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Digest of Education Statistics: 2007
Digest of Education Statistics: 2007

NCES 2008-022
March 2008

Foreword

The 2007 edition of the Digest of Education Statistics is the 43rd in a series of publications initiated in 1962. The Digest has been issued annually except for combined editions for the years 1977–78, 1983–84, and 1985–86. Its primary purpose is to provide a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field of American education from prekindergarten through graduate school. The Digest includes a selection of data from many sources, both government and private, and draws especially on the results of surveys and activities carried out by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). To qualify for inclusion in the Digest, material must be nationwide in scope and of current interest and value. The publication contains information on a variety of subjects in the field of education statistics, including the number of schools and colleges, teachers, enrollments, and graduates, in addition to educational attainment, finances, federal funds for education, libraries, and international comparisons. Supplemental information on population trends, attitudes on education, education characteristics of the labor force, government finances, and economic trends provides background for evaluating education data. Although the Digest contains important information on federal education funding, more detailed information on federal activities is available from federal education program offices.

The Digest contains seven chapters: All Levels of Education, Elementary and Secondary Education, Postsecondary Education, Federal Programs for Education and Related Activities, Outcomes of Education, International Comparisons of Education, and Libraries and Educational Technology. Preceding these chapters is an Introduction that provides a brief overview of current trends in American education, which supplements the tabular materials in chapters 1 through 7. The Digest concludes with three appendixes. The first appendix, Guide to Sources, provides a brief synopsis of the surveys used to generate the Digest tables; the second, Definitions, is included to help readers understand terms used in the Digest; and the third, Index of Table Numbers, allows readers to quickly locate tables on specific topics.

In addition to updating many of the statistics that have appeared in previous years, this edition contains new material, including

  • percentage distribution of kindergarten through 12th-grade students by school type (public assigned, public chosen, or private) or participation in homeschooling and selected child, parent, and household characteristics (table 38);
  • child care arrangements of 22- to 25-month-old children, by type and quality of arrangement, and selected child, parent, and household characteristics (table 44);
  • percentage of public schools with enrollment under, at, or over capacity, by selected school characteristics (table 99);
  • percentage of 22- to 25-month-old children demonstrating specific cognitive and motor skills, by selected child, parent, and household characteristics (table 109);
  • average civics scale score and percentage of students attaining civics achievement levels, by grade level and selected student characteristics (table 122);
  • average economics scale score of 12th-graders, percentage attaining economics achievement levels, and percentage with different levels of economics coursework, by selected student and school characteristics (table 123);
  • percentage distribution of public and private high school graduates, by level of mathematics and science courses completed and selected student characteristics (table 143);
  • estimated rate of 2003-04 high school graduates attending degree-granting institutions in fall 2004, by state (table 194);
  • employees in degree-granting institutions, by sex, employment status, control and type of institution, and primary occupation (table 233);
  • average amount of financial aid awarded to full-time, full-year undergraduates, by type and source of aid and control and type of institution (table 329); and
  • total expenditures of private for-profit degree-granting institutions, by purpose and type of institution (table 352).

Updates to tables from the next Digest of Education Statistics will appear on the NCES website prior to printing the full edition. The Digest can be accessed from here.

Valena Plisko
Associate Commissioner
Early Childhood, International, and Crosscutting Studies Division

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