The Condition of Education, 2001

Enrollments are continuing to grow at all levels of education, and coursetaking in advanced science and mathematics is increasing, yet gaps persist in educational performance and participation, according to The Condition of Education 2001, released today by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

While U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige noted some positive trends documented in the report, he cautioned that, "The Condition of Education tells us concretely that we are far from where we need to be in terms of student performance. We are failing to close the persistent achievement and attainment gaps -- and we lag behind other developed nations in mathematics and science achievement."

The 59 indicators contained in the report convey the most up-to-date information about enrollment, outcomes, context and support for education. The annual report also presents U.S. standings on international comparisons. In addition to addressing the scope and quality of American education overall, this year’s focus is on first-generation college students and factors that increase their likelihood of entering college and educational success.

The report points to many shortcomings in U.S. education. Comparisons of student performance both over time and internationally raise concerns about how well the American educational system is keeping up with systems of other economically developed countries, especially at the secondary level. In addition, disturbing gaps remain in academic performance and educational participation among different racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups.

These differences start early and persist. From the beginning of kindergarten to the end of first grade, most children show marked improvement in reading and mathematics, but initial gaps in performance -- associated with their mother’s education -- remain. As children progress through first grade, students from better-educated families continue to score higher and acquire more advanced skills and knowledge -- such as competence in multiplication and division and recognizing and understanding words in context -- compared with other students.

The report provides an important message for students, parents and schools -- that rigorous academic coursework in high school makes it much more likely that students whose parents never attended college will enroll and continue their education. For instance:

• Among high school graduates whose parents had no postsecondary education, the enrollment rate of those who took advanced mathematics (64 percent) greatly exceeded the enrollment rates of their peers who did not take advanced mathematics (ranging from 4 to 34 percent).
• Rigorous academic preparation in high school narrows the gap in postsecondary persistence (staying in school) between the first-generation students (81 percent) and their peers with a parent who has a bachelor’s degree (89 percent).
• First-generation students who had not taken a rigorous academic curriculum in high school were less likely to continue towards a bachelor’s degree than their counterparts with a parent who has a bachelor’s degree (55 versus 69 percent).

"Together, these indicators present a complex picture of education in our nation," said Gary Phillips, acting commissioner of education statistics. "Some show signs of national progress; others show no change. Encouraging trends show almost two-thirds of recent high school graduates enrolling in college following high school and a doubling of advanced coursetaking in English and foreign language study between 1982 to 1998. On the other hand, discouraging findings include the continuing gaps among racial groups and few recent improvements in performance."

Other findings include:

• While the National Assessment of Educational Progress shows that reading performance has improved since 1971 for 9- and 13-year-olds, scores have not improved for 17-year-olds. Although the long-term trend data show a decrease in the performance gap between whites and blacks, most of this reduction occurred between 1971 and 1988.
• In mathematics, the trends in student performance show higher scores in 1999 than 1971 for all three age groups, but no improvements between 1994 to 1999 and some widening of the black-white achievement gap. The gap between whites and Hispanics has narrowed for 13- and 17-year-olds since 1973.
• Trends in science performance are characterized by declines in the 1970s, increases during the 1980s and early 1990s, and mostly unchanged performance since then. The black-white achievement gap remains unchanged.
• International assessments show how well U.S. students perform relative to their peers in other countries. In 1999, U.S. eighth-graders exceeded the international average among 38 nations in mathematics and science on the Third International Mathematics and Science Study -- Repeat (TIMSS-R), but were outperformed by students in 14 industrialized nations.
• Not only do more high school graduates now enroll in college -- but more of them do so immediately after high school. Between 1972 and 1999, the percentage that enrolled in college in the fall after high school rose from 49 percent to 63 percent. Undergraduate enrollment is projected to continue to climb during this decade. Over the next decade, growth in undergraduate enrollments is expected to be greater for full-time students and at four-year institutions. Women’s enrollment is expected to continue increasing faster than that of men’s.

NCES prepares The Condition of Education in response to a congressional mandate to document current conditions and recent trends in American education.

The full text of the report is available on-line at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2001072. A free copy of the report can be ordered by calling toll-free 1-877-4ED-PUBS (1-877-433-7827) OR TTY/TDD (1-877-576-7734); via e-mail at edpubs@inet.ed.gov; or via the Internet at http://www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html.

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