A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Overview

"Why do we seek to know the condition of education? In the answer to this question will be found the reasons for the elaborate statistical record which forms a feature of all official school reports. We take an account of education so that we may know whether it is sufficient in amount and good in quality."

Henry Barnard
First Commissioner of Education

Introduction

During the 1980s, the country became increasingly aware of a range of critical national issues facing education. These issues included concerns about all children having an equal opportunity to receive a high quality education, general low academic performance, drug use and violence in the schools, unacceptably high dropout rates, the high cost of a college education, and the skills of workers lagging behind technological changes in the workplace. The 1990s have continued the emphasis expressed in the 1980s, with renewed concern over academic standards and school finance reform. These concerns continue to have serious implications, not only for schools and colleges but also for the future of individual citizens, U.S. economic competitiveness, and ultimately the structure and cohesiveness of American society and culture.

The Condition of Education provides a means to report where progress is being made in education and where it is not, to draw attention to emerging issues, and to inform the ongoing policy debate.

The structure of The Condition of Education

A quick tour of the volume may help readers make the best use of it. The core of the volume consists of 60 indicators. Each indicator is presented on two pages, with findings summarized in accompanying text, tables, and graphics. Also included in the back of the volume are supplemental tables providing additional details, and sometimes an explanatory note on a technical or data-related issue.

The 60 indicators are organized into six sections:

• Access, Participation, and Progress;
• Achievement, Attainment, and Curriculum;
• Economic and Other Outcomes of Education;
• Size, Growth, and Output of Educational Institutions;
• Climate, Classrooms, and Diversity in Educational Institutions; and
• Human and Financial Resources of Educational Institutions.

Instead of separating the indicators on elementary and secondary education from those on postsecondary education, the volume integrates issues ranging from early childhood education to postsecondary education into each of the six sections.

One can find information on an issue either by turning to the table of contents, which lists the 60 indicators, or by using the index, which references not only the indicators but also the supplemental tables. When an updated indicator is not available in this volume, the index lists the indicator number and edition of The Condition of Education that last published an indicator on that topic.

Preceding each section of indicators is a two-page overview that interprets and summarizes some of the findings in that section as they relate to an important issue. In addition, this overview summarizes results drawn from throughout the volume as they relate to particular issues that cut across the six sections.

At the bottom of each indicator page, readers can locate the source of the data for the indicator. The indicators presented in this report have been developed using data from studies carried out by NCES as well as from surveys conducted elsewhere, both within and outside of the federal government. A description of each source is provided starting on page 455. Sometimes more knowledge about the type of survey used to gather the data can help readers interpret the indicator. Because some of the terms used may not be familiar to all readers, a glossary is provided starting on page 485.

In the remainder of this section, we pull together evidence from both the 60 indicators and other sources on four important education issues:

• Access to preschool education;
• Trends in the achievement and attainment of Hispanic students relative to whites;
• Progress in the achievement and attainment of women; and
• The cost of higher education.

These issues were selected, first because of their importance to current policy discussions, and second because a substantial amount of new information on these issues has been included in this volume and other recent NCES publications. In the 1994 edition of the Condition, essays were included on high school students 10 years after A Nation At Risk; teachers as an educational resource; the educational progress of black students; and sub-baccalaureate postsecondary education.

References to indicators and tables contained in this volume appear in parentheses. The tables cited are in the supplemental tables section, which start on page 169. Occasionally, there are references to indicators found in a previous edition of The Condition of Education; these can be recognized by the year following the reference. References to sources other than The Condition of Education are footnoted.

Conclusion

The Condition of Education presents data and analyses on a wide variety of issues in education. The preceding discussion has highlighted only a few of the issues presented in the 60 indicators in this volume. The reader is encouraged to read the overviews to each section for discussion of other issues, to peruse the indicators of interest, and to use the tables for additional details.

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[Commissioner's Statement]