Condition of Education 2011 Reports New Education Statistics

Today the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released The Condition of Education 2011, a Congressionally-mandated annual report that details all aspects of U.S. education, including early childhood education, student achievement, postsecondary education, teacher effectiveness, and school environment. There were a number of key findings related to high schools, their students, and implications for transitions to college, including:

• The average U.S. combined reading literacy score for 15-year-old students in 2009 was not measurably different from the average score of the 34 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)-member countries. The average U.S. score was lower than six OECD countries and higher than  13 OECD countries.
• In 2009, the average U.S. mathematics literacy score for 15-year-old students was below the average of the 34 OECD member countries. On the science literacy scale, the average U.S. score was not measurably different from the OECD average.
• In 2007–08, about three-quarters of public high school students graduated on time with a regular diploma.
• Undergraduate enrollment in degree-granting postsecondary institutions increased by 34 percent from 2000-2009, from 13.2 to 17.6 million students. It is projected to increase to 19.6 million students by 2020.
• Young adults ages 25–34 with a bachelor's degree earned more than twice as much in 2009 as young adults without a high school diploma or its equivalent. They also earned 50 percent more than young adult high school completers, and 25 percent more than young adults with an associate's degree.

Check out the full report at http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/. Note: This blog post was originally authored under the auspices of the National High School Center at the American Institutes for Research (AIR). The National High School Center’s blog, High School Matters, which ran until March 2013, provided an objective perspective on the latest research, issues, and events that affected high school improvement. The CCRS Center plans to continue relevant work originally developed under the National High School Center grant. National High School Center blog posts that pertain to CCRS Center issues are included on this website as a resource to our stakeholders.