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Education Statistics Quarterly
Vol 5, Issue 2, Topic: International Statistics
Comparative Indicators of Education in the United States and Other G-8 Countries: 2002
By: Joel D. Sherman, Steven D. Honegger, and Jennifer L. McGivern
 
This report was originally published as the Highlights of the Statistical Analysis Report of the same name. Data sources, outlined at the end of this article, include collections and assessments of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA).
 
 

This report is designed to describe how the U.S. education system compares with the education systems in the Group of Eight, or G-8, countries. These countries, which include Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States, are among the world's most economically developed economies. Comparative Indicators of Education in the United States and Other G-8 Countries: 2002 draws on the most current information about education from the Indicators of National Education Systems (INES) project at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the international assessments conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), and more recently, the OECD's Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). The main findings of this report are highlighted below. The highlights are organized around the five major sections of the report.


Potential demand for education

Relative size of the school-age population. Primary and secondary school-age children (between the ages of 5 and 19) represented a larger proportion of the total population in the United States than in all seven other countries presented except the Russian Federation. The United States was one of only three G-8 countries whose school-age population grew in absolute number between 1992 and 1999—the other two being the United Kingdom and Germany.

Educational attainment of the population

Completion of upper secondary education. In 1999, the proportion of adults who completed at least an upper secondary education was higher in the United States than in the six other countries presented. Among younger adults (ages 25 to 34), the upper secondary completion rate was still higher in the United States than in five of the six other countries presented, despite broadened access to upper secondary education in these countries. Only Japan had a higher upper secondary school completion rate for people in this age group than the United States.

Completion of higher education. Similarly, in 1999, the United States had a higher proportion of all adults (ages 25 to 64), as well as younger adults (ages 25 to 34), who had completed a first university degree than the six other countries presented (figure A). However, the difference in the proportion of younger adults (ages 25 to 34) and older adults (ages 55 to 64) who had completed a first university degree was smaller in the United States than in Japan and Canada, suggesting that these two countries have expanded access to higher academic education to a larger segment of their populations in recent years.

Figure A. Percentage of the population ages 25 to 64 that has completed at least a first university degree, by age group and country: 1999
Figure A. Percentage of the population ages 25 to 64 that has completed at least a first university degree, by age group and country: 1999

NOTE: The United Kingdom includes England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Data for the United Kingdom exclude individuals who have completed short programs that do not provide access to higher education, since these programs do not meet the minimum requirements to qualify as upper secondary education based on the international standard (ISCED).

SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Education at a Glance, 2001, table A 2.2b. (Previously published as figure 2b on p.19 of the complete report from which this article is excerpted.)

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Access to preprimary education

Participation in preprimary education. In 1999, enrollment rates of children ages 3 to 5 in preprimary education were lower in the United States than in France, Germany, Italy, and Japan. France and Italy had nearly universal enrollment of 3- to 5-year-olds in preprimary education. The United States had lower enrollment rates of 3- and 4-year-olds in preprimary education than all other countries presented except Canada and lower enrollment rates of 5-year-olds in preprimary and primary education than all other countries presented except Canada and Germany (figure B).

Human resources in primary education

Student/teacher ratios in primary education. The United States had the second-lowest student/teacher ratio in primary education of the countries presented in 1999 (figure C). Only Italy had a lower student/teacher ratio.

Teachers' salaries in public primary education. In 1999, primary school teachers in the United States with minimum qualifications had higher average starting salaries than teachers in France, Italy, England, and Scotland, but lower average starting salaries than teachers in Germany. U.S. primary teachers with minimum qualifications at the top of the salary schedule had higher average salaries than their counterparts in all of these countries.

Achievement of primary school students

Achievement in mathematics and science. According to the Third International Mathematics and Science Study conducted in 1994–95 (TIMSS 1995), American fourth-graders had higher average scores in both mathematics and science than their counterparts in Canada, England, and Scotland, but lower average scores in mathematics than Japanese students. No differences were detected in Japanese fourth-grade students' average scores in science relative to American students' average scores.

Figure B. Percentage of children ages 3 to 5 enrolled in preprimary and primary education, by selected age and country: 1999
Figure B. Percentage of children ages 3 to 5 enrolled in preprimary and primary education, by selected age and country: 1999

1The preprimary enrollment for 3-year-olds in Canada and for 5-year-olds in the United Kingdom rounds to zero.

NOTE The United Kingdom includes England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. To conform to the international standard, figures for preprimary education for the United States include enrollments in kindergarten and prekindergarten classes in elementary schools in preprimary education. Figures for the United States are from the Current Population Survey and do not correspond with figures published previously by OECD. Only 0.2 percent of 5-year-olds in the United Kingdom are enrolled in preprimary education; over 99 percent are enrolled in primary education.

SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Education Database, 2001; U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, October 1998. (Previously published as figure 5b on p. 27 of the complete report from which this article is excerpted.)

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Human resources in secondary education

Student/teacher ratios in secondary education. In contrast with primary education, in 1999, the United States had the second-highest student/teacher ratio in secondary education of the eight countries presented—second only to Canada (figure C).

Teachers' salaries in public upper secondary education. Similar to teachers' salaries in primary education, in 1999, public upper secondary teachers in the United States with minimum qualifications had higher average starting salaries than teachers in France, Italy, England, and Scotland, but lower starting salaries than teachers in Germany. U.S. public upper secondary teachers with minimum qualifications at the top of the salary schedule had higher average salaries than teachers in all other countries reporting data except Germany.

Achievement of secondary school students

Achievement in mathematics and science. According to TIMSS 1999,1 American eighth-grade students had lower average scores in both mathematics and science than Japanese and Canadian students, but higher average scores than Italian students. Students from the Russian Federation also scored higher, on average, in mathematics, but no differences were detected in the scores of Russian and U.S. students in science. No differences were detected in the mathematics scores of English and U.S. students, but U.S. students had lower average science scores than their English counterparts.

Proficiency in reading. In 2000, American 15-year-olds had lower average scores than their Canadian counterparts on the PISA reading literacy scale, but no difference was detected between average U.S. 15-year-olds' performance compared to the performance of 15-year-olds in France, Italy, Germany, Japan, or the United Kingdom. The proportion of 15-year-olds performing at the highest level was higher in the United States than in Italy and the Russian Federation, but no difference was detected between the United States and Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

Achievement in civic education. American 14-year-olds had higher scores on the assessment of total civic knowledge (comprised of a civic content and civic skills set of questions) than their counterparts in England, Germany, and the Russian Federation on the Civic Education Study (1999). No difference was detected in the scores of American and Italian 14-year-olds.

Completion of upper secondary education

Graduation rates from upper secondary education. In 1999, the United States had a lower secondary school graduation rate than Japan, Germany, and France, but a higher rate than Italy.

Expenditures for primary and secondary education

Expenditures per student for primary education. Expenditures per student for primary education were higher in the United States than in the five other countries presented in 1994 and 1998.

Expenditures per student for secondary education. Expenditures per student for secondary education were also higher in the United States than in the five other countries that reported data in 1994 and 1998.

Expenditures for primary and secondary education as a percent of gross domestic product (GDP). While the United States had higher expenditures per student for primary and secondary education compared to the other countries presented, the United States placed in the middle of the countries presented based on public expenditures for primary and secondary education as a percent of GDP in 1998. With the addition of private expenditures for primary and secondary education, the United States still placed in the middle of the countries presented based on total public and private expenditures as a percent of GDP—behind France and Canada, about the same as Germany, and ahead of Italy and Japan.

Figure C. Ratio of full-time-equivalent students to full-time-equivalent teachers in public and private primary and secondary schools, by country: 1999
Figure C. Ratio of full-time-equivalent students to full-time-equivalent teachers in public and private primary and secondary schools, by country: 1999

1Includes only general programs.

NOTE: The United Kingdom includes England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Education at a Glance, 2001, table D 5.1. (Taken from figures 6 and 12 on pp. 29 and 43 of the complete report from which this article is excerpted.)

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Access to higher education

Participation in higher education. The enrollment rate in higher education was higher in the United States than in the five other countries presented in 1999. While the net enrollment rate in higher education was relatively stable in the United States, France, and Germany between 1994 and 1999, the rate increased in the United Kingdom.

Completion of higher education

Graduation from first university programs of higher education. In 1999, the graduation rate from first university programs of medium length (3 to less than 5 years) was higher in the United States than in all G-8 countries except the United Kingdom. In the United States, the graduation rate from first university programs that prepare students for advanced research training and highly qualified professions was more than three and a half times the graduation rate from technical and vocational programs that prepare students for direct entry into the labor market.

Science degrees

First university degrees in science,2 including mathematics. In 1999, the United States awarded a smaller percentage of first university degrees in science than Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. About 10 percent of all first university degrees awarded in science in the United States were in mathematics and statistics—the lowest percentage of the five countries presented.

Expenditures for higher education

Expenditures per student for higher education. In 1998, expenditures per student for higher education were higher in the United States than in all other countries presented—more than twice as high as in Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom, and more than two and one-half times as high as in France. Between 1995 and 1998, all countries presented showed increases in average expenditures per student for higher education. During this period, the gap widened in average expenditures per student for higher education between the United States and the other countries presented.

Expenditures for higher education as a percent of GDP. In 1998, public expenditures for higher education as a percent of GDP were higher in the United States than in the six other countries presented, except Canada. With the addition of private expenditures, the United States replaced Canada as the country with the highest expenditures for higher education as a percent of GDP. This contrasts with the position of the United States (in the middle of the six countries) for expenditures on primary and secondary education as a percent of GDP.

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Labor market outcome of education

Labor force participation rates. In 1999, adults ages 25 to 64 in the United States who completed upper secondary education (high school or its equivalent) had a higher labor force participation rate than high school noncompleters. The difference in labor force participation rates between upper secondary school completers and noncompleters was smaller in the United States than in Canada, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom; about the same as in France; and greater than in Japan.

In 1999, adults ages 25 to 64 in the United States who completed a program of academic higher education had a labor force participation rate that was 8 percentage points higher than the participation rate of adults who completed high school or its equivalent. The difference in labor force participation rates between completers of academic higher education and completers of upper secondary education (high school in the United States) was smaller in the United States than in Germany, Italy, and Japan; about the same as in the United Kingdom; and greater than in Canada and France.

Average earnings. In 1999, adults ages 25 to 64 in the United States who completed less than an upper secondary education (high school) earned, on average, about 67 percent of the earnings of adults who completed upper secondary education. The earnings disadvantage for noncompleters of upper secondary education was smaller in the United States than in the United Kingdom and Italy, but greater than in Germany, Canada, and France.

In the United States, the earnings of adults ages 25 to 64 who completed a program of academic higher education were, on average, about 180 percent of the earnings of completers of upper secondary education. The relative advantage of U.S. higher education completers over upper secondary education completers was greater than in the other four countries presented, although in every country presented those who completed academic higher education earned more than those who completed only upper secondary education.

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Footnotes

1 In earlier reports, TIMSS 1999 is also referred to as TIMSS–R (TIMSS–Repeat).

2 "Science" is defined as comprising four content areas: computing, life sciences, mathematics and statistics, and physical sciences.

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Data sources:

OECD: Indicators of National Education Systems (INES) project—including data from OECD's Education at a Glance (1996, 2000, 2001) and the OECD 2001 database—and Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2000.

IEA: Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), 1995 and 1999; and Civic Education Study (CivEd), 1999.

Other: The U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS) and International Database; the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD), Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), and Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS); and national data sources for other member countries.

For technical information, see the complete report:

Sherman, J.D., Honegger, S.D., and McGivern, J.L. (2003). Comparative Indicators of Education in the United States and Other G-8 Countries: 2002 (NCES 2003–026).

Author affiliations: J.D. Sherman, S.D. Honegger, and J.L. McGivern, American Institutes for Research.

For questions about content, contact Daniel McGrath at( Daniel.McGrath@ed.gov).

To obtain the complete report (NCES 2003–026), call the toll-free ED Pubs number (877–433–7827) or visit the NCES Electronic Catalog (http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch).


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