David A. Richards
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David A. Richards
@davidrichardsed.bsky.social
140 followers 68 following 90 posts
Postsecondary Education Statistics. Agora.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidrichardsed/
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David Richards • You Associate Education Research Analyst 1W • My NCES journey began in grad school. While taking a multilevel modeling class at the University of Florida's College of Education, I wrote a term paper using data from PISA (NCES's Program for International Student Assessment). During my job hunt, I sent a copy of that term paper to the chief researcher at the United Negro College Fund, and it helped me get a job in their Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute, where I did research on minority students and minority-serving institutions using NCES postsecondary data, particularly IPEDS (the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) and NPSAS (the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study). This work led me to a job at NCES, and responsibility for BPS (the Beginning Postsecondary Student Aid Study) a national longitudinal sample study of college students that lets researchers estimate six-year persistence and attainment of U.S. college students (including those who change institutions partway through their education). We had high hopes for the current round of BPS, which would include outcomes of those college students who began their postsecondary educations at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. BPS staff were also developing new improvements to the study, such as the inclusion of FEMA data (so researchers could examine the relationships of natural disasters on student outcomes), state-representative samples, and more refined demographic measures. We had planned to start data collection in March, which turned out to be one of the most consequential months of my life. On March 2nd, my husband and I adopted a baby boy, our first child, who had only been born the day before. On March 11th, my colleagues and I received notice that we were being placed on administrative leave as a precursor to the end of our employment at the Department of Education. While my NCES duties centered on management of the research contracts that made it possible for such a small agency to produce such large, high-quality datasets, I will most miss my role as data evangelist. I never enjoyed my job more than when I was hyping NCES's online data tools to researchers, students, and journalists. My two favorite postsecondary tools are still the ones I used during my days as a researcher in the nonprofit sector: * The IPEDS data tool (which allows anyone to download detailed annual data on almost every single postsecondary institution in the United States), available at https://Inkd.in/ewBTtvWn * DataLab (which allows anyone to view summary statistics and perform statistical analyses on many datasets that would otherwise be unusable without a restricted-use license), available at https://lnkd.in/egbR73hV These tools are deep, robust, user-friendly, and free. I encourage anyone worried or curious about NCES data to take these tools for a spin. I remain available to answer questions about them. Gratefully, David A. Richards E pur si muove.
March 28, 2025 at 1:45 PM
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Harper Haynes of RTI presenting on survey methods for equitably identifying transgender respondents through the use (or not) of confirmation questions. #AAPOR @aapor.bsky.social
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Harper Haynes of RTI presenting on survey methods for equitably identifying transgender respondents. '"Just to Confirm...?": Establishing Equitable Survey Methods for Identifying the Transgender Population'
May 16, 2024 at 12:59 PM