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A Vision and Roadmap for Education Statistics (2022)

Chapter: Appendix D: Comparing Federal Principal Statistical Agencies and Units

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Comparing Federal Principal Statistical Agencies and Units." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. A Vision and Roadmap for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26392.
×
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Comparing Federal Principal Statistical Agencies and Units." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. A Vision and Roadmap for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26392.
×

TABLE D-1 Organizational Statistics of the 13 U.S. Principal Statistical Programs and Units, Sorted by Overall Staff Size (FY 2020)

Principal Statistical Agency or Unit Number of Permanent Full-Time Employees Direct Funding Average Number of U.S. Dollars ($) Managed by Each Employee Reimbursable Programs
Census* 6,328 $7,185.8M $1.1M $303.4M
BLS 1,989 $655.0M $0.3M $34.0M
NASS 1,033 $163.0M $0.2M $17.1M
BEA 501 $108.0M $0.2M $2.3M
NCHS 470 $155.0M $0.3M $83.5M
EIA 357 $118.0M $0.3M $1.1M
ERS 158 $60.5M $0.4M $0.0M
SOI 139 $34.7M $0.2M $2.2M
NCES 105 $296.5M $2.8M $6.3M
ORES 79 $36.8M $0.5M $0.9M
BTS 60 $26.0M $0.4M $8.2M
NCSES 56 $58.0M $1.0M $2.0M
BJS 49 $57.1M $1.2M $18.2M

SOURCE: U.S. OMB (2020), Appendix Tables 3a (Staffing Levels), 1a (Direct Funding for Statistical Programs, 2018–2020), and 2a (Reimbursable and Purchase Programs, 2020).
NOTES:

*FY 2020 is a decennial census year.

The principal statistical agencies or units are sorted in ascending order by “Number of Permanent Full-Time Employees.”

The average number of dollars calculated as direct funding in FY 2020 divided by the number of FTE permanent staff, sometimes called the budget-to-staff ratio, is used to express the average number of dollars managed by each staff member.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Comparing Federal Principal Statistical Agencies and Units." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. A Vision and Roadmap for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26392.
×

TABLE D-2 Detailed Historical Organization of NCES Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Employees (Select Fiscal Years)

FY 2003 FY 2004 FY 2007 FY 2010* FY 2013 FY 2015* FY 2019 FY 2021 Net Loss/Gain FYs 2003–2021
Number of FTE Employees Percent Change
Statistics Units 83 76 81 86 64 77 60 58 –25 –30
Office of the Commissioner–Statistics** 20 16 22 18 9 2 2 2 –18 –90
Annual Reports & Information Staff 6 10 5 4 4 N/A
Statistical Standards & Data Confidentiality Staff 9 12 9 9 9 N/A
Sample Surveys Division 12 19 19 18 18 N/A
Administrative Data Division 34 25 25 25 N/A
Elementary/Secondary & Library Studies Division 21 22 25 24 10 –21 –100
Postsecondary Division 21 19 21 26 9 –21 –100
Early Childhood, International, and Crosscutting Division–Statistics 21 19 13 18 9 –21 –100
Assessment Units 30 27 32 38 35 36 35 32 2 7
Assessments Division** 24 21 26 32 29 36 35 32 8 33
Early Childhood, International, and Crosscutting Division–Assessment 6 6 6 6 6 –6 –100
NCES Total 113 103 113 124 99 113 95 90 –23 –20
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Comparing Federal Principal Statistical Agencies and Units." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. A Vision and Roadmap for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26392.
×

SOURCE: IES document provided to the panel, “IES & NCES Historical FTE Data and IES Appropriations Historical”; NCES response to question from the panel, pp. 7–10.

NOTES: These data represent how NCES staff are organized. All staff are paid indirectly through an allocation of the Department of Education’s Salaries and Expenses appropriation. The organization of staff into statistics and assessment units does not align with program appropriations (Figure D-2). For example, staff who work primarily on international studies are organized in assessment units, while the program dollars for the international studies collections have always come from the statistics budget appropriation. The organization of FTEs does not fully reflect the functional roles of the staff. For example, staff located in a statistics unit may also support assessment work. Vacant positions are not represented.

*NCES-initiated reorganizations have changed the structure of NCES several times since 2002, reflected by the “grayed out” areas. Each reorganization resulted in changes in FTE distribution across NCES. For example, from 2010 to 2013, the NCES Office of the Commissioner was divided into three separate teams, leading to a corresponding reduction in the total FTEs assigned to the Office of the Commissioner.

The FY 2021 Office of the Commissioner count excludes two fellows who are not paid employees of the federal government.

**In this table, the Office of the Commissioner count excludes one FTE across multiple employees who work on assessments for some of their time. The Assessments Division count includes one FTE from across multiple employees located in the Office of the Commissioner.

As part of the 2013 reorganization, six staff who work primarily on international studies were moved from the Early Childhood, International, and Crosscutting Division into a newly formed branch of the Assessments Division.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Comparing Federal Principal Statistical Agencies and Units." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. A Vision and Roadmap for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26392.
×

TABLE D-3 Estimated Annual Hiring and Turnover Rates for NCES Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Employees by Fiscal Year (FY)

Fiscal Year (FY)* FTEs (at end of FY) Hires Separations Average FTEs from Prior Year FY Hire Rate FY Turnover Rate
2013 98 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
2014 103 12 11 101 11.9% 10.9%
2015 113 19 11 108 17.6% 10.2%
2016 114 6 5 114 5.3% 4.4%
2017* 111 0 5 113 0.0% 4.4%
2018 101 1 10 106 0.9% 9.4%
2019* 93 0 9 97 0.0% 9.3%
2020* 93 10 9 93 10.8% 9.7%
2021* 91 8 10 92 8.7% 10.9%

SOURCE: NCES response to question from the panel, pp. 16–17.

NOTES: The annual hiring rate percent is the number of FTE employee hires divided by (the FTE count at the end of the fiscal year + the FTE count at the end of the prior fiscal year)/2. The annual turnover rate percent is the number of FTE employee separations divided by (the FTE count at the end of the fiscal year + the FTE count at the end of the prior fiscal year)/2.

The number of FTE employees at the end of a fiscal year may differ slightly from Table D-2, due to different sources.

*The following events affected hiring and attrition: hiring freeze 1/23/17–4/12/17 (FY 2017), COVID-19 pandemic 3/13/2020–present (FYs 2020–2021), new telework policy (FY 2019), Voluntary Early Retirement Authority and Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment (FY 2019 and FY 2020).

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Comparing Federal Principal Statistical Agencies and Units." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. A Vision and Roadmap for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26392.
×
Image
FIGURE D-1 NCES organizational change in full-time equivalent employees (FTE) (select fiscal years).
SOURCE: IES document provided to the panel, “IES & NCES Historical FTE Data and IES Appropriations Historical”; NCES response to question from the panel, pp. 7–10.
LEGEND: NCES had a net loss of 23 FTEs (20%) from FY 2003 to FY 2021. Within NCES, the staff working in statistics units had a net loss of 25 FTEs (30%) in the same period. The decline since the FY 2010 peak is starker, at 34 FTEs (27%) for NCES as a whole and 28 FTEs (33%) for statistics units.
NOTES: These data represent how NCES staff are organized. All staff are paid indirectly through an allocation of the Department of Education’s Salaries and Expenses appropriation. The organization of staff into statistics and assessment units does not align with program appropriations (Figure D-2). For example, staff who work primarily on international studies are organized in assessment units, while the program dollars for the international studies collections have always come from the statistics budget appropriation. The organization of FTEs does not fully reflect the functional roles of the staff. For example, staff located in a statistics unit may also support assessment work. Vacant positions are not represented.
The statistics count includes the Administrative Data Division, Sample Surveys Division and its predecessors, Statistical Standards and Data Confidentiality Staff, Annual Reports and Information Staff, and the Office of the Commissioner FTEs
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Comparing Federal Principal Statistical Agencies and Units." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. A Vision and Roadmap for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26392.
×
working on statistics. The assessments count includes the Assessments Division plus one FTE from across multiple employees located in the Office of the Commissioner who work on assessments for some of their time. See Table D-2 for details.
The FY 2021 counts exclude two fellows who are not paid employees of the federal government.
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Comparing Federal Principal Statistical Agencies and Units." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. A Vision and Roadmap for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26392.
×
Image
FIGURE D-2 NCES Historical Program Appropriations Excluding Salaries and Expenses, FYs 2003–2021.
SOURCE: IES document provided to the panel, “IES & NCES Historical FTE Data and IES Appropriations Historical”; NCES response to question from the panel, pp. 3–6.
LEGEND: NCES’s appropriations levels for FYs 2003–2021, excluding NCES’s indirect appropriation from the Salaries and Expenses account. These figures reflect the program budgets only and do not cover FTE employee salaries, which are determined by the Department of Education and the Institute of Education Sciences. The statistics budget has been flatlined in recent years, which effectively results in a loss of purchasing power when adjusted for rises in cost of living. For instance, using the Consumer Price Index from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the FY 2010 statistics program appropriation of $108,521,000 has the same buying power as $130,714,950 in FY 2021, or 17 percent less buying power.1 NCES’s actual statistics program appropriation for FY 2021 was $111,500,000, a difference of over $19 million.
NOTES: NCES’s program appropriations typically support contracts and grants, do not fund NCES staff, and do not align with the organization of staff into statistics and assessment offices (Table D-2, Figure D-1). For example, the Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems Grant Program is administered by staff organized in a statistics unit; staff who work primarily on international studies are organized in assessment units, while the program dollars for the international studies collections have always come from the statistics budget appropriation. NCES receives an allocation from

___________________

1 Calculated from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index calculator at https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm [March 2022], comparing $108,521,000 in appropriations in October 2009 (the first month of FY 2010) to buying power in October 2020 (the first month of FY 2021).

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Comparing Federal Principal Statistical Agencies and Units." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. A Vision and Roadmap for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26392.
×
the Department of Education’s Salaries and Expenses (S&E) appropriation to pay employees (i.e., FTEs) indirectly. The S&E allocation amounts were not available and are not shown.
*Appropriations for the Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems did not begin until FY 2005.
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Comparing Federal Principal Statistical Agencies and Units." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. A Vision and Roadmap for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26392.
×

TABLE D-4 NCES Interagency Agreements (IAAs), Contracts, Contracting Officer’s Representatives (CORs) and IAA Administrators, with Ratios

IAAs Outgoing IAAs Incoming Contracts CORs IAA Admin Contract-to-COR Ratio All IAAs + Contracts IAAs + Contracts Ratio
Annual Reports 0 0 3 1 0 3.0 3 3.0
Statistical Standards 2 1 10 4 * 2.5 13 3.3
Sample Surveys 11 1 27 12 * 2.3 39 3.3
Administrative Data 5 0 23 7 3 3.3 28 2.8
Assessments 7 2 69 16 * 4.3 78 4.9
NCES Total 25 4 132 40 3 3.3 161 3.7

SOURCE: NCES response to question from the panel, p. 15.

LEGEND: NCES has 43 staff (48%) who serve as CORs or administer IAAs in addition to other duties. On average, each COR or IAA administrator manages 3.7 IAAs or contracts, with the Assessments Division having the highest average contract/IAA management workload, at 4.9.

NOTES: *IAAs within the Sample Survey, Statistical Standards, and Assessment divisions are managed by staff who are also active CORs on contracts. Since these staff are already included in the count of CORs, they are not double counted in this column.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Comparing Federal Principal Statistical Agencies and Units." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. A Vision and Roadmap for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26392.
×
Page 189
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Comparing Federal Principal Statistical Agencies and Units." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. A Vision and Roadmap for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26392.
×
Page 190
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Comparing Federal Principal Statistical Agencies and Units." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. A Vision and Roadmap for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26392.
×
Page 191
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Comparing Federal Principal Statistical Agencies and Units." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. A Vision and Roadmap for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26392.
×
Page 192
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Comparing Federal Principal Statistical Agencies and Units." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. A Vision and Roadmap for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26392.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Comparing Federal Principal Statistical Agencies and Units." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. A Vision and Roadmap for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26392.
×
Page 194
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Comparing Federal Principal Statistical Agencies and Units." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. A Vision and Roadmap for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26392.
×
Page 195
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Comparing Federal Principal Statistical Agencies and Units." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. A Vision and Roadmap for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26392.
×
Page 196
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Comparing Federal Principal Statistical Agencies and Units." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. A Vision and Roadmap for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26392.
×
Page 197
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Comparing Federal Principal Statistical Agencies and Units." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. A Vision and Roadmap for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26392.
×
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The education landscape in the United States has been changing rapidly in recent decades: student populations have become more diverse; there has been an explosion of data sources; there is an intensified focus on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility; educators and policy makers at all levels want more and better data for evidence-based decision making; and the role of technology in education has increased dramatically. With awareness of this changed landscape the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to provide a vision for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)—the nation's premier statistical agency for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating statistics at all levels of education.

A Vision and Roadmap for Education Statistics (2022) reviews developments in using alternative data sources, considers recent trends and future priorities, and suggests changes to NCES's programs and operations, with a focus on NCES's statistical programs. The report reimagines NCES as a leader in the 21st century education data ecosystem, where it can meet the growing demands for policy-relevant statistical analyses and data to more effectively and efficiently achieve its mission, especially in light of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 and the 2021 Presidential Executive Order on advancing racial equity. The report provides strategic advice for NCES in all aspects of the agency's work including modernization, stakeholder engagement, and the resources necessary to complete its mission and meet the current and future challenges in education.

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