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Purpose and History

The chief goal of the NHES is to describe Americans’ educational experiences, thereby offering policymakers, researchers, and educators a variety of statistics on the condition of education in the United States. To monitor educational trends over time, NHES conducts repeated measurements of the same phenomena in different years. The NHES has also fielded one-time surveys on topics of interest to the Department of Education.

The NHES has been conducted in the springs of 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, and 2007. Surveys include:

Surveys Data Collection Years
Adult Education 1991, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005
Before- and After-School Programs and Activities 1999, 2001, 2005
Early Childhood Program Participation 1991, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2005
Parent and Family Involvement in Education 1996, 1999, 2003, 2007
Civic Involvement 1996, 1999
Household Library Use 1996
School Readiness 1993, 1999, 2007
School Safety and Discipline 1993

To see the questions asked on these surveys, browse the questionnaires. To view some of the research reports that have been based on the surveys, browse the NHES publications. To download or order CD_ROMs of the data, browse data products.

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