Findings from “The Condition
of Education, 2009”
Enrollment in America's elementary and
secondary schools continues to rise to all-time highs, and younger learners
continue to show gains in educational achievement over time. The overall
achievement levels of secondary school students have not risen over time,
but there are some increases in the percentages of students entering college
after high school and earning a postsecondary credential, according to "The
Condition of Education 2009" report released today by the National
Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
"The Condition of Education" is
a congressionally mandated report that provides an annual portrait of education
in the United States. The 46 indicators included in this year's report
cover all aspects of education, from early childhood through postsecondary
education and from student achievement to school environment and resources.
Among the report's other findings:
- Public elementary and secondary
enrollment is projected to increase to 54 million in 2018. Over the
period of 2006 to 2018, the South is projected to experience the largest
increase (18 percent) in the number of students enrolled.
- Between 1972 and 2007, the percentage
of public school students who were White decreased from 78 to 56 percent.
This decrease largely reflects the growth in the number of students who
were Hispanic, particularly in the West.
- The average reading and mathematics scores
on the long-term trend National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
were higher in 2008 than in the early 1970s for 9- and 13-year-olds; scores
for 17-year-olds were not measurably different over the same period.
- In 2005-06, about three-quarters of the
2002-03 freshman class graduated from high school with a regular diploma.
- The rate of college enrollment immediately
after high school completion increased from 49 percent in 1972 to 67 percent
by 1997, but has since fluctuated between 62 and 69 percent.
- About 58 percent of first-time students
seeking a bachelor's degree or its equivalent and attending a 4-year
institution full time in 2000-01 completed a bachelor's degree or
its equivalent at that institution within 6 years.
- The percentage of 25- to
29-year-olds completing a bachelor's degree or higher increased from
17 to 29 percent between 1971 and 2000 and was 31 percent in 2008.
- Women accounted for 57 percent of the
bachelor's degrees and 62 percent of all associate’s degrees awarded
in the 2006-07 academic year.
NCES is the statistical center of the
Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education.
The full text of "The Condition of Education 2009" (in HTML
format), along with related data tables and indicators from previous
years, can be viewed at: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/.
Late High School
Dropouts: Characteristics, Experiences, and Changes Across Cohorts
This report presents information about
selected characteristics and experiences of high school sophomores in
2002 who subsequently dropped out of school. It also presents comparative
data about late high school dropouts in the years 1982, 1992, and 2004.
The findings address only dropping out in late high school and do not
cover students who dropped out before the spring of 10th grade. For
this reason, the reported rates are lower than those based on the students’
entire high school or earlier school career. Key findings include the
following:
- Forty-eight percent of all
late high school dropouts come from families in the lowest quarter (bottom
25 percent) of the socioeconomic status distribution, and 77 percent
of late high school dropouts come from the lowest half of the socioeconomic
status distribution.
- Most late high school dropouts
(83 percent) listed a school-related (versus a family- or employment-related)
reason for leaving. These reasons included missing too many school days,
thinking it would be easier to get a GED, getting poor grades, and not
liking school.
- The overall late high school
dropout rate was lower in 2004 than in 1982 (7 percent versus 11 percent,
respectively) and lower in 1992 than in 1982 (6 percent versus 11 percent),
but it showed no statistically significant difference in 2004 compared
with 1992.
To download, view and print the report
in PDF format, please visit:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2009307
Characteristics
of the 100 Largest Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts
in the United States: 2006-07
This annual report provides basic information
from the Common Core of Data about the nation's largest public school
districts in the 2006-07 school year. The data include such characteristics
as the number of students and teachers, number of high school completers
and the averaged freshman graduation rate, and revenues and expenditures.
Findings include: In 2006-07, these 100 largest districts enrolled 23
percent of all public school students, and employed 22 percent of all
public school teachers. The districts produced 17 percent of all high
school completers (both diploma and other completion credential recipients)
in 2005-06. Across the districts, the average freshman graduation rate
was 75.6 percent. Three states – California, Florida, and Texas –
accounted for almost half of the 100 largest public school districts.
Current per-pupil expenditures in fiscal year 2003 ranged from a low
of $5,719 in the Puerto Rico School District to a high of $19,749 in
Boston, Massachusetts.
To download, view and print the report
in PDF format, please visit:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2009342
Web Tables: Undergraduate
Financial Aid Estimates by Type of Institution in 2007-08
Data presented in these tables are
from the 2007–08 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:
08). NPSAS is the most comprehensive, nationally representative source
of data on student financial aid. Estimates include average tuition
and fees, average total price of attendance, and the percentages of
undergraduates receiving various types and combinations of financial
aid and average amounts received, with a particular focus on grants
and loans. These tables focus only on undergraduates, and separate tables
are included for those who attended public 4-year, private-not-for-profit
4-year, public 2-year, or private for-profit postsecondary institutions
during the 2007–08 academic year.
To download, view and print the report
in PDF format, please visit:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2009201