What's New - September 2002

Site of the Month: State New Economy Index

September's Site of the Month is the 2002 State New Economy Index developed by the Progressive Policy Institute.  Now in its second edition, the State New Economy Index offers a detailed comparison of state economic structure and performance based on 21 key economic indicators.  Data are grouped into five broad categories:  knowledge jobs, globalization, economic dynamism, the digital economy and innovation capacity.  You can easily view where a state stands in comparison to competitors for any indicator or look at a profile for each state the summarizes its rankings on all of the indicators.  This site is clearly laid out, and its methodology is well explained--well worth a visit if you're interested in comparing state performance of technology and knowledge based development indicators.  See it all at:
http://www.neweconomyindex.org/states/

New Links Added

Back to school time around the country, and here at EconData.Net, too.  Here are some new links with data on educational institutions, programs and performance.

National Center for Education Statistics
Global Education Locator
Query-retrieved information on individual postsecondary institutions, public schools and districts, public libraries, and private schools in the United States.
http://nces.ed.gov/globallocator/

National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data (CCD)
Comprehensive, annual, national statistical database of information concerning all public elementary and secondary schools and school districts. Contains information on schools and school districts; data on students and staff; and fiscal data.
http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/

Office of Vocational and Adult Education, Department of Education
Adult Education
Data on enrollment, grants, and personnel regarding state-administered adult education programs.
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OVAE/datahome.html

State Science & Technology Institute
Science & Engineering Education and R&D.
Science and engineering graduate students and R&D per student, 2000
http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/060702t.htm

The Education Trust
Education Watch Online
For states, data, charts, and comparisons on educational achievement, curricula, teacher qualifications, and expenditures. Data disaggregated by race and income level. Data available through query-based access and .pdf reports.
http://204.176.179.36/dc/edtrust/edstart.cfm

Civil Rights Project, Harvard University
School Segregation Patterns
Report outlining patterns of segregation of African-American and Latino students in public schools, 1989-99, by state. Released July 2001.
http://www.law.harvard.edu/civilrights/publications/pressseg.html

Long Form Data from Census 2000

Over the next five weeks, the Census Bureau is releasing demographic profiles for states and their sub areas based on the questions asked on the Census 2000 long form, on income, education, employment, fertility, marital status, language spoken, housing costs, commuting, housing structure, number of rooms, and other topics. The geographic areas included are counties, places, minor civil divisions, metro areas, congressional districts, American Indian and Alaska Native areas, and Hawaiian Home Lands. The profiles are available as zipped PDF files on the Internet (http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/demoprofiles.html)  and as "print-on-demand" reports from the Customer Services Center (301-763-4636). States available now: Mississippi, Nevada, and Washington (http://www.census.gov/mp/www/pub/2000cen/mscen05.html). These profiles have been released in advance of the more detailed Census 2000 Summary File 3 files, available on the Internet and on CD-ROM starting in June. Census Bureau Publication Lists Facts About Nation's Counties and Cities (Released May 9, 2002). <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/cb02-62.html>

And Summary File 3

Starting in August, the Census Bureau began releasing Summary File 3--detailed data from the long form, down to the census tract level--for selected states.  Summary File 3 presents data for the United States, the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico in a hierarchical sequence down to the block group for many tabulations, but only to the census tract levels for others.  The results are compiled in a bonanza of 813 detailed tables of Census 2000 social, economic and housing characteristics.  The best place to start is at the press release page:
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/sumfile3.html

Zip Code Lookup:  A Handy Resource

One of our pet peeves is trying to determine the geographic location of some company or person in relation to the geography of our data sources--cities, counties and metropolitan areas.  Sure, you know which towns and which suburbs are in which parts of your state, but how many of you know which metropolitan area or county to find relevant data for Keizer, Oregon or Vermillion South Dakota or Piscataway New Jersey?  We heartily recommend that you bookmark zipinfo.com's handy zip code lookup page, that lets you look up the county name and metro area (if any), their FIPS codes, and even latitude and longitude for any city or zip code in the US.  You'll find this free resource at:  http://www.zipinfo.com/search/zipcode.htm

EconData.Net Web-Movies

Ever wonder about the folks behind the scenes here at EconData.Net?  While we're generally unassuming and elusive, we're occasionally lured out from behind our computers to help data users tackle real world problems.  Recently, EconData.Net co-editor Joe Cortright offered an introductory talk on finding economic data on the web.  You'll find a very brief introduction to his talk captured in web-movie form at the following link:  Be warned that this is streaming real-video and having a fast connection to the web will be very helpful.
http://stream.realimpact.net/rihurl.ram?file=realimpact/afl-cio/2001_conference_smil/wains_0424_int02.smi