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Digest of Education Statistics
2011 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 41. Percentage distribution of students ages 5 through 17 attending kindergarten through 12th grade, by school type or participation in homeschooling and selected child, parent, and household characteristics: 1999, 2003, and 2007
Selected characteristic 1999 2003 2007
Public school Private school Home-schooled1 Public school Private school Home-schooled1 Public school Private school Home-schooled1
Assigned Chosen Assigned Chosen Assigned Chosen
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Total 74.1   (0.45) 14.3   (0.33) 10.0   (0.28) 1.7   (0.14) 72.1   (0.57) 15.0   (0.41) 10.8   (0.39) 2.2   (0.18) 70.6   (0.70) 15.0   (0.55) 11.4   (0.45) 2.9   (0.23)
Sex of child                                                                        
Male 74.8   (0.60) 13.9   (0.44) 9.7   (0.34) 1.6   (0.17) 72.1   (0.70) 15.0   (0.56) 10.7   (0.48) 2.2   (0.24) 70.7   (1.05) 15.3   (0.79) 11.5   (0.73) 2.4   (0.28)
Female 73.4   (0.61) 14.6   (0.45) 10.3   (0.41) 1.8   (0.19) 72.1   (0.78) 14.9   (0.54) 10.8   (0.51) 2.1   (0.23) 70.5   (0.88) 14.7   (0.64) 11.2   (0.54) 3.5   (0.39)
                                                                         
Race/ethnicity of child                                                                        
White 75.0   (0.54) 11.2   (0.35) 11.8   (0.39) 2.0   (0.19) 72.7   (0.67) 12.4   (0.47) 12.2   (0.48) 2.7   (0.25) 69.9   (0.80) 12.0   (0.46) 14.2   (0.61) 3.9   (0.34)
Black 70.2   (1.24) 22.6   (1.22) 6.2   (0.47) 1.0   (0.31) 66.6   (1.49) 23.4   (1.45) 8.6   (0.85) 1.3 ! (0.42) 68.4   (2.30) 23.0   (2.20) 7.8   (1.33) 0.8 ! (0.28)
Hispanic 76.0   (1.02) 17.6   (0.91) 5.2   (0.40) 1.1   (0.25) 77.2   (1.17) 15.0   (0.99) 7.1   (0.66) 0.7 ! (0.26) 74.6   (1.41) 17.5   (1.25) 6.3   (0.57) 1.5   (0.29)
Other 69.5   (2.20) 17.6   (1.99) 11.0   (1.35) 1.9 ! (0.65) 67.1   (2.59) 18.7   (1.94) 11.3   (1.61) 3.0 ! (1.02) 70.4   (2.23) 16.7   (1.79) 9.4   (1.12) 3.3   (0.86)
                                                                         
Disability status of child as
    reported by parent
                                                                       
Has a disability 74.8   (0.93) 15.3   (0.78) 8.0   (0.49) 1.8   (0.27) 72.4   (1.12) 16.2   (0.75) 9.2   (0.70) 2.2   (0.35) 72.7   (1.35) 14.0   (0.91) 10.5   (0.96) 2.6   (0.48)
Does not have a disability 73.9   (0.51) 14.0   (0.36) 10.5   (0.34) 1.7   (0.16) 72.0   (0.67) 14.5   (0.51) 11.3   (0.44) 2.1   (0.21) 69.9   (0.76) 15.3   (0.63) 11.7   (0.48) 3.1   (0.28)
                                                                         
Grade equivalent2                                                                        
Kindergarten through 5th grade 71.5   (0.61) 15.1   (0.43) 11.6   (0.41) 1.8   (0.20) 70.1   (0.70) 16.2   (0.56) 11.8   (0.53) 1.9   (0.23) 68.5   (1.16) 16.2   (1.04) 12.2   (0.69) 3.0   (0.36)
Kindergarten 66.2   (1.67) 15.4   (1.13) 15.9   (1.29) 2.4   (0.52) 69.0   (1.50) 15.5   (1.18) 12.8   (1.21) 2.7   (0.64) 66.4   (2.20) 14.7   (1.60) 15.8   (1.61) 3.1 ! (0.96)
Grades 1 through 3 72.2   (0.87) 15.3   (0.67) 10.9   (0.53) 1.6   (0.29) 70.0   (1.18) 16.2   (0.96) 12.1   (0.73) 1.8   (0.28) 68.4   (1.68) 15.9   (1.63) 12.3   (0.93) 3.4   (0.54)
Grades 4 through 5 72.9   (1.17) 14.6   (0.79) 10.7   (0.77) 1.7   (0.28) 70.7   (1.12) 16.5   (0.96) 10.9   (0.76) 1.9   (0.35) 69.7   (1.62) 17.5   (1.34) 10.3   (1.08) 2.5   (0.52)
Grades 6 through 8 77.4   (0.79) 11.5   (0.65) 9.5   (0.47) 1.6   (0.24) 73.3   (1.03) 14.1   (0.81) 10.2   (0.59) 2.4   (0.36) 74.4   (1.44) 11.6   (0.81) 11.0   (1.14) 2.9   (0.52)
Grades 9 through 12 75.7   (0.75) 15.1   (0.60) 7.5   (0.44) 1.7   (0.24) 74.6   (0.97) 13.6   (0.76) 9.5   (0.63) 2.3   (0.33) 70.8   (1.07) 15.9   (0.84) 10.5   (0.75) 2.8   (0.38)
                                                                         
Number of parents in the household                                                                        
Two parents 74.5   (0.54) 12.0   (0.35) 11.5   (0.37) 2.1   (0.21) 71.8   (0.67) 13.6   (0.51) 12.1   (0.47) 2.5   (0.23) 69.5   (0.73) 13.8   (0.49) 12.9   (0.52) 3.6   (0.30)
One parent 73.5   (0.78) 18.2   (0.55) 7.3   (0.47) 0.9   (0.16) 72.9   (1.09) 18.0   (0.98) 7.6   (0.67) 1.5   (0.32) 73.6   (1.39) 17.2   (1.14) 8.1   (1.18) 1.0   (0.24)
Nonparental guardians 71.6   (2.70) 21.9   (2.72) 5.1   (0.84)   (†) 73.2   (3.05) 20.1   (2.59) 5.8   (1.36)   (†) 72.2   (5.91) 23.0   (6.19) 2.6   (0.74) 2.1 ! (0.81)
                                                                         
Highest education level of parents                                                                        
Less than a high school diploma. 79.1   (1.38) 18.0   (1.46) 2.7   (0.51) 0.2 ! (0.10) 76.9   (2.06) 18.9   (1.76) 2.9 ! (1.18)   (†) 83.3   (2.03) 12.7   (1.53) 3.5 ! (1.81) 0.5 ! (0.23)
High school diploma or GED 79.0   (0.84) 14.3   (0.72) 5.6   (0.44) 1.1   (0.19) 77.8   (1.01) 15.5   (0.89) 4.9   (0.45) 1.8   (0.34) 78.8   (1.90) 15.1   (1.84) 4.1   (0.63) 1.9   (0.36)
Vocational/technical or some college 75.8   (0.72) 14.7   (0.63) 7.7   (0.40) 1.9   (0.24) 74.0   (0.97) 15.5   (0.74) 8.3   (0.58) 2.1   (0.36) 72.0   (1.03) 15.3   (0.99) 8.8   (0.70) 3.8   (0.52)
Bachelor's degree/some graduate
    school
68.6   (1.06) 13.2   (0.75) 15.8   (0.75) 2.4   (0.37) 67.1   (1.00) 13.2   (0.84) 16.8   (0.90) 2.8   (0.45) 66.8   (1.24) 14.8   (1.02) 14.3   (0.87) 4.1   (0.57)
Graduate/professional degree 65.0   (1.14) 12.4   (0.77) 20.2   (0.91) 2.4   (0.54) 63.6   (1.50) 13.5   (1.14) 20.5   (1.28) 2.3   (0.55) 59.2   (1.37) 15.9   (1.01) 22.4   (1.22) 2.5   (0.41)
                                                                         
Poverty status of household                                                                        
Below poverty 74.8   (1.16) 19.2   (1.06) 4.3   (0.50) 1.7   (0.34) 76.3   (1.28) 17.7   (1.10) 3.7   (0.67) 2.3   (0.58) 76.6   (2.48) 17.8   (2.35) 3.7   (1.04) 1.8   (0.40)
Between poverty and 200 percent of
     poverty
76.8   (0.79) 15.3   (0.70) 5.9   (0.48) 2.0   (0.31) 75.1   (1.17) 16.0   (0.87) 5.9   (0.69) 3.1   (0.50) 74.4   (1.45) 16.2   (1.15) 5.2   (0.69) 4.1   (0.69)
At or above 200 percent of poverty 72.5   (0.57) 11.8   (0.34) 14.0   (0.47) 1.6   (0.18) 69.8   (0.70) 13.8   (0.54) 14.6   (0.54) 1.8   (0.21) 67.6   (0.75) 13.8   (0.48) 15.7   (0.54) 2.9   (0.30)
                                                                         
Urbanicity                                                                        
City   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†) 61.7   (1.46) 22.1   (1.38) 14.2   (0.97) 2.0   (0.26)
Suburb   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†) 72.7   (0.95) 11.8   (0.67) 12.8   (0.68) 2.6   (0.41)
Town   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†) 77.3   (1.77) 12.4   (1.43) 7.1   (0.75) 3.0   (0.66)
Rural   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†) 76.7   (1.36) 11.5   (1.03) 6.8   (1.09) 4.9   (0.71)
                                                                         
Region                                                                        
Northeast 72.8   (1.06) 13.4   (0.78) 12.6   (0.63) 1.1   (0.30) 71.6   (1.42) 11.9   (1.02) 14.6   (1.03) 1.8 ! (0.58) 72.5   (1.42) 11.8   (1.11) 13.6   (0.98) 2.1   (0.47)
South 75.4   (0.65) 13.2   (0.52) 9.3   (0.43) 2.0   (0.28) 74.2   (0.88) 14.9   (0.72) 8.3   (0.58) 2.6   (0.39) 71.9   (1.15) 13.6   (0.96) 10.8   (0.58) 3.7   (0.46)
Midwest 74.3   (0.80) 13.4   (0.72) 10.9   (0.61) 1.4   (0.24) 69.9   (1.27) 14.4   (0.92) 13.8   (1.04) 2.0   (0.37) 70.8   (1.54) 14.2   (1.06) 12.8   (1.14) 2.2   (0.53)
West 72.7   (0.95) 17.7   (0.73) 7.5   (0.49) 2.0   (0.34) 71.9   (1.07) 17.9   (0.97) 8.3   (0.59) 2.0   (0.34) 67.0   (1.40) 20.3   (1.17) 9.4   (0.75) 3.1   (0.42)
—Not available.
†Not applicable.                                                                        
!Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is 30 percent or greater.
‡Reporting standards not met. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is 50 percent or greater.
1 Excludes students who were enrolled in school for more than 25 hours a week; also excluded in 1999 and 2003 are students who were homeschooled only due to a temporary illness and, in 2007, students who were homeschooled primarily due to a temporary illness.
2 Students whose grade equivalent was "ungraded" were excluded from the grade analysis. The percentage of students with an "ungraded" grade equivalent was 0.03 percent in 1999 and 0.02 percent in 2003 and 2007.
NOTE: Data are based on parent reports. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Some data have been revised from previously published figures. Standard errors appear in parentheses.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Parent Survey (Parent:1999) and Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey (PFI:2003 and PFI:2007) of the National Household Education Surveys Program. (This table was prepared July 2010.)

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