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Digest of Education Statistics
2005 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 62. Public elementary and secondary pupil/teacher ratios, by enrollment size, type, and level of school: Fall 1987 through fall 2003
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Enrollment size, type,    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |
and level of school       |1987|1988|1989|1990|1991|1992|1993|1994|1995|1996|1997|1998|1999|2000|2001|2002|2003
__________________________|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____
1                         |   2|   3|   4|   5|   6|   7|   8|   9|  10|  11|  12|  13|  14|  15|  16|  17|  18
__________________________|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____
     All schools .........|17.9|17.9|17.9|17.4|17.6|17.7|17.8|17.7|17.8|17.6|17.2|16.9|16.6|16.4|16.3|16.2|16.4
                          |____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____
Enrollment size of school |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |
  Under 300 ..............|14.6|14.8|14.6|14.0|14.1|14.1|14.3|14.1|14.1|14.0|13.7|13.6|13.3|13.1|12.9|12.8|13.0
  300 to 499 .............|17.6|17.7|17.6|17.0|17.1|17.0|17.3|17.2|17.1|16.9|16.5|16.2|15.8|15.5|15.4|15.3|15.5
  500 to 999 .............|18.5|18.4|18.5|18.0|18.1|18.1|18.2|18.1|18.2|17.9|17.5|17.1|16.8|16.7|16.5|16.5|16.6
  1,000 to 1,499 .........|18.5|18.3|18.5|17.9|18.2|18.6|18.5|18.6|18.7|18.5|18.1|17.7|17.6|17.4|17.4|17.4|17.6
  1,500 or more ..........|19.4|20.1|19.4|19.2|19.6|20.0|19.7|19.9|20.0|20.0|19.7|19.3|19.3|19.1|19.0|18.9|19.2
                          |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |
Type                      |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |
  Regular schools ........|18.1|18.0|18.1|17.6|17.7|17.8|17.9|17.8|17.9|17.7|17.3|17.0|16.7|16.5|16.4|16.3|16.5
  Alternative ............|16.0|14.8|16.0|14.2|15.8|16.5|17.4|18.0|16.6|16.6|16.5|16.4|15.8|15.2|14.9|14.9|15.0
  Special education ......| 6.2| 6.9| 6.2| 6.5| 6.8| 7.0| 7.4| 6.9| 7.2| 7.4| 7.6| 7.3| 7.2| 7.0| 6.4| 7.0| 7.3
  Vocational .............|13.0| ---|13.0|13.0|12.3|13.0|13.1|12.9|12.7|12.9|12.9|13.1|13.0|12.7|12.7| 9.9|10.3
                          |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |
Level and size            |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |
  Elementary schools .....|18.6|18.6|18.6|18.1|18.2|18.1|18.2|18.0|18.1|17.8|17.4|17.0|16.7|16.5|16.3|16.2|16.3
    Regular ..............|18.7|18.7|18.7|18.2|18.2|18.1|18.3|18.0|18.1|17.9|17.4|17.0|16.7|16.5|16.3|16.2|16.3
      Under 300 ..........|16.6|16.7|16.6|16.0|16.1|15.9|16.0|15.7|15.7|15.6|15.3|15.1|14.6|14.4|14.1|13.9|14.0
      300 to 499 .........|18.3|18.3|18.3|17.6|17.6|17.5|17.7|17.5|17.5|17.2|16.8|16.4|16.1|15.8|15.6|15.5|15.6
      500 to 999 .........|19.4|19.4|19.4|18.8|18.8|18.7|18.8|18.5|18.6|18.3|17.8|17.4|17.1|16.9|16.8|16.7|16.8
      1,000 to 1,499 .....|20.1|20.0|20.1|19.5|19.6|19.7|19.7|19.6|19.7|19.4|18.8|18.4|18.3|18.1|18.0|18.0|18.1
      1,500 or more ......|19.5|18.9|19.5|19.9|20.9|20.3|21.2|20.4|20.9|21.2|20.7|19.9|20.0|20.5|20.2|20.3|20.8
                          |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |
  Secondary schools ......|17.2|17.2|17.2|16.6|16.9|17.3|17.3|17.5|17.6|17.5|17.3|17.0|16.8|16.6|16.6|16.7|16.9
    Regular ..............|17.3|17.1|17.3|16.7|17.0|17.4|17.4|17.6|17.7|17.6|17.4|17.1|16.9|16.7|16.7|16.8|17.0
      Under 300 ..........|12.4|12.7|12.4|12.3|12.3|12.3|12.6|12.7|12.8|12.7|12.5|12.5|12.0|12.0|11.9|12.0|12.3
      300 to 499 .........|15.5|15.4|15.5|14.9|15.1|15.3|15.5|15.7|15.7|15.5|15.3|15.1|14.6|14.5|14.4|14.4|14.7
      500 to 999 .........|16.8|16.6|16.8|16.1|16.4|16.7|16.7|16.8|16.9|16.7|16.4|16.2|16.0|15.8|15.7|15.8|16.0
      1,000 to 1,499 .....|17.9|17.7|17.9|17.2|17.5|17.9|17.8|17.9|18.0|17.9|17.5|17.2|17.1|16.8|16.8|16.9|17.2
      1,500 or more ......|19.5|19.5|19.5|19.3|19.6|20.0|19.6|19.9|20.0|20.0|19.7|19.3|19.2|18.9|18.8|18.8|19.0
                          |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |
  Combined schools .......|15.5|15.9|15.5|14.5|15.0|14.8|15.3|15.1|15.0|14.7|14.4|13.4|13.4|13.7|13.4|13.5|13.8
    Under 300 ............| 9.5| 9.8| 9.5| 8.9| 9.3| 9.3| 9.6| 9.3| 9.0| 8.7| 8.6| 8.9| 9.1| 9.2| 9.1| 9.1| 9.5
    300 to 499 ...........|14.4|15.3|14.4|14.2|14.3|14.4|14.8|14.4|14.7|14.3|14.0|13.6|13.8|13.5|13.1|13.1|14.4
    500 to 999 ...........|17.6|17.1|17.6|16.3|16.7|15.6|16.5|16.6|16.6|16.6|16.2|15.5|14.9|15.8|15.6|16.0|15.4
    1,000 to 1,499 .......|19.0|18.5|19.0|17.8|17.9|18.6|18.6|18.3|18.2|18.4|18.0|16.9|16.9|17.5|18.1|17.7|17.5
    1,500 or more ........|18.8|18.8|18.8|17.7|18.6|18.9|18.8|19.5|19.6|19.3|19.3|18.7|19.2|18.6|18.9|19.1|19.2
                          |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |
  Ungraded ...............| 5.9| 6.8| 5.9| 6.4| 6.5| 6.9| 7.1| 6.7| 6.9| 5.9| 6.2| 5.9| 5.3| 7.0| 6.3| 6.8| 9.6
__________________________|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____
---Not available.
NOTE: Pupil/teacher ratios are based on data reported by types of schools rather than by instructional programs within schools. Only includes schools that reported both enrollment and teacher data. Ratios are based on data reported by schools and may differ from data reported in other tables that reflect aggregate totals reported by states.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, The NCES Common Core of Data (CCD), "Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey," 1987-88 through 2003-04. (This table was prepared July 2005.)


2005 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest