---
kind: "section"
citation: "20 U.S.C. § 9543"
title: "20"
title_heading: "Education"
number: "9543"
heading: "Duties"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/20/9543"
units:
  - "Chapter 76 — Education Research, Statistics, Evaluation, Information, and Dissemination"
  - "Subchapter I — Education Sciences Reform"
  - "Part C — National Center for Education Statistics"
---

# §9543. Duties

- (a) **General duties—** The Statistics Center shall collect, report, analyze, and disseminate statistical data related to education in the United States and in other nations, including—
  - (1) collecting, acquiring, compiling (where appropriate, on a [State](/usc/20/9501.md?p=22)-by-[State](/usc/20/9501.md?p=22) basis), and disseminating full and complete statistics (disaggregated by the population characteristics described in [paragraph (3)](#a-3)) on the condition and progress of education, at the preschool, elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and adult levels in the United States, including data on—
    - (A) [State](/usc/20/9501.md?p=22) and local education reform activities;
    - (B) [State](/usc/20/9501.md?p=22) and local early childhood school readiness activities;
    - (C) student achievement in, at a minimum, the core academic areas of reading, mathematics, and science at all levels of education;
    - (D) [secondary school](/usc/20/9501.md?p=1-A) completions, dropouts, and adult literacy and reading skills;
    - (E) access to, and opportunity for, postsecondary education, including data on financial aid to postsecondary students;
    - (F) teaching, including—
      - (i) data on in-service professional [development](/usc/20/9501.md?p=8), including a comparison of courses taken in the core academic areas of reading, mathematics, and science with courses in noncore academic areas, including technology courses; and
      - (ii) the percentage of teachers who meet the applicable [State](/usc/20/9501.md?p=22) certification and licensure requirements, including any requirements for certification obtained through alternative routes to certification, or, with regard to special education teachers, the qualifications described in [section 1412(a)(14)(C) of this title](/usc/20/1412.md?p=a-14-C).[^1] in each [State](/usc/20/9501.md?p=22) and, where feasible, in each [local educational agency](/usc/20/9501.md?p=1-A) and school;
    - (G) instruction, the conditions of the education workplace, and the supply of, and demand for, teachers;
    - (H) the incidence, frequency, seriousness, and nature of violence affecting students, school personnel, and other individuals participating in school activities, as well as other indices of school safety, including information regarding—
      - (i) the relationship between victims and perpetrators;
      - (ii) demographic characteristics of the victims and perpetrators; and
      - (iii) the type of weapons used in incidents, as classified in the Uniform Crime Reports of the Federal [Bureau](/usc/20/9501.md?p=5) of Investigation;
    - (I) the financing and management of education, including data on revenues and expenditures;
    - (J) the social and economic status of children, including their academic achievement;
    - (K) the existence and use of educational technology and access to the Internet by students and teachers in [elementary schools](/usc/20/9501.md?p=1-A) and [secondary schools](/usc/20/9501.md?p=1-A);
    - (L) access to, and opportunity for, early childhood education;
    - (M) the availability of, and access to, before-school and after-school programs (including such programs during school recesses);
    - (N) student participation in and completion of secondary and postsecondary vocational and technical education programs by specific program area; and
    - (O) the existence and use of school libraries;
  - (2) conducting and publishing reports on the meaning and significance of the statistics described in [paragraph (1)](#a-1);
  - (3) collecting, analyzing, cross-tabulating, and reporting, to the extent feasible, information by gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, limited English proficiency, mobility, disability, urban, rural, suburban districts, and other population characteristics, when such disaggregated information will facilitate educational and policy decisionmaking;
  - (4) assisting public and private educational agencies, organizations, and institutions in improving and automating statistical and data collection activities, which may include assisting [State educational agencies](/usc/20/9501.md?p=1-A) and [local educational agencies](/usc/20/9501.md?p=1-A) with the disaggregation of data and with the [development](/usc/20/9501.md?p=8) of longitudinal student data systems;
  - (5) determining voluntary standards and guidelines to assist [State educational agencies](/usc/20/9501.md?p=1-A) in developing statewide longitudinal data systems that link individual student data consistent with the requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 ([20 U.S.C. 6301](/usc/20/6301.md) et seq.), promote linkages across [States](/usc/20/9501.md?p=22), and protect student privacy consistent with [section 9573 of this title](/usc/20/9573.md), to improve student academic achievement and close achievement gaps;
  - (6) acquiring and disseminating data on educational activities and student achievement (such as the Third International Math and Science Study) in the United States compared with foreign nations;
  - (7) conducting longitudinal and special data collections necessary to report on the condition and progress of education;
  - (8) assisting the [Director](/usc/20/9501.md?p=9) in the preparation of a biennial report, as described in [section 9519 of this title](/usc/20/9519.md); and
  - (9) determining, in consultation with the National Research Council of the National Academies, methodology by which [States](/usc/20/9501.md?p=22) may accurately measure graduation rates (defined as the percentage of students who graduate from [secondary school](/usc/20/9501.md?p=1-A) with a regular diploma in the standard number of years), school completion rates, and dropout rates.
- (b) **Training program—** The Statistics Commissioner may establish a program to train employees of public and private educational agencies, organizations, and institutions in the use of standard statistical procedures and concepts, and may establish a fellowship program to appoint such employees as temporary fellows at the Statistics Center, in order to assist the Statistics Center in carrying out its duties.

## Footnotes

[^1]: So in original. The period probably should not appear.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 107–279, title I, § 153, Nov. 5, 2002, 116 Stat. 1958; Pub. L. 114–95, title IX, § 9214(b), Dec. 10, 2015, 129 Stat. 2161.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### References in Text

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, referred to in subsec. (a)(5), is Pub. L. 89–10, Apr. 11, 1965, 79 Stat. 27, which is classified generally to chapter 70 (§ 6301 et seq.) of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 6301 of this title and Tables.

### Amendments

2015—Subsec. (a)(1)(F)(ii). Pub. L. 114–95 substituted “teachers who meet the applicable State certification and licensure requirements, including any requirements for certification obtained through alternative routes to certification, or, with regard to special education teachers, the qualifications described in section 1412(a)(14)(C) of this title.” for “teachers who are highly qualified (as such term is defined in section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801))”.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 2015 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 114–95 effective Dec. 10, 2015, except with respect to certain noncompetitive programs and competitive programs, see section 5 of Pub. L. 114–95, set out as a note under section 6301 of this title.

### Study by National Center for Education Statistics Respecting Condition of Education for Hispanic Americans

Pub. L. 98–211, § 24(b), Dec. 8, 1983, 97 Stat. 1419, provided that: “The National Center for Education Statistics shall not terminate the study of the condition of education for Hispanic Americans unless specifically required or authorized to do so by law.”