• Introduction
• I. Learner Outcomes
• II. Quality of Educational Environments (Elementary/Secondary)
• III. Quality of Educational Environments (Postsecondary)
• IV. Social Support for Learning
• V. Educational Participation and Progress
• Conclusions
• References

In addition to a basic core of indicators that can be repeated with updated information on a yearly or cyclical basis, each edition of the Condition contains a more limited set of indicators based on infrequent or special studies. This year's edition contains 22 new indicators, which are integrated throughout the report.

In this year's edition of the Condition, the individual indicators are preceded by a 25-page essay providing an overview of key information from the indicators. The purpose of this essay is to create links between the numerous topics discussed in this report and construct a comprehensive statistical picture of the condition of education. Like the indicators themselves, the overview essay is organized by topic into five major sections. The essay's introduction and conclusions provide additional context for the topical discussions.

Providing a quality education for all students is widely viewed as crucial to the future success of the nation. In A Nation at Risk (1983), the National Commission on Excellence in Education warned of a "rising tide of mediocrity" in elementary and secondary education in the United States and made a series of recommendations to improve its quality. These recommendations stimulated a school reform movement that continues to expand and evolve. In recent years, international comparisons have shown U.S. students lagging behind those in many other developed nations. The concerns raised by the Commission, coupled with these new studies, have kept improving the quality of education high on the national agenda.

Postsecondary education has not been the target of the same types of reform efforts as elementary and secondary education. However, the demands of changing technologies and maintaining a competitive position in the global economy are making postsecondary education increasingly important to individuals and society, and have led to federal and state policies designed to encourage participation in higher education. Consequently, issues related to access, attainment, affordability, and the quality of instruction are the focus of ongoing attention.

The following sections provide highlights of some of the evidence presented in the current and recent editions of the Condition on the progress that has been made in recent years in providing a quality education for all students and the problems that still exist. Although the evidence shows progress in improving the quality of education for all students in some areas, it also highlights areas in which further improvements are needed.

Examining learner outcomes can shed light on the quality of education. Outcomes include levels of student achievement and adult literacy, as well as economic consequences of educational attainment.

A first step in assessing the progress that has been made in improving the education of all students is to compare the academic performance of students today with that of students in the past. Data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) provide a common yardstick for making such comparisons at the state and national levels. The news is mixed.

• Between 1973 and 1996, mathematics performance improved overall, with stability or early declines followed by improved performance.
• Little change occurred in the long-term trends in students' reading performance between 1971 and 1996.
• In science, long-term achievement fell between 1970 and the early 1980s but then rose through 1996.

Between the early 1970s and the mid- to late 1980s, the performance scores of black students improved relative to those of white students in reading, mathematics, and science at all ages (9, 13, and 17). Since then, these differences in performance between blacks and whites have either widened again or remained the same.

A different perspective on student performance can be gained from the assessments of science and mathematics conducted in 1995 by the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). In both mathematics and science, U.S. students scored above the international averages in grade 4, close to the international averages in grade 8, and considerably below the averages at the end of secondary school.

The knowledge and skills measured by student achievement tests are part of the larger educational goal of helping students become literate. The literacy skills developed in schools and colleges are intended to equip individuals for life in the modern world and provide them with the ability to earn a living and contribute to the welfare of society. Results from the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS) indicate that adults in the population with more education have higher literacy skills that remain high across age groups.

Education has a long-term effect on personal income. At least one reason for completing more education is to enter higher paying occupations and careers than are available to those with less education. Increases over time in the rates of employment and earnings for individuals with more education signal growing demand in the economy for these better educated people relative to their supply.

• Since 1971, the differences in the employment rates of those with more and less education have generally increased for both males and females.
• The difference between the earnings of 25- to 34-year-olds with a bachelor's degree or more and the earnings of their peers who have completed high school has increased for both males and females since 1980.

Early approaches to school reform that followed publication of A Nation at Risk called for longer school days and years, more testing, more rigorous academic programs in high school, stricter certification requirements for teachers, higher salaries for teachers, and upgraded technology. More recently, reform efforts have shifted in emphasis from school inputs to what occurs in the classroom—in terms of curriculum, instructional practices, and methods of student assessment—and also how to prepare teachers to address the new demands being placed upon them.

One recommendation in A Nation at Risk was that all high school students seeking a diploma be required to take a "New Basics" core curriculum consisting of 4 years of English and 3 years each of social studies, science, and mathematics.* Since this recommendation was made, changes have occurred in course-taking patterns.

• High school students are taking more courses in core subject areas than previously taken.
• High school students are taking more difficult courses.

Recent reform efforts have called on teachers to adopt new goals for the classroom, change how they interact with students, and learn how to use new tools for learning and assessment (e.g., National Commission on Teaching and America's Future 1996).

• The majority of teachers report engaging their students in activities designed to promote higher level thinking skills.
• The majority of teachers report requiring students to participate actively in class.
• The majority of public elementary school teachers are using portfolios.

The rapid growth in the use of new technologies in the workplace and society has put pressure on schools to acquire computers, software, and Internet access and on teachers to integrate this technology into their classroom activities.

• Access to the Internet in the schools has grown dramatically.
• Student use of computers is increasing at school and at home.

As new instructional practices and technologies make their way into the classroom, they are requiring fundamental changes in how teachers work and prepare themselves to teach. Helping teachers to meet these new demands has become a major focus of school reform efforts.

• Some students are being taught core academic subjects by teachers who are not certified to teach those subjects, but certification requirements have increased. Between 1990-91 and 1993-94, the increase was mainly in requirements for passing basic literacy or subject matter knowledge tests.
• Many teachers do not consider themselves very well prepared to handle some of the new demands being placed on them, but they are more likely to feel prepared after they have participated in related professional development activities.
• Teachers report that regular participation in collaborative activities improves their teaching.

The quality of undergraduate education has received considerable attention in recent years, with concerns raised about the quality of curriculum, faculty, and teaching methods. National data on these topics are limited, but data are available to describe several important issues.

• The majority of postsecondary education institutions offer remedial courses.
• Exposure to senior faculty was about the same across all types of 4-year colleges and universities in 1992, and did not change appreciably between fall 1987 and fall 1992.
• A majority of instructional faculty and staff at 2-year institutions are part time.
• Full-time faculty spent proportionately less time on teaching-related activities but more hours in the classroom in 1992 than in 1987.

The support that families and society at large provide for learning significantly affects the quality of educational opportunities available to children and postsecondary students and, thus, contributes to their ultimate success. Investments of both time and financial resources are important.

Parents are their children's first teachers. Even when children are very young, parents can assume a key role in preparing them for formal schooling by helping them to develop language and other skills and by enrolling them in early childhood programs. Once children enter school, their parents can continue to support learning by participating in school activities and helping with homework. In addition to participating directly in school- and learning-related activities with their children, parents and other family members sometimes support their children's education financially through tuition payments.

• Many parents report that their young children are engaging in early literacy activities.
• Many children are enrolled in early childhood programs.
• Most parents report attending meetings and events at their children's schools and helping with homework.
• Fathers' participation has a positive effect on children's success in school.
• The proportion of students enrolled in private education varies greatly across the preschool, elementary/secondary, and postsecondary levels.

There are a number of ways to assess public support for education. One way, for example, is to compare per student expenditures (adjusted for inflation) over time. Another is to examine the amount of funds raised per student for education relative to per capita income over time. Yet another is to compare the United States with other countries in terms of the share of national resources devoted to education.

• Per pupil expenditures for elementary/secondary education have increased slightly in recent years.
• At the higher education level, total per student expenditures are increasing, but not government appropriations.
• Financial aid to students helps to offset the cost of postsecondary education.
• According to one measure of effort (revenues per student divided by per capita income for the total population), public financial support has generally increased over time for elementary and secondary education and has remained stable since the early 1980s for higher education.
• The United States devotes more of its public resources to education than most G-7 countries.

Students' participation in and rates of progress through the educational system and their educational attainments are important aspects of the condition of education.

In the aftermath of baby boom generation enrollment, total enrollments in elementary and secondary education declined during the 1970s through the early 1980s. Enrollments began to rise again as the children of baby boom parents began to enter the education system in large numbers. In addition to changes in total enrollments due to these population shifts, there have also been changes in rates of enrollment at all levels of formal education.

• Total enrollments in both elementary and secondary education have increased since the early 1980s to all-time highs.
• Since 1970, the largest increase in educational enrollment rates has been among those ages 3-5.
• Since 1970, the largest increase in postsecondary education enrollment rates has been among traditionally aged college students (19- to 24-year-olds) rather than among older individuals.

Those who complete high school are more likely to be employed as young adults than noncompleters. Furthermore, the differences in employment rates and earnings between these two groups have been growing over the last 2 decades. These recent trends confirm the longstanding belief of parents and educators that completing high school is important.

More students may also be realizing the importance of completing high school. The high school completion rate of 25- to 29-year-olds has risen overall since 1971, with most of the gains occurring in the 1970s through the early 1980s.

In recent years, other large, industrialized countries have invested heavily in the expansion of secondary schooling. As a result, secondary school completion rates are rising in other large, industrialized countries such that they are essentially catching up to the rates of the United States.

After completing high school, the next educational transition for students is often entering college. Youth decide to enter college depending upon their life goals and the environment of expectations and opportunities in which they have grown up.

• The percentage of high school completers who enroll in college immediately after completing high school has risen since 1981, but not by as much for blacks and Hispanics as for whites.
• Students from different racial/ethnic and family income backgrounds who are academically well prepared for college and who take the steps necessary to enroll are accepted and subsequently enroll at about the same rates.

A subsequent benchmark for gauging students' progress through the education system is the attainment of a bachelor's degree. Attainment of this degree represents a distinctly higher level of education than the completion of high school and opens doors to careers that are closed to those with less education.

The percentage of the population ages 25-29 who have completed a bachelor's degree has generally increased since the early 1970s; however, since the early 1980s, the completion rate for whites has been rising faster than the rates for blacks and Hispanics.

Since the early 1980s, some progress has been made in improving education in the United States, but the directions of change are mixed. Reform efforts are more widespread in elementary and secondary education than in higher education, but many are concerned about issues of the cost, accessibility, and quality of higher education.

Student performance on the NAEP long-term trend assessments has improved since the early 1980s in mathematics and science, but not in reading. In addition, student performance on the main NAEP assessments has shown some improvements in mathematics and reading at some grade levels and no declines. At least two-thirds of 31 states participating in these mathematics assessments also showed improvements in student proficiency scores, and none had declining scores. In contrast, little change has occurred since the early 1970s in reading.

Although student performance on the NAEP mathematics and science assessments has improved in recent years, students do not fare as well internationally on the TIMSS assessments at the 12th-grade, or upper secondary, level as they do at the 4th-grade level. This low standing of U.S. high school students, coupled with the recent expansion of secondary schooling in other large, industrialized countries, informs the debate over improving the quality of secondary education as a particularly important goal of education reform.

Since the early 1980s, students have been taking more courses in core academic subjects in accordance with the recommendations of A Nation at Risk. The difficulty of these courses has increased as well. Student use of computers at home and at school has increased, and access to the Internet has expanded dramatically. Still, low- and middle-income students are far more likely to use a computer at school than at home.

At the college level, the literacy scores of college completers are higher than the scores of those with some college, and higher still than the literacy scores of high school completers. Internationally, the literacy scores of U.S. college graduates were exceeded by those in only one other country that participated in the 1994-95 International Adult Literacy Study (IALS) assessment.

Improving the quality of elementary and secondary education so that students learn more requires changes in methods of teaching and learning. Elementary and secondary teachers report using new methods of instruc-tion intended to develop higher order thinking skills and capabilities for using knowledge, but many do not feel well prepared to put these new methods to use in their classrooms. However, teachers who have participated in professional development activities related to these new techniques, including collaboration with other teachers, feel better prepared.

At the postsecondary level, many are concerned about the quality of undergraduate education, but national data on change are limited. Undergraduate students are exposed to senior faculty in at least half of their courses, a proportion that is similar across all types of 4-year institutions. Full-time faculty are spending more time in the classroom teaching students and less time on related activities such as grading papers, preparing for class, or advising students.

More than half of postsecondary institutions of all types offer remedial courses, and nearly a third of college freshmen are required to enroll in at least one of them. These courses are intended to help students improve their mathematics, writing, or reading skills to at least the minimums required for college work. The extent of remediation in higher education raises further questions about the quality of secondary education.

Since the early 1970s, some progress has been made in closing the black-white gaps in student academic achievement in elementary and secondary schooling; however, the proficiency scores of blacks still remain behind those of whites. Most of the gains occurred between the early 1970s and mid- to late 1980s, largely preceding the academic reform movement. Since the mid- to late 1980s, the gaps between the achievement scores of blacks and whites have either stayed the same or widened some. The differences between Hispanic and white achievement have not narrowed to the same extent as they have for blacks.

Black rates of high school completion have risen more than those of whites since the early 1970s, closing the gap between the black and white rates significantly. Most of this improvement occurred before the late 1980s. Because Hispanic rates of high school completion have not risen faster than those of whites, the gap between the rates remains the same.

Black and Hispanic rates of college enrollment have risen since the early 1980s, but not as fast as those for whites. Furthermore, the rates of attaining a bachelor's degree have increased faster among young white adults than among their black and Hispanic peers over the same period. Consequently, the gaps in higher education attainment between whites and Hispanics and between whites and blacks have grown.

Improving the quality of education for all students requires the support of parents and society at large. The investments of time and money these individuals make in education can significantly affect the quality of educational opportunities available to children in elementary and secondary education and to students when they enter higher education.

The education levels of parents contribute to their support of their children's education, and these levels are increasing. Parental education levels have increased and will continue to do so if the percentages of the population who complete college continue to increase. The children of parents who are college educated are more likely to read to their children, and these children, are, in turn, more likely to attend college.

In 1995, the United States spent 3.5 percent of its gross national product (GNP) on elementary/secondary education, and 1.1 percent on higher education. Among large, industrialized countries, only Canada spent higher proportions of its GNP on education. At the elementary/secondary level, the index of total institutional revenues per student divided by per capita income has generally increased over time, but it decreased slightly between 1994 and 1995. The national index for higher education was considerably higher in 1970 than it was in 1996 but has been relatively stable in recent years.