The collapse of America’s education data infrastructure

And how we might build again

Recent mass layoffs at the U.S. Department of Education have effectively demolished the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in terms of core operations and staffing, threatening the foundation of America's education data infrastructure.

For over 50 years, NCES has been the trusted, nonpartisan source that policymakers, educators, and researchers rely on—tracking student achievement, informing the allocation of billions in education funding, and providing the evidence base for critical decisions about our schools.

The National Center for Education Statistics is not a household name. But the agency’s influence is quietly profound. Through initiatives like the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)—widely known as the Nation’s Report Card—NCES has measured nationwide student achievement in reading, math, and other subjects for more than 50 years. It is considered the gold standard of academic assessments in K-12 education, especially for national and state-level comparisons of student achievement. The Common Core of Data (CCD) ensures we have comprehensive and reliable information on every public school and school district in the country. The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) informs decisions on financial aid and college affordability. Without NCES, longstanding surveys and data collection-reporting programs either fall into disrepair or perhaps disappear altogether, making it much more challenging to track and understand patterns and trends in American education.

(If you want a full breakdown of NCES, its funding, and the risks from cuts, check out this presentation from the American Statistical Association)

With the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) facing mass staff reductions and NCES effectively dismantled, we are at risk of losing the data that informs everything from classroom reading and math instruction to local, state, and federal policymaking. Education interests across ideological and political spectrums should recognize the urgency of addressing this public information dilemma and work together on a bold solution. Without reliable, longitudinal education data, we risk making decisions on education matters based on anecdotes, ideology, or political expediency rather than observation and evidence.

But this moment may lead to an opportunity. When the dust settles in coming weeks and months, the best way forward is to build something stronger and more resilient to the political and ideological forces of the day: a new, independent, interstate institution dedicated to advancing and maintaining America’s education data infrastructure.

Why This Matters Now

Decision-makers—from legislators and governors to teachers and parents—need reliable data on student achievement, educational attainment, enrollment patterns, school finances, safety conditions, and classroom contexts to make informed choices. Preserving these capabilities requires a deliberate and coordinated response.

Fallout will be felt by:

• Parents and Students (and those who represent them): Who depend on college affordability data, reliable school performance and context indicators, school operations information, and transparency in school safety measures.

• States and School Districts: Which rely on accessible data and information for planning, goal-setting, budgeting, student enrollment and teacher workforce forecasting, and student achievement benchmarks, tracking, and comparisons.

• Businesses and Workforce Leaders: Who set out to track graduation rates, postsecondary activity patterns and trends, and workforce readiness metrics.

It is not just spreadsheets and surveys. This is about the public's right to know the state of education in America. The transparency enabled by NCES data has served as a cornerstone of democratic and market accountability in education—allowing parents and taxpayers to evaluate whether schools, district leaders, and policymakers are delivering on their promises to students, families, and communities.

The dismantling of NCES isn't simply an administrative reshuffling—it threatens to blind policymakers, school leaders, educators, and parents in this critical period following the pandemic’s onslaught on student learning and schooling experiences.

A Fork in the Road: Reform or Build New?

In the wake of NCES’s collapse, two primary paths seem to be coming into focus now for the future of America’s education data infrastructure. One path reforms and relocates federal functions—modernizing some existing programs without fully eliminating them. The other path leads toward building something new, assuming that NCES and its programs will not return to its agenda, structure, and operations as they were in December 2024.

Reform advocates like Mark Schneider, former director of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), see this current disruption as an opportunity to modernize outdated systems and products. To “clean out the attic,” as he puts it.

Schneider argues for leveraging existing federal strengths. A reformed IES and NCES can still empower states through strategic partnerships and streamlined contracting and procurement processes, preserving foundational programs like NAEP and the Common Core of Data.

Counterbalancing Schneider’s perspective, former NCES Commissioner Lynn Woodworth contends that the federal executive branch can no longer reliably be a steward of nationwide education data collection programs. He proposes a fully independent statistical agency reporting directly to Congress, with term-protected leadership to shield it from political interference.

The common thread in these perspectives is recognition that NCES's essential functions must continue. Where they diverge is whether reform can succeed within existing structures or if we need to build new ones.

Reform proponents advocate for restructuring and improved processes to enhance responsiveness and efficiency. While this approach may be viable, it faces significant bureaucratic and political challenges. Both Schneider and Woodworth during and after their tenures sensibly argued for reforms and modernization. But the bureaucratic and political constraints have, at least in part, shown severe agency vulnerabilities and provided fuel for the current reckoning.

Supporters of doing something new have determined the federal executive is no longer a reliable or capable hub for education data, either because of the whims of political interference or entangled bureaucratic inertia. Establishing a wholly independent statistical entity is the turn to be taken now—a path that now appears necessary.

My view, based on recent developments and an assumption, is straightforward: NCES and IES as we knew them are not returning. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t believe NCES is coming back from demolition. We have to start thinking about building new, and soon.

This two-part series can be viewed as a kind of contingency plan if that unfortunate scenario stays true.

The states will need a new, independent, state-backed institution explicitly built by cooperative state leadership as a foundation, reinforced by transparent and rigorous national data collection and reporting. Such an entity would integrate the strongest elements of both state-level and federal capabilities, while ensuring data collection integrity, transparency, responsiveness, and sustainability for the long term.

I’ll outline my proposal for this new institution on Friday. In the meantime, if you have ideas and suggestions of your own, please let me know in comments below or by email. Paul(at)edchoice.org