois public school graduates fared when they became freshmen at the state’s universities and community colleges. Searchable by public university or college and by high school. Users can look up average high school GPAs and grade point averages earned at each public university and community college that students attended.
Illinois State Board of Education School Report Cards
Searchable database, available in for English and Spanish, for locating school report cards. District and State Report Cards are only available from 2002 forward. Spanish versions of report cards are only available from 2001 forward.
Illinois Teacher and Administrator Salaries
Provided by the Chicago Sun Times, his searchable database contains job and salary information for teachers and administrators at every public school in Illinois from the 2009-2010 school year, according to records kept by the Illinois State Board of Education. Either search by name or use the other filters for as broad or narrow a search as you would like.
Interactive Illinois Report Card
This site facilitates comparisons using the state school report card data.