A Research Agenda for the 1999-2000 Schools and Staffing Survey. Working Paper No. 2000-10

The Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) serves two important purposes for the educational community. The first purpose, at which SASS has been very successful, is providing data that describe and track over time the state of schools and staffing (the capacities of teachers, school libraries, schools, and school districts, and the organization of schools and the teaching profession) in the United States. Major reports--including "Schools and Staffing in the United States" (NCES 93-146; 96-124), "America's Teachers: Profile of a Profession" (NCES 93-025; 97- 460), "Public School Districts in the United States: A Statistical Profile, 1987-88 to 1993-94" (NCES 98-203), and "Public and Private School Principals in the United States: A Statistical Profile, 1987-88 to 1993-94" (NCES 97-455)--have contributed a wealth of information concerning the on-going state of teaching, schooling, and school administration in the U.S. Other smaller, more focused reports, such as "Job Satisfaction among America's Teachers: Effects of Workplace Conditions, Background Characteristics, and Teacher Compensation" (NCES 97-471) and "Public School Choice Programs, 1993-94: Availability and Student Participation" (NCES 97-909) contribute similar information on more specific aspects of the state of schools and staffing in the United States. The second purpose has been under-developed: SASS provides valuable data for gaining "enlightenment" regarding emerging and enduring issues concerning teaching and schools (Boe, 1996) SASS is a tremendous database for describing phenomena. This kind of description helps researchers gain a general knowledge about issues that they can then research in more detail elsewhere. In this way, SASS has enormous potential as a research-question-generator. Moreover, researchers can link data from smaller, focused studies to the nationally and state-by-state representative data provided by SASS. SASS data can provide context for or reinforce the findings of local, in-depth studies. This paper begins with a brief description of the 1999-2000 survey. It then discusses status and trend reports that should be generated to help provide a detailed sense of the state and movement of teaching and schools. It closes with suggestions for more specific research. Appended are: (1) "Essential" Items for Schools and Staffing in the U.S. Profile; and (2) Potential Topics for New or Updated Research.