Mark Schneider, Commissioner Briefing

National Center for Education Statistics May 31, 2007

 The Condition of Education 2007

• Report by National Center for Education Statistics

• Synthesis of data on the condition of American education
• Annual report mandated by Congress since 1975, due June 1
• Publication includes 48 new and updated indicators and special
analysis section
• Over 100 indicators are available on The Condition of
Education homepage of NCES website

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 The Condition of Education 2007

• Special Analysis: High School Coursetaking

• Participation in Education
• Learner Outcomes
• Student Effort and Educational Progress
• Contexts of Elementary and Secondary Education
• Contexts of Postsecondary Education

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 Special Analysis:
High School Coursetaking
 Special Analysis:
High School Coursetaking
High School Transcripts Study
• Collected official transcripts from high school samples
• Trends from 1982 through 2004
• Common framework of course codes and collection
methodology
• Private and public schools

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 Special Analysis:
High School Coursetaking
State Standards for High School Graduation
• 37 states require public high school students to take at least 20
credits (in Carnegie units) of coursework and 8 require fewer than 20
credits; in 6 states, course graduation requirements are determined
locally.
• 37 states require 4 or more years of English, 27 require 3 or more
years of mathematics, and 23 require 3 or more years of science.
• In 2006, 22 states required students to pass high school exit
examinations for a diploma. By 2012, 3 more states are expected.

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 Special Analysis:
State coursework requirements for high school graduation in
Carnegie units: 2005

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SOURCE: The Condition of Education 2007, Special Analysis table 1.
 Special Analysis:
States with mandatory exit examinations, by subject, and
states phasing in exit examinations, by date: 2006

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SOURCE: The Condition of Education 2007, Special Analysis figure 1.
 Special Analysis:
High School Coursetaking
Course Offerings
• In 2002–03, 71 percent of public high schools offered at least one
dual-credit course, 67 percent Advanced Placement courses, and 2
percent International Baccalaureate courses.
• Offerings rise with enrollment size: 40 percent of small schools (those
with enrollment of less than 500) offered AP courses, compared with
82 percent of medium-sized schools and 97 percent of large schools.

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 Special Analysis:
Percentage of public high schools that offered dual-credit
courses, Advanced Placement (AP), and International
Baccalaureate (IB), by school enrollment: 2002–03

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SOURCE: The Condition of Education 2007, Special Analysis figure 2.
 Special Analysis:
High School Coursetaking
Course Credits
• The average number of credits earned by high school graduates
increased from 21.7 credits in 1982 to 25.8 credits in 2004.
• Comparing 1982 and 2004, graduates earned an average of 4.0
versus 4.3 credits in English, 2.7 versus 3.6 credits in mathematics,
and 2.2 versus 3.2 credits in science.

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 Special Analysis:
High School Coursetaking
Course Credits
• Increases in credits earned in English, mathematics, and science
have not coincided with a decline in other coursework. Comparing
1982 and 2004, graduates earned an average of 3.2 versus 3.9
credits in history/social studies, 1.1 versus 2.0 credits in foreign
languages, and 1.4 versus 2.1 in arts.

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 Special Analysis:
Average number of Carnegie units earned by graduates, by
selected subject areas: 1982 and 2004

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SOURCE: The Condition of Education 2007, Special Analysis figure 3.
 Special Analysis:
High School Coursetaking
Mathematics
• The percentage of high school graduates who had completed courses
in advanced mathematics (i.e., more challenging than algebra II)
increased from 26 percent in 1982 to 50 percent in 2004.
• The percentage of graduates who had completed a calculus-level
course more than doubled from 6 to 14 percent.

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 Special Analysis:
Percentage of high school graduates who completed middle
and advanced levels of mathematics courses, by highest level
of coursework completed: Selected years, 1982–2004

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SOURCE: The Condition of Education 2007, Special Analysis figure 5.
 Special Analysis:
High School Coursetaking
Mathematics
• In 2004, female graduates were more likely than male graduates to
have completed some advanced mathematics courses, but not
measurably different on calculus-level coursework.
• Asian/Pacific Islander graduates were more likely than graduates of
any other race/ethnicity to have completed advanced mathematics
courses. For example, 69 percent of Asian/Pacific Islanders
completed an advanced mathematics course, compared with 54
percent of Whites, 42 percent of Blacks, 34 percent of Hispanics, and
22 percent of American Indians.

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 Special Analysis:
Percentage of high school graduates who completed
advanced levels of mathematics courses, by gender: 2004

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SOURCE: The Condition of Education 2007, supplemental table SA-8, fig 1.
 Special Analysis:
Percentage of high school graduates who completed
advanced levels of mathematics courses, by race/ethnicity:
2004

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SOURCE: The Condition of Education 2007, supplemental table SA-8, fig 2.
 Special Analysis:
High School Coursetaking
Science
• The percentage who completed advanced science coursework (i.e.,
more challenging than general biology) increased from 35 percent in
1982 to 68 percent in 2004. Most of this increase is attributable to
increases in completion of chemistry I and/or physics I.
• Similar to mathematics, gaps in advanced coursetaking by sex and
race/ethnicity were also evident in science.

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 Special Analysis:
Percentage of high school graduates who completed middle
and advanced levels of science courses, by highest level of
coursework completed: Selected years, 1982–2004

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SOURCE: The Condition of Education 2007, Special Analysis figure 4.
 Special Analysis:
High School Coursetaking
Advanced Placement Examinations
• Between 1997 and 2005, the number of students taking AP exams
more than doubled to about 1.2 million, with the numbers of Blacks
and Hispanics growing faster than those for other racial/ethnic groups.
• The percentage of exams resulting in a qualifying score of 3 or better
decreased from 65 percent in 1997 to 59 percent in 2005.
• The percentages of Whites and Asians earning a 3 or better remained
stable between 1997 and 2005, while the percentage of Hispanics,
Blacks and American Indians scoring 3 or better declined.

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 Special Analysis:
Percentage of Advanced Placement (AP) examinations with a
score of 3 or greater, by race/ethnicity: 1997–2005

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SOURCE: The Condition of Education 2007, supplemental table SA-14.
 Special Analysis:
High School Coursetaking
Dropout Course Credit Accrual
• Students who eventually dropped out were behind their peers who
graduated on time in the total number of credits they accrued by 10th
grade.
• This accrual gap was evident in specific subject areas, including
English, mathematics, and science.

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 Special Analysis:
Dropout course credit accrual, by grade

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SOURCE: The Condition of Education 2007, Special Analysis table 2.
Participation in Education
 Participation in Education

• Public elementary and secondary enrollment is projected to increase

to 53 million in 2016.
• Racial and ethnic minorities increased their share of public school
enrollment from 22 percent in 1972 to 42 percent in 2005, primarily
due to growth in Hispanic enrollment.
• The percentage of children ages 5–17 who spoke a language other
than English at home more than doubled between 1979 and 2005 to
20 percent.

• Five percent of school-age children speak English with difficulty, a

percentage unchanged since the early 1990s.

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 School Enrollment:
Public school enrollment in prekindergarten through grade 12,
by grade level, with projections: Various years, fall 1965–2016

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SOURCE: The Condition of Education 2007, indicator 3.
 Minority Enrollment:
Percentage distribution of the race/ethnicity of public school
students in kindergarten through 12th grade: Fall 1972 and
2005

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SOURCE: The Condition of Education 2007, indicator 5.
 Language Minority:
Percentage of 5- to 17-year-olds who spoke a language other
than English at home and who spoke English with difficulty:
Selected years, 1979–2005

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SOURCE: The Condition of Education 2007, indicator 6.
 Student Effort and
Educational Progress
 Student Effort and Educational
Progress
• About three-quarters of the freshman class graduated from public
high schools on time in 2003–04.
• The rate of college enrollment immediately after high school
increased from 49 percent in 1972 to 69 percent in 2005.
• Minority students have accounted for about half of the growth in
bachelor’s degrees.

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 High School Graduation:
Averaged freshman graduation rate for public high school
students, by state: School year 2003–04

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SOURCE: The Condition of Education 2007, indicator 24.
 College Enrollment Rates:
Percentage of high school completers who were enrolled in
college the October immediately following high school
completion: 1972–2005

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SOURCE: The Condition of Education 2007, indicator 25.
 Degrees Conferred:
Number of and increase in bachelor’s degrees earned by all,
White, and minority students: 1976–77 and 2004–05

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SOURCE: The Condition of Education 2007, indicator 26.
Learner Outcomes
 Learner Outcomes

• The average reading and mathematics scores on the long-term trend

National Assessment of Educational Progress were higher in 2004
than in the early 1970s for 9- and 13-year-olds.
• Adults ages 25–34 with a bachelor’s degree or higher have higher
median earnings than their peers with less education, and these
earnings differences increased from 1980 to 2005.

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 NAEP Scores:
Average reading and mathematics scale scores on the long-
term trend National Assessment of Educational Progress
(NAEP), by age: Various years, 1971 through 2004

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SOURCE: The Condition of Education 2007, indicator 15.
 Annual Earnings:
Median annual earnings of full-time, full-year wage and salary
workers ages 25–34, by educational attainment: Selected
years, 1980–2005

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SOURCE: The Condition of Education 2007, indicator 20.
Contexts of Postsecondary Education
 Contexts of Postsecondary
Education
• In 2004–05, business degrees made up 16 percent of all associate’s
degrees, 22 percent of bachelor’s degrees, and 25 percent of
master’s degrees.
• In 2005, about half of full-time and 85 percent of part-time college
students ages 16–24 were employed.
• Among low-income dependent undergraduates, the percentage taking
out federal loans remained between 47 and 48 percent from 1992–
1993 to 2003–04, while the percentage receiving federal grants
increased from 68 to 72 percent during this same period.

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 Fields of Study:
Percentage of bachelor’s degrees awarded by degree-
granting institutions, by selected fields of study: 1990–91,
1997–98, and 2004–05

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SOURCE: The Condition of Education 2007, indicator 43.
 Employment of College Students:
Percentage of 16- to 24-year-old full-time college students
who were employed, by hours worked per week: October
1970 through October 2005

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SOURCE: The Condition of Education 2007, indicator 45.
 Federal Aid:
Percentage of full-time, full-year undergraduates who received
federal loans and grants and the average percentage of federal aid
received as loans, for low-income dependent undergraduates:
1992–93, 1999–2000, and 2003–04

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SOURCE: The Condition of Education 2007, indicator 47.
 Where to View or Obtain
The Condition of Education 2007

• The report can be viewed on the NCES website at:

http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe.
• Call ED PUBS at 877-4-EDPUBS to order a free copy of the printed
The Condition of Education 2007.
• For help with any questions about the special analysis or indicators in
The Condition of Education 2007, please contact:

Mike Bowler, IES Communications Director Mike.Bowler@ed.gov

Michael Planty, COE Project Director Michael.Planty@ed.gov
Valena Plisko, Associate Commissioner Valena.Plisko@ed.gov
Tom Snyder, Director of Annual Reports Tom.Snyder@ed.gov

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