Number & types of public school agencies

Two more sets of data from the 2010-11 Common Core... (NCES)

Numbers and Types of Public Elementary and Secondary Local Education Agencies From the Common Core of Data: School Year 2010-11, presents findings on the numbers and types of public elementary and secondary local education agencies in the United States and the territories in the 2010-11 school year. Findings include:

• There were 17,911 operating local education agencies in the 2010-11 school year, and among those agencies, 13,592 were regular school districts.

• Twenty-six of the 13,592 active regular school districts enrolled 100,000 or more students.

• Approximately 953,000 students were enrolled in the 2,359 independent charter agencies, districts in which all schools were charter schools."

To view the full First Look report please visit
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2012326

Numbers and Types of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools From the Common Core of Data: School Year 2010–11, presents findings on the numbers and types of public elementary and secondary schools in the United States and the territories in the 2010-11 school year. Findings include:

• There were 98,817 operating public elementary/secondary schools in the 2010-11 school year. Of those schools, 88,929 were regular schools.

• By 2010-2011, charter schools had been established in 40 states and the District of Columbia. Charter schools enrolled about 1.8 million students.

• Across all regular public schools that had membership, the overall pupil/teacher ratio in 2010–11 was 15.7.

The Common Core of Data and this report are products of the National Center for Education Statistics at the Institute of Education Sciences.

To view the full First Look report please visit
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2012325


 

New data on school enrollment & staff counts

Public Elementary and Secondary School Student Enrollment and Staff Counts from the Common Core of Data: School Year 2010–11, presents findings on the numbers and types of public elementary and secondary state-level data in the United States and the territories in the 2010-11 school year. Findings include:

• Public elementary and secondary schools enrolled 49.5 million students.

• Public elementary and secondary schools and local education agencies employed a total of 6.2 million full-time-equivalent (FTE) staff.

• The student/teacher ratio (i.e., the number of students for every teacher FTE) in public schools is 16.0.

The Common Core of Data and this report are products of the National Center for Education Statistics at the Institute of Education Sciences.

To view the full First Look report please visit
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2012327

NCES post-secondary education data available

To improve postsecondary education data users’ access to data, NCES has released the College and Career Tables Library as part of DataLab – NCES’s postsecondary education data tool suite, which includes PowerStats and QuickStats.

The Tables Library lets you
• Browse 5,000+ tables from NCES’s postsecondary publications
• Search for tables by keywords; narrow search results by data source and publication year; and browse for tables by topic using explore topics

The tables also include link back to the original publications and you can download the files used to create the tables within PowerStats (for those based on datasets that are within PowerStats).

To access the Tables Library, please visit http://nces.ed.gov/datalab.

Dropout prevention programs in public schools: 2010-11

A joint report from NCES and IES provides "national data about how public school districts identify students at risk of dropping out, programs used specifically to address the needs of students at risk of dropping out of school, the use of mentors for at-risk students, and efforts to encourage dropouts to return to school."
"The estimates presented in this report are based on a district survey about dropout prevention services and programs offered by the district or by any of the schools in the district during the 2010–11 school year."
The full report is linked here: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2011037

2011 Condition of Education (NCES) now available as e-book

Download your own copy of this benchmark annual study which "presents 50 indicators on the status and condition of education... in five main areas: (1) participation in education; (2) learner outcomes; (3) student effort and educational progress; (4) the contexts of elementary and secondary education; and (5) the contexts of postsecondary education."
Free download available for all e-readers.  http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2011033

Projections of Education Statistics to 2019

New report out from NCES that covers "statistics on enrollment, graduates, teachers, and expenditures in elementary and secondary schools, and enrollment and earned degrees conferred expenditures of degree-granting institutions. For the Nation, the tables, figures, and text contain data on enrollment, teachers, graduates, and expenditures for the past 14 years and projections to the year 2019. For the 50 States and the District of Columbia, the tables, figures, and text contain data on projections of public elementary and secondary enrollment and public high school graduates to the year 2019."
I will also put a link to this source in the Education subject guide on the "Statistics and Demographics" page. http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2011017

PISA 2009 results from NCES

photo © 2005 Tahbepet | more info (via: Wylio)
(with small apology for the visual joke ;-) Whether or not you think such international comparisons are valid, they are part of the education conversation, so keep up to date with the newest release.

"PISA, or the Program for International Student Assessment, is designed to assess what students have learned – both inside and outside of school – as they near the end of compulsory schooling, and how well they apply that knowledge in real-world contexts. Some 69 percent of the U.S. students sampled for PISA are tenth-graders. PISA is coordinated by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organization made up of 34 mostly industrialized member countries such as the United States, Japan, Germany, Korea, and the United Kingdom. Some non-OECD member countries, such as Brazil, as well as non-national education systems like Shanghai and Dubai, also participated in the administration of PISA 2009.

NCES’s PISA 2009 report provides international comparisons of average performance in reading literacy and three reading literacy subscales and in mathematics literacy and science literacy; average scores by gender for the United States and other countries, and by student race/ethnicity and school socioeconomic contexts within the United States; the percentages of students reaching PISA proficiency levels, for the United States and the OECD countries on average; and trends in U.S. performance over time."

Links to summary findings, full report and supplemental tables are at:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2011004

Longitudinal data on HS graduation & dropout rates

Nevada still tops the list--of lowest graduation rates (51.3%). Wisconsin must be doing something right since they graduate 89.6% of their students. Data from NCES covers the period 1978-2008 and is also broken down by race/ethnicity, sex and age. Overall, "approximately 3 million 16- through 24-year-olds were not enrolled in high school and had not earned a high school diploma or alternative credential as of October 2008, [representing] 8 percent of the 38 million non-institutionalized, civilian individuals in this age group living in the United States..." Highest dropout rates continue to be among Hispanic Americans while Asian Americans and students of more than one race have the lowest rates. Full report is here:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2011012

Newest data on college retention and graduation

photo © 2008 Jackie Bucci | more info (via: Wylio)
Nice summary from Inside Higher Ed today (Dec. 2, 2010) on the graduation rates of the 2003-04 cohort of students entering college. 49% had earned a certificate or degree from a post-secondary institution within 6 years and these rates have not improved since the last cohort (1994-95) was surveyed. The article provides a table comparing data from the two cohorts. This survey looks at retention and graduation from the student rather than the institutional perspective so is able to offer information on the relative completion rates of students who do and don't transfer, as well as comparisons between those who start at community colleges vs. 4-year institutions. Data on different ethnic groups is also provided. A link to the full report from NCES/IES is here: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2011151

Updated public school data (2008-2009)

NCES has released the 2008-09 school year data from the State Nonfiscal Survey of Public Elementary/Secondary Education Survey of the Common Core of Data (CCD) survey system. The accompanying First Look presents national and state level data on student enrollment by grade and by race/ethnicity within grade, the numbers of teachers and other education staff, and several student/staff ratios for the school year.


To view the full First Look report please visit:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2010347

PowerStats: New analysis tool from NCES for Post-Secondary Education Data

"PowerStats, a data analysis tool, provides access to nine NCES postsecondary education datasets and the thousands of variables they contain. PowerStats includes the two most recent National Postsecondary Student Aid Studies (NPSAS), the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS), the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B), and the National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF).

Users create tables and regressions with a visually intuitive drag and drop interface, receiving their results in a range of formats, including Excel and PDF. As the replacement to the NCES Data Analysis System (DAS), PowerStats provides helpful new features for users, including an improved capacity to search for variables, and saving recoded variables for future use. In addition, PowerStats allows users to build an online library of their work and to share their work with other PowerStats users."
Access PowerStats at http://nces.ed.gov/datalab

2007-2008 Data on HS Graduation Rates

This newest data from NCES shows Nevada with the lowest high school graduation rate in the nation: 51%. Tthe only other jurisdiction with a graduation rate in the 50's is Washington, D.C. at 56%.

"Nationwide, 75 percent of public high school students who started as freshmen in the fall of 2004 graduated high school in 2008—up from 74 percent who graduated on time in the spring of 2007.

This First Look presents findings associated with public high school graduation and event dropout counts for the 2007–08 school year. These data were collected as part of the Common Core of Data (CCD), a universe survey of public schools operating in the United States and associated other jurisdictions by the National Center for Education Statistics."
To view the full report please visit
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2010341

2010 Condition of Education available

"The National Center for Education Statistics today released The Condition of Education, a Congressionally mandated report to the nation on education in America today. It covers all aspects of education, with 49 indicators that include findings on enrollment trends, demographics, and outcomes.

The report projects that public school enrollment will rise from 49 million in 2008 to 52 million by 2019, with the largest increase expected in the South. Over the past decade, more students attended both charter schools and high-poverty schools (those in which more than 75 percent of the students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch). One in six U.S. students attends a high-poverty school; and the number of charter school students has tripled since 1999."

The report is also linked under the Statistics and Demographics tab on the Education subject guide.

New report on post-secondary education

New NCES report focuses on the cost of getting a college degree. Tables include profiles of post-secondary institutions which include data on tuition, degrees awarded, demographics of students. Link to full report is here: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2009165

Longitudinal data on late high school dropouts from NCES

It appears we are disproportionately failing to graduate those students already most disadvantaged. From the report summary...

"....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 only address 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 view, download and print the report as a PDF file, please visit:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2009307

NCES issues new report on adult literacy

"Basic Reading Skills and the Literacy of the America's Least Literate Adults: Results from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) Supplemental Studies."

The 2003 NAAL assessed the English literacy skills of a nationally representative sample of 18,500 U.S. adults (age 16 and older) residing in private households. NAAL is the first national assessment of adult literacy since the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS). The NAAL project comprised four assessment components: the core literacy tasks, the main literacy assessment, the Fluency Addition to NAAL (FAN), and the Adult Literacy Supplemental Assessment (ALSA). Results from the main literacy assessment are reported as averages and as the percentage of adults in each of four literacy levels: Below Basic, Basic, Intermediate, and Proficient. This report focuses on results from the FAN and the ALSA.

The Adult Literacy Supplemental Assessment (ALSA) was administered to adults unable to successfully answer the core literacy tasks. Instead of completing the main literacy assessment, these adults completed the ALSA, which gathered information about their letter-reading, word-reading, word-identification, and basic comprehension skills.

The Fluency Addition to NAAL (FAN) measures the basic reading skills of America's adults. The FAN was administered to all adults who participated in the NAAL project following the completion of the main literacy assessment or the supplemental assessment.

Key Findings:

* Seven million adults, or about 3% of the adult population, could not complete even the most basic literacy tasks in the main assessment and were given the supplemental assessment.

* Nearly 1 in 5 adults in the nonliterate in English group had a high school diploma or GED. Among them, more than half (representing roughly 600,000 adults) had earned their high school degree in the US.

* For those for whom Spanish is a first language, a delay in learning English is associated with low basic reading skills. Those who learned English before age 11 had basic reading scores similar to average native English speakers (97 words read correctly per minute); however, for those who learned English after age 21, average scores were 35 points (or about one-third) lower. Due to the correlational nature of these data, it is impossible to make causal attributions, i.e., to say that a delay in learning English causes low basic reading skills.

* Adults who took the main literary assessment were able to read, on average, 98 words correctly per minute (wpm), in comparison to 34 wpm by those in the supplemental assessment.

To view, download and print the report as a PDF file, please visit:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2009481

New data on post-secondary students

The National Center for Education Statistics has released the first round of results from the 2008 National Student Postsecondary Aid Study (NPSAS:08). This nationally representative study provides the most up-to-date and comprehensive look at postsecondary student characteristics and student financial aid for the 2007-08 academic year.

NPSAS:08 data are a rich source of information on student demographics, family background, education and work experiences, and student financial aid, including federal, state, institutional, and other sources. The NPSAS:08 study contains a sample of 128,000 students which represent 21 million undergraduates and 3 million graduate students enrolled in postsecondary education anytime between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2008.

Selected NPSAS:08 Findings.

* Nearly two-thirds (66 percent) of all undergraduates received some type of financial aid. For those receiving any aid, the total average amount was $9,100.

* About one-half (52 percent) of all undergraduates received grant aid, and more than one-third (38 percent) obtained student loans. The average grant amount was $4,900, and the average loan amount was $7,100.

* Nearly one-half (47 percent) of all undergraduates received some type of federal student aid. About one-fourth (28 percent) received an average of $2,800 in federal Pell grants, and about one-third (35 percent) obtained an average of $5,100 in federal student loans.

* Among undergraduates financially dependent on their parents, 28 percent came from families with incomes under $40,000 and another 28 percent from families with incomes of $100,000 or more.

* Three-fourths (74 percent) of all graduate students received some type of financial aid, with an average amount of $17,600. Forty-three percent took out an average of $18,500 in student loans, and about one-fifth (22 percent) received tuition aid from their employers.

To view, download and print the report as a PDF file, please visit:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2009166

To Use the Data Analysis System (DAS) online, please visit:
http://nces.ed.gov/dasol/

New NCES/IES Report: Comparative Indicators of Education in the United States and Other G-8 Countries: 2009

This report describes how the education system in the United States compares with education systems in the other G-8 countries--Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom. Twenty-seven indicators are organized in five sections: (1) population and school enrollment; (2) academic performance (including subsections for reading, mathematics, and science); (3) context for learning; (4) expenditure for education; and (5) education returns: educational attainment and income. This report draws on the most current information about education from four primary sources: the Indicators of National Education Systems (INES) at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS).
Download the report from: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2009039

U.S. Students improve in math but not science on the TIMMS

This report from the National Center for Education Statistics within the Institute of Education Sciences summarizes the performance of U.S. fourth- and eighth-grade students on the 2007 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), comparing their scores with their peers internationally as well as documenting changes in mathematics and science achievement since 1995. The report also describes additional details about trends in the achievement of students within the United States, by sex, racial/ethnic background, and the poverty level of the schools they attend....
TIMSS has been administered four times: in 1995, 1999, 2003, and 2007. The United States participated in all four administrations. In 2007, 36 countries participated at grade four, while 48 participated at grade eight.

Mathematics

Results show that the 2007 average mathematics scores of both U.S. fourth- and eighth-grade students were higher than the TIMSS scale average. At grade four, the average U.S. mathematics score was higher than those in 23 of the 35 other countries, lower than those in 8 countries (all 8 were in Asia or Europe), and not measurably different from those in 4 countries. At grade eight, the average U.S. mathematics score was higher than those in 37 of the 47 other countries, lower than those in 5 countries (all located in Asia), and not measurably different from those in 5 countries.

Comparing average scores from the first administration of TIMSS in 1995 to the most recent results from 2007 showed that both U.S. fourth- and eighth-graders improved in mathematics.

Science

In science, the average scores of both U.S. fourth- and eighth-graders were higher than the TIMSS scale average. At grade four, the average U.S. science score was higher than those in 25 of the 35 other countries, lower than those in 4 countries (all of them in Asia), and not measurably different from those in 6 countries. At eighth grade, the average U.S. science score was higher than the average scores in 35 of the 47 other countries, lower than those in 9 countries (all located in Asia or Europe), and not measurably different from those in 3 countries.

Unlike in mathematics, the average science scores for both U.S. fourth- and eighth-grade students were not measurably different in 2007 compared to the first TIMSS results collected in 1995.

Training Institute on Cluster-Randomized Trials

The National Center for Education Research within the Institute of Education Sciences announces its third Summer Research Training Institute on Cluster-Randomized Trials. This Training Institute is held to increase the national capacity of researchers to develop and conduct rigorous evaluations of the impact of education interventions. When: June 21 - July 3, 2009Where: Vanderbilt University; Nashville, TN.
All applications must be received no later than Friday, March 20, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. EST.
For more information about the Training Institute, including the application procedures, please visit:
http://ies.ed.gov/whatsnew/conferences/?id=394&cid=5
If you need assistance, please contact Dr. Christina Chhin, at (202) 219-2280 or christina.chhin@ed.gov