Support Services for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the Education Statistics Support Institute Network, and Postsecondary Education Administrative Records (PEARs)

Overview

Synergy provides high-quality logistical support for a variety of annual National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) meetings. Our publications team copyedits, formats, produces graphics, and ensures Section 508 compliance for myriad technical reports and other NCES documents (e.g., Statistics in Brief, Data Point, and First Look reports and issue briefs; working papers; handbooks; directories; brochures; newsletters; and conference reports). These wide-ranging data sources help NCES provide a comprehensive view of key issues facing the U.S. educational system. Since 2011, Synergy has supported materials development, social media, and media outreach, and produces four major NCES annual reports: the Condition of Education, the Digest of Education Statistics, the Indicators of School Crime and Safety, and the Projections of Education Statistics. Additionally, Synergy develops smaller indicator reports on topics such as students’ home computer use, racial and ethnic groups, school choice, high school dropout and completion rates, and mathematics.

Synergy’s statisticians analyze NCES’s High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) Postsecondary Education Administrative Records (PEARs), which are restricted-use data files. Our team also verifies and analyzes data from the School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey, which addresses bullying and criminal offenses, and produces various publications on its methodology and results.

To widely disseminate and increase the accessibility of the reports, Synergy develops web-based mobile applications with bar charts and maps with interactive data sets. Synergy uses a rapid production cycle and adheres to NCES publication, statistical, and web and Section 508 accessibility standards. To further expand NCES’s national presence, Synergy also produces statistical videos that highlight annual education data. The video production process includes storyboard development, animation, and music, using cutting-edge motion graphics and visual effects software. Other national dissemination activities include preparing tweets and infographics for the NCES Twitter account, developing talking points for report releases, and promoting and exhibiting NCES work at numerous education conferences.

Our information technology team members support the Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) website, which provides users with information and tools (e.g., search and CIP Wizard), by maintaining the site and updating tool functionality. In each case, the team identifies the key problem and a set of alternative solutions and chooses a recommended solution, cost analysis, and implementation plan for the client.