NELS {sur}

National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS) of 1988

Description

In response to pressure from federal and state agencies to monitor school effectiveness in the United States, the National Center of Education Statistics (NCES) of the U.S. Department of Education conducted a survey in the spring of 1988, the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS). The participants consisted of a nationally representative sample of approximately 25,000 eighth graders to measure achievement outcomes in four core subject areas (English, history, mathematics, and science), in addition to personal, familial, social, institutional, and cultural factors that might relate to these outcomes. Details on the design and initial analysis of this survey may be referenced in Horn, Hafner, and Owings (1992). A follow-up of these students was conducted during tenth grade in the spring of 1990; a second follow-up was conducted during the twelfth grade in the spring of 1992; and, finally, a third follow-up was conducted in the spring of 1994.

Usage

NELS

Format

A data frame with 500 rows and 48 variables:

id

case number

advmath8

indicator for whether advanced math taken in eighth grade

urban

urbanicity, a measure of the type of environment in which the student lives

region

geographic region of school

gender

student's gender

famsize

student’s family size

parmarl8

parents' marital status in eighth grade

homelang

home language background

slfcnc08

self-concept in eighth grade

slfcnc10

self-concept in tenth grade

slfcnc12

self-concept in twelfth grade

schtyp8

school type in eighth grade

tcherint

likert-scale variable classifying student agreement with the statement, “My teachers are interested in students”

late12

number of times late for school in twelfth grade

cuts12

number of times skipped/cut classes in twelfth grade

absent12

number of times student missed school in twelfth grade

approg

indicator for whether advanced placement program taken

hwkin12

time spent on homework weekly in school per week in twelfth grade

hwkout12

time spent on homework out of school per week in twelfth grade

excurr12

time spent weekly on extracurricular activities in twelfth grade, in hours

computer

indicator for whether computer owned by family in eighth grade

hsprog

type of high school program

unitengl

units in English (NAEP), or number of years of English taken in high school

unitmath

units in mathematics (NAEP), or number of years of math taken in high school

unitcalc

units in calculus (NAEP), or number of years of calculus taken in high school

schattrt

school average daily attendance rate

apoffer

number of advanced placement courses offered by school

nursery

indicator for whether nursery school attended

algebra8

indicator for whether algebra taken in eighth grade

numinst

number of post-secondary institutions attended

edexpect

highest level of education expected

expinc30

expected income at age 30, in dollars

achrdg08

reading achievement in eighth grade

achmat08

math achievement in eighth grade

achsci08

science achievement in eighth grade

achsls08

social studies achievement in eighth grade

achrdg10

reading achievement in tenth grade

achmat10

math achievement in tenth grade

achsci10

science achievement in tenth grade

achsls10

social studies achievement in tenth grade

achrdg12

reading achievement in twelfth grade

achmat12

math achievement in twelfth grade

achsci12

science achievement in twelfth grade

achsls12

social studies achievement in twelfth grade

cigarett

indicator for whether smoked cigarettes ever

alcbinge

indicator for whether ever binged on alcohol

marijuan

indicator for whether smoked marijuana ever

ses

socioeconomic status score, ranging from 0 to 35, and given as a composite of father’s education level, mother’s education level, father’s occupation, mother’s education, and family income

Details

For this dataset, we have selected a sub-sample of 500 cases and 48 variables. The cases were sampled randomly from the approximately 5,000 students who responded to all four administrations of the survey, who were always at grade level (neither repeated nor skipped a grade), and who pursued some form of post-secondary education. The particular variables were selected to explore the relationships between student and home background variables, self-concept, educational and income aspirations, academic motivation, risk-taking behavior, and academic achievement.

References

"A profile of American eighth-grade mathematics and science instruction." Horn, L., Hafner, & Owings (1992) <https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=92486>