Number of regular public school teachers and student support staff, average number of students per staff, and percent of schools with such staff, by school level and type of school staff: School year 2003

Contexts of Elementary and Secondary Education: Tables

School Characteristics and Climate

Table 35-1. Number of regular public school teachers and student support staff, average number of students per staff, and percent of schools with such staff, by school level and type of school staff: School year 2003–04

	Number of staff					Percent of schools
Type of school staff	Total	Full-time	Part-time	Per school¹	Average number of students per staff in schools with such staff²	With such staff³	With full- time staff

Elementary
All teachers	1,972,000	1,803,000	169,700	34.1	14	100	100
All student support staff	857,000	533,000	324,700	14.8	33	99	93
Licensed or certified professionals	301,900	139,400	162,500	5.2	92	98	76
School counselors	60,800	42,000	18,800	1.1	372	78	54
Nurses	54,400	25,800	28,600	0.9	449	84	41
Social workers	27,200	9,200	18,000	0.5	450	41	14
Psychologists	42,700	10,600	32,000	0.7	483	69	17
Speech therapists	68,100	31,400	36,800	1.2	392	93	44
Other professionals	48,700	20,400	28,300	0.8	237	39	17
Teacher aides	555,400	393,200	162,200	9.6	50	98	87
Instructional aides	458,700	329,700	128,900	7.9	63	94	82
Special education	207,600	160,500	47,000	3.6	113	80	67
Regular Title I	76,000	51,200	24,900	1.3	148	42	31
ESL/bilingual teacher	37,600	20,700	16,900	0.7	293	35	18
Library	27,800	18,000	9,800	0.5	449	43	29
Other	109,700	79,300	30,400	1.9	120	48	36
Noninstructional aides	96,700	63,500	33,300	1.7	289	48	33
Special education	38,800	31,500	7,300	0.7	722	21	17
Library	13,900	8,100	5,800	0.2	440	20	11
Other	44,100	23,900	20,100	0.8	178	25	15

Secondary
All teachers	860,000	816,000	44,400	57.9	16	100	100
All student support staff	217,000	160,000	56,400	14.6	62	100	97
Licensed or certified professionals	96,700	64,800	31,900	6.5	139	99	94
School counselors	40,600	38,100	2,500	2.7	321	96	91
Nurses	14,400	8,700	5,700	1.0	809	83	50
Social workers	7,200	4,000	3,200	0.5	807	38	20
Psychologists	11,000	4,300	6,800	0.7	902	64	25
Speech therapists	12,500	3,500	9,000	0.8	873	75	21
Other professionals	10,900	6,200	4,700	0.7	489	35	20
Teacher aides	120,000	95,600	24,500	8.1	110	96	88
Instructional aides	93,600	75,300	18,300	6.3	143	90	81
Special education	64,400	54,200	10,200	4.3	178	81	72
Regular Title I	6,700	5,100	1,500	0.4	290	15	12
ESL/bilingual teacher	7,400	4,200	3,300	0.5	767	31	17
Library	7,500	5,900	1,500	0.5	790	40	33
Other	7,600	6,000	1,700	0.5	496	23	18
Noninstructional aides	26,400	20,200	6,200	1.8	509	53	44
Special education	12,200	10,200	2,000	0.8	1,102	27	22
Library	5,500	4,100	1,400	0.4	780	27	21
Other	8,700	5,900	2,800	0.6	392	22	16

¹ Does not distinguish between full- and part-time status of staff.
² The average number of students per staff is based on student enrollment in schools with such staff and the total number of full- and part-time staff. This measure differs from pupil/teacher ratios that are based on the total number of full-time-equivalent teachers. Student enrollment data used to calculate this ratio are for schools with such staff.
³ This measure is intended to reveal how many schools have access to staff; it does not distinguish between the full- and part-time status of such staff.
NOTE: Regular public schools do not include alternative, special education, special program emphasis, or vocational/technical schools. Data for combined elementary and secondary schools and for ungraded schools are excluded. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), “Public School Data File,” 2003–04.

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