My Signal Contribution to the U.S. Department of Education | Diane Ravitch's blog

My Signal Contribution to the U.S. Department of Education | Diane Ravitch's blog

My Signal Contribution to the U.S. Department of Education

When I served in the George H.W. Bush administration, I was Assistant Secretary for the Office of Educational Research and Improvement.

OERI, as it was then called, had almost no discretionary money. There was very little opportunity for any initiatives, which may have been a good thing at that time. I became very involved in advocacy for national standards, which I now regret. I also spoke up for the national goals (remember them?), most of which were out of reach (like, we will be first in the world in math and science by the year 2000). OERI has since been pretentiously renamed the “Institute for Education Sciences.”

However, there is one thing that I am very proud of. I initiated a statistical review of the history of American education and the best brains in the Office of Research gathered the data to show the progress of education. It was published in 1992.

It is called 120 Years of American Education: A Statistical Portrait.

I still refer to it when writing essays that require historical CONTINUE READING: My Signal Contribution to the U.S. Department of Education | Diane Ravitch's blog

Education Research Report: New Digest of Education Statistics

Education Research Report: New Digest of Education Statistics

New Digest of Education Statistics

 

Today, NCES released the Digest of Education Statistics, a comprehensive statistical reference for all levels of education in the United States. Topics include educational attainment, finances, federal funds for education, libraries, and international comparisons. The Digest also includes data on the number of schools, colleges, teachers, students, and graduates. Key findings include the following: Total public elementary and secondary school enrollment was projected to reach 56.3 million in 2019. About 50.6 million of these students were enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools and 5.7 million were enrolled in private elementary and secondary schools. Between 2000 and 2018, the status dropout rate declined from 10.9 to 5.7 percent.* During this period, the status dropout rate for Black 16- to 24-year-olds declined from 13.1 to 5.8 percent and the rate for Hispanic 16- to 24-year-olds declined from 27.8 to 9.0 percent. Fall enrollment in degree-granting postsecondary institutions was 3 percent higher in 2018 (19.6 million) than in 2008 (19.1 million). However, enrollment decreased by 7 percent between 2010 (21.0 million) and 2018. From fall 1976 to fall 2018, the percentage of Hispanic students rose from 4 to 20 percent of all U.S. residents enrolled in degree-granting postsecondary institutions, the percentage of Black students rose from 10 to 13 percent, and the percentage of Asian/Pacific Islander students rose from 2 to 7 percent. During the same period, the percentage of White students fell from 84 to 55 percent. Among 25- to 29-year-olds, the percentage who had completed at least high school increased from 89 to 94 percent between 2009 and 2019, and the percentage who had completed a bachelor’s or higher degree increased from 31 to 39 percent. *The status dropout rate is the percentage of 16- to 24-year-olds who have not completed high school and are not enrolled in school. Education Research Report: New Digest of Education Statistics