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The NCES Commissioner

Stuart Kerachsky

Acting Commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics

Stuart Kerachsky became Acting Commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) on October 16, 2008. Stuart previously served as associate commissioner for knowledge utilization in the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance within IES. Prior to joining IES, he was a senior vice president at Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. His responsibilities over his long career at Mathematica included being director of research and director of surveys. He has been involved in research in education, employment, disability, child development, and health. Stuart received his Ph.D. in economics in 1975 from the University of Wisconsin.

Commissioner's Remarks for 2009

July 14 2009
Achievement Gaps: How Black and White Students perform on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) - Good morning. Today I am releasing the National Center for Education Statistics report on achievement gaps. This report, using data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), describes the differences in performance for Black and White students as they have changed over time, using national and state data for mathematics and reading.

June 15 2009
NAEP Arts 2008: Music and Visual Arts - Good morning. I'm here today to release the results of the 2008 NAEP Arts Assessment. This is our first arts assessment since 1997. Like the 1997 assessment, the 2008 assessment covered eighth-grade students only. We assessed students in two arts disciplines, music and the visual arts. Our representative samples included over 3,900 students in each discipline. We conducted the assessment early last year.

May 28 2009
Briefing on The Condition of Education 2009 - Good morning, it is my pleasure to brief you today on The Condition of Education 2009. Let's begin with some background about the report.

The Condition of Education is a congressionally mandated report produced by the National Center for Education Statistics that brings together new and recently released information from our statistical surveys. This annual report allows us to take a big-picture look at the condition of American education. Many of the findings we discuss focus on national or regional trends, although some of the indicators in the report feature state-level data as well.

April 28 2009
NAEP 2008 Trends in Academic Progress - Today I am releasing the results of the 2008 NAEP Long-Term Trend Reading and Mathematics Assessments. For nearly four decades, we've used Long-Term Trend to chart changes in academic progress. Since it's been four years since the last results were released, I want to give you a brief overview of NAEP.

December 10 2008
NCES Statement on NAEP 2007 Puerto Rico Mathematics Assessment - In 2007 the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) conducted the third National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics assessment in Puerto Rico, following two earlier assessments in 2003 and 2005. The assessment was given in early 2007 to fourth- and eighth-grade public school students. About 76 percent of Puerto Rico students at grade 4 and about 78 percent at grade 8 attend public schools, while the remaining students attend private schools. Approximately 3,000 students were assessed in each grade.

December 9 2008
NCES Statement on TIMSS 2007 - Today the National Center for Education Statistics is releasing results on the performance of students in the United States on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). The 2007 TIMSS is the fourth administration since 1995 of this cross-national comparative study. Developed through the auspices of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), TIMSS assesses the mathematics and science knowledge and skills of fourth- and eighth-graders.

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