U.S. Federal and State Policy Research
Sources for tracking current developments in politics, policy, bills, laws or court cases for the U.S.federal government and states
Primary Sources of Education Policy
Resources on US Education Policy
-
ERIC: Education Resources Information CenterDatabase of more than 1.1 million education-related citations going back to 1966. This database also includes more than 107,000 full-text non-journal documents (issued 1993-2004). Open to all users.The full text documents for ERIC have been temporarily disabled due to a privacy concern. (08/21/2012)
-
Education Abstracts (with Full Text)Education Abstracts covers every age and sector of the educational community from preschool through college. This is a bibliographic database that includes many publications covering education policy. U-M users only.
-
Nexis UniFind state's bills and laws back to the early 1990s. U-M users only.
-
National Conference of State LegislaturesNCSL provides research, technical assistance and opportunities for policymakers to exchange ideas on the most pressing state issues.
-
National Survey of State Laws2019 edition available online from HeinOnline
Find an Association
One way to figure out what policymakers are doing in an area is to find their professional associations. Think about what level or branch of government and then search for a national association devoted to that group. Once you find the association see if you can find a resource or issues page
Another way to find association information is to use domain searching. In google, search for your keyword and then include site:[domain url]. The example below is searching for covid-19 information from the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)

Here are other examples of associations
Education Statistics
-
Sage DataCreate tables, charts and maps with wide range of variables using data from governments and private organizations. Subjects include health, crime, population, finance, industry, and marketing.
-
National Center for Education StatisticsProvides national education statistical data. Includes information on elementary and secondary school education, college and advanced degree programs.
-
National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP)Nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas. Assessments are conducted periodically in mathematics, reading, science, writing, the arts, civics, economics, geography, and U.S. history.
-
Condition of EducationAn integrated collection of the indicators and analyses published in The Condition of Education 2000–2009. Some indicators may have been updated since they appeared in print.
Sources for Comparing Education Across Countries
-
OECD Student Performance (PISA)Books, articles and data on education policy, student achievement and teachers including the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data
Last Updated: Oct 27, 2025 2:08 PM
Subjects: Government, Politics & Law