The Institute for Education Sciences (US Department of Education) is hosting a series of webinars on research funding at the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) and the National Center for Education Research (NCER). They will cover a basic overview, grantwriting, and the application process.

Comprehensive state education data warehouses, such as Florida’s, are a gold mine for education researchers, but ensuring student privacy will be a major challenge. The Chronicle of Higher Education explores the issues.

The PRI Library has received announcement of a NCES and ECLS datasets training seminar at the 2008 PAA annual meeting in New Orleans.

The Statistics Department within the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs has just launched a new internet-based data service for the global user community. The service brings UN statistical databases within easy reach of users through a single entry point. Users can search and down load a variety of statistical resources of the UN system. Click here for more information and access to the service.

Widening gaps in educational attainment threaten economic mobility for the poor, according to a report from the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Economic Mobility Project (Chronicle of Higher Education News Blog).

See also: New York Times article,  Getting Ahead or Losing Ground: Economic Mobility in America (Economic Mobility Project report)

Growing up poor alters brain development, and new research presented at the annual meeting of American Association for the Advancement of Science could help ameliorate the effects of poverty on academic achievement, according to a report in the Chronicle of Higher Education. (Note: The Chronicle article is available online to subscribers. PRI affiliates can read the Chronicle in the PRI Library or request online access from library@pop.psu.edu.)

Citation: Farah, M.J., Betancourt, L., Shera, D.M., et al. (in press). Environmental Stimulation, Parental Nurturance and Cognitive Development in Humans. Developmental Science. (available online)

More high school students are taking and scoring well on Advanced Placement tests, but underserved groups are not gaining at the same rate, according to the 4th Annual AP Report to the Nation from the College Board.

See also: Chronicle of Higher Education article (Note: The Chronicle article is available online to subscribers. PRI affiliates can read the Chronicle in the PRI Library or request online access from library@pop.psu.edu.)

The PRI Library has received announcement for a NCES Data Training Seminar in Washington, DC.

New from the National Center for Education Statistics:

Deciding on Postsecondary Education examines the information potential students use in making decisions about postsecondary education, with emphasis on underserved populations.

2004/06 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:04/06) Methodology Report “describes and evaluates the methods and procedures used in the 2004/06 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study.”

The National Center for Education Statistics has released a new report titled “Projections of Education Statistics to 2016″. This publication provides projections for key education statistics. It includes statistics on enrollment, graduates, teachers, and expenditures in elementary and secondary schools, and enrollment, earned degrees conferred, and current-fund expenditures of degree-granting institutions.

To view and print the report as a PDF file, please click here.