What is the NCES Kids' Zone?

The purpose of the National Center for Education Statistics' Kids' Zone is to provide information to help you learn about schools; decide on a college; find a public library; engage in several games, quizzes and skill building about math, probability, graphing, and mathematicians; and to learn many interesting facts about education. Of course, all of these things have been designed to be fun too, so jump in!

Who is NCES?

Part of the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing education-related data. NCES fulfills a Congressional mandate to collect, analyze, and report statistics on American education; conduct and publish reports; and review and report on education activities internationally.

Who uses NCES Statistics?

Well, you do if you've checked out our College Search; Find A Library or, Find A School! These statistics have lots of other readers too, for example:

Congress uses them to plan federal education programs, to divide federal funds among the states, and to serve the needs of constituents.
Federal agencies use them to figure out how many educated people are coming out of our schools and colleges, and to know what they studied.
State and local officials use them to figure out how to hire teachers and pay for public education.
Educational organizations, use them to plan their research.
The news media use them to inform the public about things like school and college enrollment, and academic performance.
Business organizations use them to make decisions about the demand for their products and for locating potential employees.
The general public uses them to stay informed and to make smart decisions about educational issues.

How are these statistics disseminated?

Our statistics are available in publications, data sets, but of course most of all on our website, for every level of education (from pre-kindergarten through adult learning) for the United States and the world. If you want to check out any NCES publications, visit the NCES Publications and Products Search.

How can we make this site better?

What other features or games would you like to see here? Send us your ideas. What do you think of this site? How could it be better? Come on, tell us.