To ensure reliable, accurate, and timely data, which are necessary to monitor the progress of education in the United States, Congress has mandated that the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) produce an annual report, The Condition of Education.

This year’s report presents 46 indicators of important developments and trends in U.S. education. These indicators focus on participation and persistence in education, student performance and other measures of achievement, the environment for learning, and resources for education.

Section 1—Participation in Education
As the U.S. population increases in size, so does enrollment at all levels of education. Because of mandatory enrollment laws at the elementary and secondary levels, growth is due largely to increases in the size of the school-age population. At the postsecondary level, both population growth and increasing enrollment rates help account for rising enrollments in undergraduate, graduate, and first-professional programs.

The cohorts of learners have become more diverse over time, with Hispanic students, in particular, and to a lesser extent, students who are members of other racial/ethnic groups (in relation to White students) making up increasing proportions of the school-age population. Similarly, enrollment has risen among students who speak a language other than English at home.

Section 2—Learner Outcomes
How well do U.S. students and the American education system perform? Data from national and international assessments of students’ academic achievement can help address this question, as can data on adults’ educational experiences and earnings.

In some areas, such as mathematics and reading, the performance of elementary and secondary students has shown some improvement over the past decade, but not on all assessments, in all grades assessed, or equally for all groups of students. The association between education and the earnings and employment of adults helps underscore the importance of education for individuals and society.

Section 3—Student Effort and Educational Progress
Many factors are associated with a student’s persistence and progress toward a high school diploma, college degree, or other credential. Factors such as the student’s effort and expectations, parents’ educational attainment, and family income are associated with various measures of educational attainment, including graduation and dropout rates, immediate college enrollment rates, and high school and postsecondary degree attainment.

Monitoring these factors and tracking educational attainment provide key indicators for describing the progress of students and schooling in the United States.

Section 4—Contexts of Elementary and Secondary Education
The school environment is described by a number of features, including the characteristics of teachers and staff, student/teacher ratios, the racial/ethnic distribution of students, parental involvement, and the climate for learning. Variations in current expenditures and differences in how expenditures are spent are also important features to consider. Monitoring these and other factors provides a more complete picture of the conditions in schools that can influence education.

Society also influences and supports education through means including learning activities that take place outside school, as well as through financial support.

Section 5—Contexts of Postsecondary Education
The postsecondary education system encompasses various types of institutions under public, private not-forprofit,
and private for-profit control.

Indicators in this section include the racial/ethnic distribution of college students, student fields of study and degree attainment by institution type, the ways in which colleges and universities attract and compensate faculty, and the availability of financial aid.

Download the Entire Report: The Condition of Education 2009

PDF format, 4.5MB, 359Pages.

Suggested Citation
Planty, M., Hussar, W., Snyder, T., Kena, G., KewalRamani, A., Kemp, J., Bianco, K., Dinkes, R. (2009). The Condition of Education 2009 (NCES 2009-081). National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC.

CONCLUSION
The U.S. education system is expected to continue growing in the years to come. In elementary and secondary education, following population shifts, enrollments are projected to increase each year through 2018 to an all-time high of 54 million, with the South expected to experience the largest increase in enrollments.

Enrollment in degree-granting postsecondary institutions at both the undergraduate and graduate levels is projected to increase through 2018, the last year for which projections have been developed.

These increases in enrollment have been accompanied by a growing diversity of students. Between 1972 and 2007, the percentage of public school students who were White decreased from 78 to 56 percent and the percentage who were of members of other races and ethnicities increased from 32 percent to 44 percent.

This increase largely reflects the consistent growth in the percentage of students who were Hispanic, which rose from 6 percent of students to 21 percent of students during this period. The percentage of school-age children who speak a language other than English at home and who speak English with difficulty increased from 3 to 6 percent between 1979 and 2000, but did not change measurably between 2000 and 2007.

Although a higher percentage of Black and Hispanic than White students drop out of high school, and a smaller percentage of Black and Hispanic high school completers go to college immediately after high school graduation, there have been changes in the composition of college students and graduates as well.

Part of these changes has been driven by population shifts, but part is also the result of greater percentages of people enrolling in college. Between 1996–97 and 2006–07, the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded to Hispanics increased by 84 percent, and the number of master’s degrees awarded to Black and Hispanic students more than doubled.

Over the long-term, there has been improvement in the scores of 9- and 13-year-olds on national reading and mathematics assessments since the early 1970s, reflecting increases for White, Black, and Hispanic students. Although the overall average score of 17-yearolds remained flat between 1971 and 2008, there were increases for White, Black, and Hispanic 17-year-olds.

While performance improved for each group of 17-yearolds, the overall average did not reflect that progress because of the shifting composition of students. The percentage of White students (who have traditionally had higher average assessment scores) decreased in proportion to the percentages of students in other racial/ethnic groups, while the percentages of Black and Hispanic students increased.

In the short-term, progress on national assessments in reading and mathematics has been made among 4th- and 8th-graders since the early 1990s, but reading scores for 12th-graders have declined. On both mathematics and reading assessments, significant achievement gaps among racial/ethnic groups— particularly in the higher grades—remain. International assessments show that U.S. 4th- and 8th-graders scored above the international averages in science and mathematics in 2007.

In mathematics, U.S. students at both grades have shown improvement since 1995. By comparison, performance in science has not measurably changed. Other measures of progress show a decline in the status dropout rate among students in all racial/ethnic groups and increases in rates of postsecondary degree attainment by Black, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/ Alaska Native students.

NCES produces an array of reports each year that present findings about the U.S. education system. The Condition of Education 2009 is the culmination of a yearlong project. It includes data that were available by April 2009. In the coming months, other reports and surveys informing the nation about education will be released.

Along with the indicators in this volume, NCES intends these surveys and reports to help inform policymakers and the American public about trends and conditions in U.S. education.

Stuart Kerachsky
Acting Commissioner
National Center for Education Statistics

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