Abacus Education Research

 

Most of our research, including our education research, tends to be proprietary. However, the following examples have been published and are publically available:

 

K-12 Research:

 

  • Findings from the National Education Association's Study of Bullying: Teachers' and Education Support Professionals' Perspectives: A report on a multi-modal survey of staff members’ perceptions of bullying that represents an important step in enhancing our understanding of the perspectives of teachers and education support professionals. It is the first large-scale nationwide study examining different staff members’ perspectives on bullying and bullying prevention efforts. Abacus devised the complex multi-modal research design (web & phone survey), helped in the development of the survey instrument, and collected, weighted, and analyzed the data.
  • Learning & Growing: A 2011 Report on Student Achievement: A report mostly put together by us that reviews a wide variety of state and national measures of Connecticut student performance.
  • Finality, Fairness, Stability: The Binding Arbitration Story: A report based on statistical analysis of teacher salary data and town budgets that we conducted for the Connecticut Education Association. Our work helped to convince the Connecticut State Legislature that binding arbitration is a fair process that favors neither teachers nor the school district. After hearing testimony based on this data, the legislature abandoned attempts to weaken Connecticut's binding arbitration law.
  • Taking Back the Turnover Tide: A article based on a survey conducted and report written by Abacus Associates for the New Jersey Education Association. We surveyed New Jersey public school teachers who had recently left the profession for reasons other than retirement. The goal of the survey was to identify the reasons teachers leave the profession and what could be done to convince them to continue to teach in public schools.

 

Higher Education Research

 

  • 2007 Higher Education Issue Survey: A report, prepared by Abacus Associates, that presents the results of our in-depth interviews with state legislators who are responsible for higher education policy in each of the 50 states and identifies how proponents of higher education can most effectively work to influence public policy in this area.
  • 2004 Higher Education Member Survey: An article, prepared by Abacus Associates, based a member survey we conducted for NEA. The purpose of this survey is to understand the experience and attitudes of NEA higher education members, and to inform the broader higher education community about how higher education employees experience and perceive their jobs and how they might want to change them.
  • 2003 Higher Education Issue Survey: A report, prepared by Abacus Associates, that presents the results of our in-depth interviews with state legislators who are responsible for higher education policy in each of the 50 states and identifies how proponents of higher education can most effectively work to influence public policy in this area.
  • Focus on Distance Education: An article, prepared by Abacus Associates, based on focus groups we conducted with faculty members from around the country. Through this research, we gain a deeper understanding of the complexity of experiences with and opinions of distance education among faculty who have taught distant education courses.
  • NEA Survey of Higher Education Members and Leaders: An article, prepared by Abacus Associates, based on a national survey we conducted of NEA higher education members and leaders. The study examines opinions toward governance issues, factors that affect the quality of education, and opinions about NEA's “new unionism.”
  • Part-Time Faculty: Quality Issues: An article, prepared by Abacus Associates, based on a survey of part-time higher education faculty in four states: California, Michigan, Minnesota, and Washington.
  • Faculty and Staff Look at Their Roles in Governance: An article, prepared by Abacus Associates, based on a survey we conducted of NEA higher education members. The purpose of this research is to measure the relevance of NEA's "new unionism" to higher education and to examine the participation of college and university employees in institutional governance issues.
  • Design Engineers Evaluate Their Education: This article from the AIAA Bulletin describes the key findings from an Abacus study of design engineers' evaluations of their undergraduate training. The purpose of the study was to identify strengths and weaknesses in the undergraduate curriculum in design engineering, as well as to evaluate the importance of internships and extracurricular activities in the training of design engineers.