Appendix B
Assessment of Relevant Publications
In addition to reviewing databases, the committee conducted a broad review of organizations that compile data and prepare reports related to equity in K–12 education. Our review considered both government agencies and nongovernmental organizations; we also looked at efforts that targeted equity from the outset as their raison d’etre (such as briefs from the Civil Rights Data Collection [CRDC] and Race for Results—see below), in addition to efforts that included relevant indicators without a specific equity focus. The review identified 19 organizations that publish relevant reports: see Table B-1.
The reports and briefs of these organizations are intended for a wide spectrum of audiences. Some of the organizations are involved in all the steps of producing indicator reports, from collecting data to reporting the results (e.g., NCES). Others make use of data collected by government agencies to develop their own indicators and associated reports (e.g., Child Trends). Still others make use of indicators developed by others to include in their own reports. Some organizations publish reports on a regular basis, most often annually (e.g., Kids Count); others publish briefs when the findings warrant (e.g., Child Trends, CRDC).
In addition to the list of organizations in Table B-1, the Pell Institute for Higher Education has a publication series on indicators of equity in higher education, which we do not include because the committee’s charge is for K–12 education. The Pell Institute series covers such topics as high school students with college potential, who enrolls in college and what types of college, whether financial aid levels the playing field, how students pay for college, and graduation rates and early income outcomes. Indicators are
TABLE B-1 Organizations and Their Reports with Indicators of Educational Equity
Organization | Report |
---|---|
Alliance for Excellence in Education | Graduation rates |
American Youth Policy Forum | Various briefs |
Annie E. Casey Foundation | Various briefs and reports, including: Kids Count Data Book and Race for Results |
Child Trends | Various reports and briefs |
Council of Chief State School Officers | Various reports and briefs |
Council of the Great City Schools | Various reports and briefs, including: Academic Key Performance Indicators: 2018 Report |
Council of State Governments, Public Policy Research Groups | Various reports and briefs |
Education Trust | Various reports and briefs |
Education Law Center and Rutgers University | Is School Funding Fair: A National Report Card on Funding Fairness |
Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics | America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being and America’s Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being |
Princeton University-Brookings Institution Collaboration | The Future of Children: Policy Briefs and Special Topic Volumes, published spring and fall |
Georgetown University, Center on Education and the Workforce | Various reports and briefs |
National Assessment Governing Board (for the National Assessment of Educational Progress [NAEP]) | The Nation’s Report Card: Reports of achievement from main NAEP for 4th, 8th, and 12th graders in math, reading, science, and other subjects; Reports of achievement for the Trial Urban District Assessment |
National Association of School Boards (NASBE) | Various reports and briefs |
Organization | Report |
---|---|
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) | Various statistical reports and briefs, including: Condition of Education (Highlights) and Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Groups |
National Governors Association | Various reports and briefs |
National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER), Rutgers University | State of Preschool yearbooks |
U.S. Census Bureau | Various statistical reports and briefs |
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights | Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) Issue Briefs (national highlights on varied topics); CRDC Special Reports, highlights on English learners, discipline, and educational equity for school districts and schools |
presented for student groups identified by race and ethnicity and family income levels, and the Institute’s 2018 report provides indicators for states.1 The European Union has also undertaken work over the past decade on measuring educational equity among member countries for student groups defined by family income and immigrant status.
The committee’s review identified reports from seven organizations as meriting in-depth exploration, using the criteria in Box B-1:
- Annie E. Casey Foundation: Kids Count Data Book and Race for Results
- Council of the Great City Schools: Academic Key Performance Indicators: 2018 Report
- Education Law Center and Rutgers University: Is School Funding Fair? A National Report Card on Funding Fairness
- Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics: America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being
- National Center for Education Statistics: Condition of Education and Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Groups
- National Institute for Early Education Research, Rutgers University: State of Preschool yearbooks
- U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights: Civil Rights Data Collection First Look Issue Briefs and Special Reports
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1 See http://pellinstitute.org/indicators/reports_2018_data.shtml.
These reports collectively include indicators that measure students’ academic achievement and progress; school systems’ mechanisms for monitoring access to the resources all students need; the inputs students bring to school with them from their homes, families, and neighborhoods; and outcomes that extend from pre-K through K–12 and beyond. All of them publish some or all indicators for one or more student groups of interest. However, none of them includes a full set of the K–12 educational equity indicators the committee identifies or the full spectrum of student groups or geographic units of interest. Indeed, most of them are limited in scope, student group coverage, and geographic detail, and almost none of them articulates an equity-focused framework for the selection of indicators to publish. Nonetheless, they illustrate how the topic of K–12 educational equity is currently addressed, identifying work that a set of K–12 educational equity indicators could draw on as well as gaps and data and methodological shortcomings (see Appendix C).
ANNIE E. CASEY FOUNDATION
The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT Data Center “seeks to enrich local, state and national discussions concerning ways to secure better futures for all children—and to raise the visibility of children’s issues through a nonpartisan, evidence-based lens.” The center draws on national, state, and local data sources and publications. Annually, the foundation publishes the KIDS Count Data Book: State Trends in Child Well-Being, based on the KIDS Count index, which ranks states on 16 indicators in four domains (with four indicators in each domain): (1) economic well-being, (2) education, (3) health, and (4) family and community.
Table B-2 details the four education indicators in the index, showing their source, periodicity, student groups covered, geographic areas covered, and relevance to the committee’s proposed indicators.2 The economic well-being and family and community indicators provide context.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation began publication of its KIDS Count index in 1990 and revised the index in 2012 to include the four domains and 16 indicators. The index is not published for groups of children, except at the national level by race and ethnicity (with data for the states available in the KIDS Count Data Center).
The foundation subsequently developed an index, published in Race for Results: Building a Path to Opportunity for All Children, to focus explicitly on children’s prospects for success as an adult in each state. The new index, first published in 2014 and updated in 2017, was based on an aspirational
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2 The Data Center provides additional education indicators not included in the index: see https://datacenter.kidscount.org/.
goal: all children should grow up in economically successful families; live in supportive communities; and meet developmental, health, and educational milestones. The index comprises 12 indicators that were comparably and regularly collected in every state through surveys sufficient in size to allow valid estimates for the five largest racial groups (African-American, American Indian, Asian American and Pacific Islander, Latino, and White); 4 of the 12 indicators are the 4 education indicators that are part of the KIDS Count index.3
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3 For the full set of indicators, see https://www.aecf.org/m/resourcedoc/AECF-RaceforResults2014.pdf#page=33.
TABLE B-2 Education Indicators in the KIDS Count Index
Indicator | Source | Periodicity and Latest Year Available (in parentheses)a | Student Groups of Interest for Which Data Are Published (or are Available in the Data Center) | Geographic Areas for Which Data Are Published (or Are Available in the Data Center) | Relevance to Committee’s Indicators |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Young Children Not in School: percent 3- and 4-year-olds not enrolled in nursery school, pre-K, or K, in prior 3 months | American Community Survey, averaged over 3 years | Annual, 2007-2009 through 2014-2016; will be updated | Race/ethnicity (only published for the nation; available for states) | Nation, states | Indicator 9 |
4th Grade Reading Achievement Levels: percent 4th graders not proficient in reading | Main NAEP | Every 2 years (2017) | 4th graders: race/ethnicity (only published for the nation; available for states) | Nation, states | Indicator 5 for 4th grade |
8th Grade Math Achievement Levels: percent 8th graders not proficient in math | Main NAEP | Every 2 years (2017) | 8th graders: race/ethnicity (only published for the nation; available for states) | Nation, states | Indicator 5 for 8th grade |
High School Students Not Graduating on Time: (ACGR)b | Common Core of Data | Each school year from 2010-2011 (different rate used earlier) (2015-2016) | Race/ethnicity (only published for the nation; available for states) | Nation, states (available for school districts and schools) | Indicator 8 |
aLatest year at time of latest publication (see SOURCE below).
bFor the definition of ACGR (Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate), see https://nces.ed.gov/blogs/nces/post/what-is-the-difference-between-the-acgr-and-the-afgrfor definition.
NOTE: NAEP, National Assessment of Educational Progress.
SOURCE: Information from The Annie E. Casey Foundation (2018).
COUNCIL OF THE GREAT CITY SCHOOLS
The Council of the Great City Schools began a project in 2014 to develop key academic and cost performance indicators for 74 urban districts that are members of the Council. The first phase was a pilot study in which 8 member districts initially participated, followed by a second phase in which general education, special education, English-language learner, finance, and research department representatives narrowed down a preliminary set of 200 indicators to about 58 indicators. In a third phase, data were collected and results published for about a dozen academic indicators for about 50 member districts for the 2015-2016 school year.4 The data have been updated for the 2016-2017 school year, again for about 50 districts (although all 74 were asked to participate).
Table B-3 describes the academic key performance indicators in the latest Council report for 2016-2017, showing their source, periodicity, student groups covered, geographic areas covered, and relevance to the committee’s proposed indicators. The data are still considered preliminary and so are not immediately relevant to the committee’s set of education equity indicators. However, the processes and steps the Council followed to assess the feasibility and burden of providing the indicators and to reach consensus among the member districts as to their value may carry lessons for implementation of the committee’s recommended set.
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4Academic Key Performance Indicators: Pilot Report (October 2017); see https://www.cgcs.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&ModuleInstanceID=1044&ViewID=C9E0416E-F0E7-4626-AA7B-C14D59F72F85&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=3545&PageID=836. Work on cost indicators was deferred until after the academic indicators were fully developed.
TABLE B-3 Indicators in Academic Key Performance Indicators: 2018 Report
Indicator | Source | Periodicity and Latest Year Available (in parentheses)a | Student Groups of Interest for Which Data Are Published | Geographic Areas for Which Data Are Published | Relevance to Committee’s Indicators |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pre-K Enrollment as a Percentage of Kindergarten Enrollment | Council of the Great City Schools online survey and Excel spreadsheets | Annual (potentially) (2016-2017 school year) | Total, Black males, Hispanic males, free or reduced-price school lunch eligible students, students with disabilities,b English-language learners | 74 urban school districts that are Council members (potentially—current participation about 50 districts) | Indicator 9 |
Percent of 4th Graders Proficient in Math and Reading and Below Basic | NAEP | Every 2 years (2017) | Total, free or reduced-price lunch students, students with disabilities,b race/ethnicity (black, Hispanic, white) by gender and by free or reduced-price school lunch eligibility | 27 Council members (as of 2017) that participate in NAEP Trial Urban District Assessment | Indicator 5 |
Percent of 8th Graders Proficient in Math and Reading and Below Basic | NAEP | Every 2 years (2017) | See Percent of 4th Graders above | See Percent of 4th Graders above | Indicator 5 |
Percent of 9th Graders Completing Algebra I by End of 9th Grade, by Percent in Grades 7, 8, 9 | See Pre-K Enrollment above | See Pre-K Enrollment above | See Pre-K Enrollment above | See Pre-K Enrollment above | Indicators 4 and 11 |
Indicator | Source | Periodicity and Latest Year Available (in parentheses)a | Student Groups of Interest for Which Data Are Published | Geographic Areas for Which Data Are Published | Relevance to Committee’s Indicators |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Percent of 9th Graders Failing One or More Courses | See Pre-K Enrollment above | See Pre-K Enrollment above | See Pre-K Enrollment above | See Pre-K Enrollment above | Indicator 4 |
Percent of 9th Graders with B Average GPA or Better | See Pre-K Enrollment above | See Pre-K Enrollment above | See Pre-K Enrollment above | See Pre-K Enrollment above | Indicator 4 |
Percent of 3rd, 6th, 8th, and 9th Graders Who Missed School by Days Absent (5-9, 10-19, 20+) | See Pre-K Enrollment above | See Pre-K Enrollment above | See Pre-K Enrollment above | See Pre-K Enrollment above | Indicator 3 |
Percent of Students with Out-of-School Suspensions by Number of Days Suspended (1-5, 6-10, 11-19, 20+) | See Pre-K Enrollment above | See Pre-K Enrollment above | See Pre-K Enrollment above | See Pre-K Enrollment above | Indicator 15 |
Instructional Days Missed per Student Due to Suspensions | See Pre-K Enrollment above | See Pre-K Enrollment above | See Pre-K Enrollment above | See Pre-K Enrollment above | Indicator 15 |
Percent of Secondary Students Who Took One or More AP Coursesc | See Pre-K Enrollment above | See Pre-K Enrollment above | See Pre-K Enrollment above | See Pre-K Enrollment above | Indicator 11 |
Percent of AP Scores that Passed (scores of 3 or higher) | See Pre-K Enrollment above | Indicator 4 |
4-Year Cohort High School Graduation Rate | See Pre-K Enrollment above | See Pre-K Enrollment above | See Pre-K Enrollment above | See Pre-K Enrollment above | Indicator 6 |
aTo date, the Council of the Great City Schools has published reports for 2016 and 2018; whether the reports will be annual, biannual, or on issued on another schedule is not known. Except for NAEP scores, all of the indicators are potentially available on an annual basis.
bDisability status not defined.
cAP-equivalent participation and participation in college courses also collected but not published.
NOTES: AP, Advanced Placement; GPA, grade point average; NAEP, National Assessment of Educational Progress.
SOURCE: Information from Academic Key Performance Indicators 2018 Report (October 2018), available: https://www.cgcs.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=1044&dataid=3545&FileName=Final%20KPI%20Report%202017.pdf.
EDUCATION LAW CENTER AND RUTGERS UNIVERSITY
The Education Law Center and Rutgers University have collaborated since 2010 on an annual publication that assesses the fairness of funding for K–12 public education state by state. Is School Funding Fair? A National Report Card on Funding Fairness presents data on four indicators of “fairness” and three indicators of resource allocation. Box B-2 presents the principles on which the published fairness and resource allocation indi-
cators are based; Table B-4 describes each of the seven indicators, showing its source, periodicity, student groups covered, geographic areas covered, and relevance to the committee’s proposed indicators.
TABLE B-4 Indicators in Is School Funding Fair? A National Report Card on Funding Fairness
Indicator | Source | Periodicity | Student Groups of Interest for Which Data Are Published | Geographic Areas for Which Data Are Published | Relevance to Committee’s Indicators |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fairness Measure #1, Funding Level—adjusted per pupil fundinga | Census Bureau Annual Survey of School System Finances; SAIPE; Taylor’s extended NCES Comparable Wage Indexb CCD; Census Bureau population estimates | Annual, beginning 2010; publication lags by 2-3 years (e.g., 2018 edition presents 2015 estimates) | N.A., but indicator takes account of student poverty | States (states are ranked) | Indicator 7.3 |
Fairness Measure #2, Funding Distribution—progressive, regressive, or flat distributionc | See fairness measure #1 | See Fairness Measure #1 | N.A., but indicator takes account of school district poverty | States (states are grouped into six grades, A-F) | Indicators 13, 16 |
Fairness Measure #3, Fiscal Effort—local and state education spending relative to (a) gross state product (GSP) and (b) state aggregate personal income (SPI) | BEA GSP and SPI series; Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center Data Query System | See Fairness Measure #1 | N.A. | States (states are grouped into six grades, A-F) | N.A. |
Fairness Measure #4, Coverage—proportion of school-aged children (6-16) attending the state’s public schools averaged with ratio of household median income of public school students to other students | ACS (3-year public-use microdata samples) | See Fairness Measure #1 | N.A. | States (states are ranked) | N.A. |
Resource Allocation Measure #1, Early Childhood Education—enrollment of 3- and 4-year-olds in early childhood education programs by income level | ACS (3-year public-use microdata samples) | See Fairness Measure #1 | N.A., but gives extra weight to enrollment of children in low-income families | States (states are ranked) | Indicator 9 |
Resource Allocation Measure #2, Wage Competitiveness—ratio of teacher to nonteacher wages | ACS (3-year public-use microdata samples) | See Fairness Measure #1 | N.A. | States (states are ranked) | N.A. |
Indicator | Source | Periodicity | Student Groups of Interest for Which Data Are Published | Geographic Areas for Which Data Are Published | Relevance to Committee’s Indicators |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Resource Allocation Measure #3, Teacher-to-Student Ratios—fair: higher ratios in high poverty districts; unfair: comparable or lower ratios in, high poverty districts | CCD—Local Education Agency Universe Survey | See Fairness Measure #1 | N.A., but takes account of school district poverty | States (states are ranked) | Indicator 6.1 |
aThe adjustment is based on a model that predicts average funding levels (state plus local), controlling for student poverty, regional wage variation, and school district size and density.
bThe NCES Comparable Wage Index (CWI) is a measure of regional variations in the salaries of college graduates who are not educators; see updated NCES CWI data beginning in 2005 based on 3-year average ACS data at http://bush.tamu.edu/research/faculty/Taylor_CWI/.
cProgressive: high-poverty (30%+) districts receive at least 5 percent additional funds over low-poverty (0%) districts; regressive: high-poverty districts receive 5 percent less funding than low-poverty districts; flat: in between.
NOTES: ACS, American Community Survey (Census Bureau program); BEA, Bureau of Economic Analysis; CCD, Common Core of Data (NCES program); N.A., not applicable; SAIPE, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (Census Bureau program).
SOURCE: Information from Baker, Farrie, and Sciarra (2018).
FEDERAL INTERAGENCY FORUM ON CHILD AND FAMILY STATISTICS
The Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics fosters coordination and collaboration among 23 federal agencies that produce or use statistical data on children and families. Through the America’s Children series, the forum makes federal data on children and families available in a nontechnical, easy-to-use format in order to stimulate discussion among data providers, policy makers, and the public.
The forum publishes an annual report on the well-being of children and families, alternating between the longer America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well Being and America’s Children in Brief. The full reports and the forum’s website provide statistics on 41 indicators:5
. . . that must meet the following criteria: easy to understand by broad audiences; objectively based on reliable data with substantive research connecting them to child well-being; balanced, so that no single area of children’s lives dominates the report; measured regularly, so that they can be updated and show trends over time; and representative of large segments of the population, rather than one particular group.
The indicators cover seven domains: family and social environment, economic circumstances, health care, physical environment and safety, behavior, education, and health. Because the briefer reports do not cover every domain every year, any one domain, such as education, is published at least biannually but not necessarily annually. Moreover, not all indicators within a domain are available annually.
Of the 41 indicators, 6 are devoted to education. Table B-5 defines each of the six, indicating source, periodicity, student groups covered, geographic areas covered, and relevance to the committee’s indicators. Indicators in the family and social environment and economic circumstances domains provide context.
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5 Forum on Child and Family Statistics; available: https://www.childstats.gov/americaschildren/index.asp.
TABLE B-5 Education Indicators in America’s Children
Indicator | Source | Periodicity and Latest Year Available (in parentheses)a | Student Groups of Interest for Which Data Are Published (or Can Be Made Available) | Geographic Areas for Which Data Are Published (or Can Be Made Available) | Relevance to Committee’s Indicators |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1—Family Reading to Young Children: percent children ages 3-5 read to three or more times in last week by a family member | NHES | 1993, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2012, 2016—future periodicity unknown | Gender, race/ethnicity, poverty status, family type, mother’s highest level of education, and mother’s employment status | Nation, 4 regions | N.A. |
2—Math and Reading Achievement: average math and reading scale scores of 4th, 8th, and 12th graders | Main NAEP | Every 2 years (2015) | 4th graders: by gender and by race/ethnicity; 8th and 12th graders: by gender, by race/ethnicity, and by parents’ education | Nation (states and some large cities available) | Indicator 5 |
3—High School Academic Course-Taking: percent public high school students enrolled in selected mathematics and science coursesb | CCD; CRDC | Every other school year (2013-2014) | Type of course: by gender, by race/ethnicity, and by gender by race/ethnicity | Nation (states, school districts, schools available) | Indicator 11 |
4—High School Completion: percent adults ages 18-24 who completed high school (including a GED) | CPS School Enrollment Supplement | Annual (2015) | Race/ethnicity | Nation (regions are available, as are states with 3-year averaging) | Indicator 6 |
5—Youth by School Enrollment and Work Status: percent youth ages 16-19 (school includes high school and college) | CPS (monthly for school months) | Annual (2016) | Age (16-17, 18-19): by gender, by race/ethnicity, and by enrollment and working status | Nation (regions are available, as are states with 3-year averaging) | Indicator 7 |
6—College Enrollment: percent high school completers enrolled in college the following fall | CPS School Enrollment Supplement | Annual (2015) | Gender, race/ethnicity, and income level (low, middle, high) | Nation (regions are available, as are states with 3-year averaging) | Indicator 7 |
aLatest year at time of latest publication (see SOURCE below).
bAlgebra 1, geometry, algebra 2, advanced mathematics, calculus, advanced placement (AP) math, biology, chemistry, physics, AP science.
NOTES: CCD, Common Core of Data (NCES program); CPS, Current Population Survey (Census Bureau program); CRDC, Civil Rights Data Collection (Office of Civil Rights program); GED, general education diploma; N.A., not applicable; NAEP, National Assessment of Educational Progress; NHES, National Household Education Survey (NCES program).
SOURCE: Information from Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics (2017).
NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS
Condition of Education
Condition of Education reports are issued annually by NCES in compliance with a congressional mandate. The reports contain indicators on the state of education in the United States, from pre-kindergarten through postsecondary education, as well as labor force outcomes and international comparisons. For pre-K through grade 12, there are indicators of family characteristics, enrollment, teachers and staff, assessments, high school completion, and school finance. More detailed information, on which the reports are based, is available in the annual Digest of Education Statistics.6
The data for these indicators are obtained from many different providers—including students and teachers, state education agencies, local elementary and secondary schools, and colleges and universities—using surveys and compilations of administrative records. Most indicators in the reports summarize data collected by surveys conducted by NCES or by the Census Bureau with support from NCES, such as the American Community Survey (ACS) and the Current Population Survey (CPS).
The Condition of Education includes an At a Glance section, which allows readers to quickly make comparisons within and across indicators, and a Highlights section, which “spotlights” key findings for a few of the indicators. Table B-6 defines topic areas for which regularly collected indicators are provided for pre-K through grade 12 in the latest (2018) Condition of Education, indicating source, periodicity, student groups covered, geographic areas covered, and relevance to the committee’s indicators.7
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6 See https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/.
7 In addition to the indicators shown, Condition of Education reports on children’s access to and use of the Internet, measured in CPS supplements in October 2010 and July 2015; family involvement in educational activities outside school, measured in 2012 and 2016 in NHES; school crime and safety, measured periodically in the NCES Survey on School Crime and Safety; public school teacher turnover, measured in a 2012-2013 Teacher Follow-up Survey to the 2011-2012 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS); characteristics of public school principals, measured periodically in SASS (latest estimates for 2011-2012); public school principal turnover, measured in a 2012-2013 Principal Follow-up Survey to the 2011-2012 SASS; trends in reading and math scale scores for 9-, 13-, and 17-year-olds from 1971 through 2012, measured in long-term trend NAEP; technology and engineering literacy for 8th graders, measured by NAEP in 2014; and high school graduates by completion of math and science courses, measured in 2000 and 2009 NAEP high school transcript studies.
TABLE B-6 Indicators in the Condition of Education
Indicator | Source | Periodicity and Latest Year Available (in parentheses)a | Student Groups for Which Data Are Publishedb | Geographic Areas for Which Data Are Publishedc | Relevance to Committee’s Indicators |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Characteristics of Children’s (under age 18) Families—various percentages of children | ACS | Annual (2016) | Race/ethnicity: by parents’ educational attainment, by family type, and by poverty status; living in poverty by race/ethnicity: by family type, and by parents’ educational attainment | Nation; states for percentage living in poverty | Contextual factors |
Pre-K and K Enrollment—percent ages 3, 4, 5 enrolled | CPS SES | Annual (2017) | 3- to 5-year-old enrollment by full- or part-day: by race/ethnicity, and by parents’ educational attainment | Nation | Indicator 9 |
Elementary and Secondary Enrollment—percent enrolled (any type of school); number enrolled and projected in public school | CPS SES for percent enrolled; CCD for number enrolled | Annual (2016, projections through 2027) | Percent enrolled: by age (3-4, 5-6, 7-13, 14-15, 16-17, 18-19); Enrolled and projected: by school level (elementary, secondary) | Nation; states by actual and projected percentage change in public K–12 enrollment | Denominator for various indicators |
Indicator | Source | Periodicity and Latest Year Available (in parentheses)a | Student Groups for Which Data Are Publishedb | Geographic Areas for Which Data Are Publishedc | Relevance to Committee’s Indicators |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Public Charter School Enrollment—number by school level; various percentages | CCD | Annual (2015-2016) | Percent public charter school distribution by size; percent student distribution by race/ethnicity | Nation; states by percent public students enrolled in charters | N.A. |
Private School Enrollment—percent of all K–12 students in private schools; various numbers and percentages | NCES Private School Universe Survey | Every 2 years (2015-2016) | Number enrolled by grade level (pre-K-8, 9-12) and by orientation (Catholic, other religious, nonsectarian); percent student distribution: by school level by orientation, and by race/ethnicity by orientation | Nation | N.A. |
English-Language Learners (ELL) in Public Schools—various percentages | CCD, CRDC | Every 2 years (fall 2015) | Percent ELL of total pre-K through grade 12: by grade, and by school locale (city, suburban, town, rural); number and percent distribution of ELL students by home language | Nation; states by percent of public school enrollment | Indicator 7.3 |
Children and Youth (Ages 3-21) with Disabilities—percent receiving special education services under IDEA, Part B | Office of Special Education Programs, IDEA database | Annual (2015-2016) | Percent served: ages 3-21 by type (10 types), and by race/ethnicity; ages 6-21 by time in general classes; ages 14-21 exiting school by reason (regular diploma, alternative certificate) by race/ethnicity | Nation | Indicator 13 |
Indicator | Source | Periodicity and Latest Year Available (in parentheses)a | Student Groups for Which Data Are Publishedb | Geographic Areas for Which Data Are Publishedc | Relevance to Committee’s Indicators |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Characteristics of Traditional and Charter Public Schools—various percentages | CCD | Annual (2015-2016) | Percent traditional and public charter schools: by level, by race/ethnicity concentration (50%+ white, black, Hispanic), by eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (0-25%, 25.1-50%, 50.1-75%, 75%+), and by school locale | Nation | Indicator 8 |
Concentration of Students Eligible for Free or Reduced-Price Lunch—various percentages | CCD | Annual (2015-2016) | Percent students by “poverty” (categories defined by quartiles of school lunch eligibility): by race/ethnicity, and by school locale | Nation | Indicator 8 |
Characteristics of School Teachers—various percentages | NTPS | Every 2 years (2015-2016) | Percent public school teachers: by gender by level, by race/ethnicity, by level by college degree/teaching certificate, and by years of teaching experience by average base salary and by highest degree | Nation | Indicator 10 |
Reading Performance—average scale scores/four achievement levels for 4th, 8th, and 12th graders | Main NAEP | 4th, 8th graders: every 2 years (2017); 12th graders: periodically (2015) | Scale scores: by gender, by ELL status, by race/ethnicity, and by school poverty (based on quartiles of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch) | Nation; change in 4th and 8th grade scale scores by state | Indicator 5 |
Mathematics Performance—see Reading Performance, above | Main NAEP | See Reading Performance, above | See Reading Performance, above | See Reading Performance, above | Indicator 5 |
Science Performance—average scale scores for 4th, 8th, and 12th graders | Main NAEP | Periodically (2015) | Gender and race/ethnicity | Nation; change in scale scores by state | Indicator 5 |
Indicator | Source | Periodicity and Latest Year Available (in parentheses)a | Student Groups for Which Data Are Publishedb | Geographic Areas for Which Data Are Publishedc | Relevance to Committee’s Indicators |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
High School Graduation Rates—adjusted cohort graduation rates | Consolidated State Performance Report (in EDFacts) | Annual (2015-2016) | Race/ethnicity | Nation; states | Indicator 6 |
Status Dropout Rates—percent 16- to 24-year-olds not enrolled in school and lacking a diploma or GED | CPS SES | Annual (2016) | Gender, years of school completed, and race/ethnicity by native/foreign born | Nation | Indicator 7 |
Revenue Sources—percent federal, state, local; state revenue and property tax revenue as percent of total | CCD | Annual (2014-2015) | N.A. | Nation; states for all but revenue source | Indicators 13, 16 |
Expenditures—current expenditures, interest, and capital outlays per student; percent of current expenditures for salaries, benefits, purchased services, supplies | CCD | Annual (2014-2015) | N.A. | Nation | Indicators 13, 16 |
aLatest year at time of latest publication (see SOURCE below).
bAdditional student group detail available in the annual Digest of Education Statistics.
cAdditional geographic detail available in the annual Digest of Education Statistics.
NOTES: The information covers public schools unless otherwise noted. ACS, American Community Survey; CCD, Common Core of Data; CPS SES, Current Population Survey School Enrollment Supplement; CRDC, Civil Rights Data Collection; ELL, English-language learner; GED, general education diploma; IDEA, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; N.A., not available; NAEP, National Assessment of Educational Progress; NCES, National Center for Education Statistics: NTPS, National Teacher and Principal Survey.
SOURCE: Information from McFarland et al. (2018).
Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Groups
NCES began issuing reports that focus on the educational progress and challenges facing students in the United States by race and ethnicity in 2003 with Status and Trends in the Education of Blacks and Status and Trends in the Education of Hispanics. These reports were followed in 2005 by Status and Trends in the Education of American Indians and Alaska Natives (updated in 2008). In 2007, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2019, NCES published Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Groups; presumably, this report will be a continuing series.
Table B-7 defines topic areas for which regularly collected indicators are provided for pre-K through grade 12 in the latest Status and Trends report, indicating source, periodicity, student groups covered, geographic areas covered, and relevance to the committee’s indicators. Note that some indicators in Status and Trends are similar to those in the Condition of Education, but Status and Trends contains some additional indicators.8
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8Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Groups, 2018 (February 2019) also reports on: childcare arrangements for children under 6 (measured periodically in the National Household Education Survey); high school course taking and whether earned AP or IB credits (measured in the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009); and school safety (measured in the Youth Risk Behavior Survey and the School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey for 2015).
TABLE B-7 Indicators in Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Groups
Indicator | Source | Periodicity and Latest Year Available (in parentheses)a | Student Groups for Which Data Are Published | Geographic Areas for Which Data Are Published | Relevance to Committee’s Indicators |
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Demographics—percent 5- to 17-year-olds; percent distribution of under 18 by nativity, family type, living in poverty and mother-only households living in poverty (official, supplemental poverty measures) | Census Bureau Population Estimates; ACS; CPS ASEC | Annual (2017, 2016) | Race/ethnicity (detailed Asian, Hispanic groups for nativity, family type, official poverty) | Nation | Contextual factors |
Elementary and Secondary Enrollment—percent enrolled in public schools (pre-K to 12); distribution by region, traditional or charter; private school distribution by type of school | CCD; Private School Universe Survey | Annual (2015) | Race/ethnicity | Nation, four regions (public school enrollment) | Denominator for various indicators |
English-Language Learners (in public schools)—number; percent of total enrollment | CCD; EDFacts | Annual (2015) | Race/ethnicity | Nation | Indicators 13, 16 |
Indicator | Source | Periodicity and Latest Year Available (in parentheses)a | Student Groups for Which Data Are Published | Geographic Areas for Which Data Are Published | Relevance to Committee’s Indicators |
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Students with Disabilities—percent of students ages 3-21 served under IDEA, Part B; distribution by type of disability; percent ages 14-21 who exited school by reasons | CCD; Office of Special Education Programs, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) database | Annual (2015-2016, 2014-2015) | Race/ethnicity | Nation | Indicators 13, 16 |
Reading Achievement—average scale score, 4th, 8th, 12th grade | Main NAEP | Every 2 years, 4th, 8th grade (2017); periodically, 12th grade (2015) | Race/ethnicity | Nation | Indicator 5 |
Mathematics Achievement—see Reading Achievement, above | Main NAEP | See Reading Achievement, above | Race/ethnicity | Nation | Indicator 5 |
Absenteeism and Achievement—percent 8th graders absent by number of days; average math/reading scale scores by number days absent | Main NAEP | Every 2 years (2017) | Race/ethnicity | Nation | Indicator 3 |
Retention, Suspension, and Expulsion—percent retained in grade by school level; percent received out-of-school suspensions | CPS SES; CRDC | Annual (retentions, 2016); every 2 years (suspensions, 2013-2014) | Race/ethnicity by gender (suspensions) | Nation | Indicator 15 |
High School Status Dropout Rates—percent of 16- to 24-year-olds dropping out | ACS | Annual (2016) | Race/ethnicity: by gender and by nativity; Hispanic and Asian by subgroup | Nation | Indicator 7 |
High School Status Completion Rates—percent of 18- to 24-year-olds completing high school | CPS SES | Annual (2016) | Race/ethnicity and Hispanic/non-Hispanic by recency of immigration | Nation | Indicator 7 |
aLatest year at time of latest publication (see SOURCE below).
NOTES: ACS, American Community Survey; CCD, Common Core of Data; CPS ASEC, Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement; CPS SES, Current Population Survey School Enrollment Supplement; CRDC, Civil Rights Data Collection; NAEP: National Assessment of Educational Progress.
SOURCE: Data from de Brey et al. (2019).
NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR EARLY EDUCATION RESEARCH
NIEER at Rutgers University in 2003 began issuing annual reports on the extent and quality of state pre-K education for children ages 3 and 4. The latest yearbook (Friedman-Krauss et al., 2018, p. 5) notes that, as of the 2001-2002 school year, just two states had pre-K programs that served greater than 50 percent of their 4-year-olds, and 13 states had no state-funded pre-K program. As of 2017, 10 states served more than 50 percent of their 4-year-olds, and only 7 states had no state-funded program.
The NIEER yearbooks provide indicators for access, resources, and quality of pre-K programs for the 50 states and the District of Columbia. States are ranked on measures of access and resources, and the number of quality benchmarks they meet is totaled (from 1 to 10). Table B-8 defines topic areas and indicators for each state in the latest (2017) State of Preschool yearbook, indicating source, periodicity, student groups covered, geographic areas covered, and relevance to the committee’s indicators. Because pre-K programs vary among and within states, the state profiles in the NIEER yearbooks contain text explaining each state’s programs—for example, whether they are offered in all school districts or those meeting a poverty criterion, hours of operation, teacher qualifications, whether they partner with Head Start, and other pertinent information.
TABLE B-8 Indicators in the State of Preschool Yearbooks
Indicator | Source | Periodicity and Latest Year Availablea | Student Groups for Which Data Are Published | Geographic Areas for Which Data Are Published | Relevance to Committee’s Indicators |
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Access (1)—percent 3-year-olds and percent 4-year-olds enrolled in state-funded pre-K, Head Start, Special Education, and other/none | Census Bureau Population Estimates; NIEER State Survey; Department of Education (Special Education); DHHS (Head Start) | Annual (2017) | Special education enrollment (includes unduplicated count of disabled students under IDEA Preschool Grants program) | States | Indicator 9 |
Access (2)—percent school districts that offer state pre-K program and income requirement | NIEER State Survey | Annual (2017) | N.A. | States | Indicator 9 |
Access (3)—minimum hours of operation and operating schedule (e.g., school year) | NIEER State Survey | Annual (2017) | N.A. | States | Indicator 9 |
Quality Standards Checklist—number and which of 10 standards metb | NIEER State Survey | Annual (2017) | N.A. | States | Indicator 9 |
Indicator | Source | Periodicity and Latest Year Availablea | Student Groups for Which Data Are Published | Geographic Areas for Which Data Are Published | Relevance to Committee’s Indicators |
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Resources—total state spending; state Head Start spending; state spending per child enrolled; all spending per child enrolledc | NEA state surveysd | Annual (2017) | N.A. | States | Indicator 9 |
aLatest year at time of latest publication (see SOURCE below).
bThe 10 policy areas and latest benchmarks are: (1) early learning and development standards: comprehensive, aligned, supported, culturally sensitive; (2) curriculum supports: approval process and supports; (3) teacher degree: B.A.; (4) teacher specialized training: specializing in pre-K; (5) assistant teacher degree: Child Development Associate or equivalent credential; (6) staff professional development: at least 15 hours/year, individual development plans, coaching; (7) maximum class size: 20 children or fewer; (8) staff-child ratio: 1:10 or lower; (9) screening and referral: vision, hearing, and health screenings and referral; and (10) monitoring/continuous quality improvement system: structured classroom observation, program improvement plan. Area/benchmark (2) is new as of 2015-2016; a previous area/benchmark related to meals has been discontinued.
cSpending includes current operating expenditures plus annual capital outlays and interest on school debt.
dIn Rankings and Estimates: Rankings of the States 2016 and Estimates of School Statistics 2017; see http://www.nea.org/home/73145.htm [April 2019].
NOTES: DHHS, Department of Health and Human Services; IDEA: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; N.A., not available; NEA, National Education Association; NIEER, National Institute for Early Education Research, Rutgers University.
SOURCE: Information from Friedman-Krauss et al. (2018).
U.S. OFFICE OF CIVIL RIGHTS DATA COLLECTION
The CRDC program in the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education regularly issues “First Look” issue briefs from each biannual cycle of data collection. The topics of these briefs differ from year to year. The two briefs issued to date (in April 2018) from the 2015-2016 data collection are the STEM [science, technology, engineering, and math] Course Taking Issue Brief and the School Climate and Safety Issue Brief. The brief on STEM course taking presents 10 figures: one example is a bar graph of the percentage of high school enrollment by race and ethnicity; the percentage enrolled in algebra 1 for grades 9-10 and 11-12, by race and ethnicity; and the percentage passing algebra 1 for grades 9-10 and 11-12, by race and ethnicity.
The CRDC also provides ready access through a search feature to three special reports for school districts and schools: English Learner Report, Discipline Report, and Educational Equity Report, which are provided in Excel spreadsheets. Underlying the CRDC issue briefs and special reports are detailed tables of all data elements in the CRDC program for school districts and schools, together with summaries for states and the nation. We do not further describe the particular elements in the special reports or underlying CRDC database because, while very easy to access, they are not presented in the form of regularly published indicators as in the reports described above.9
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9 For more information about the CRDC and ways to access the data, see https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/data.html?src=rt.