Reimagining the National Center
for Education Statistics
With the support of Lumina Foundation and William T. Grant Foundation, the ASA is launching a project to define a revitalized National Center for Education Statistics that is more efficient and agile. While our primary audience is policymakers in the administration and Congress, we want broad input and discussion for what could be a once-in-a-lifetime discussion.
Our goal is to publish recommendations in spring 2026 for discussion and consideration. To inform those recommendations, we are hosting small roundtables with key audiences this fall and winter. In October, we hosted a roundtable with representatives from think tanks and data policy groups. The summary is available here. We are also considering roundtables with NCES’s broad stakeholder community (data users, contractors, researchers), representatives of education policy groups and education-policy-focused foundations, and former leadership of NCES and other statistical agencies. If you have ideas, please get in touch. We also invite you to sign up to receive updates and respond to calls for review and input and tell us about your NCES-related project.
Since its founding in 1839 with the goal of improving the 1840 census, the ASA has supported the role of federal statistics in informing decision-makers across government, business, and the public. A non-partisan, scientific professional association, the ASA brings numerous qualities to the discussion on improving federal statistics. Our decades-long relationships with federal statistical system leaders provide an insider perspective on how seemingly small changes can have outsized impacts on statistical integrity. We combine this perspective with regular congressional staff and administration official engagement, not only to inform them of the situations for federal statistical agencies and their needs but to monitor the legislative landscape. Our project on Assessing the Health of the Federal Statistical agencies, begun in 2023, gives us insights and perspective on what statistical agencies need to be effective and efficient. The project’s 2024 report, "The Nation's Data at Risk," and other projects by the ASA over the years serve as trusted benchmarks for policymakers across the political spectrum when making budget and restructuring decisions. Learn more about the ASA and its support of federal statistics.
This project is supported by Lumina Foundation and William T. Grant Foundation and reflects the ASA's ongoing commitment to strengthening the federal statistical system. However, the content of this website and the content of the project’s materials do not represent the opinions of the two foundations.