Education in States and Nations: 1991

(ESN) FOREWORD

Today's shrinking world brings us closer to other nations through improved communications, transportation, and an increasingly global marketplace. Many Americans now agree that our nation's ability to compete in the world economy depends vitally on continuous improvements not only at the workplace, but in our education system as well.

Education in States and Nations reflects two realities increasing globalization and the centrality of the states in American education. In Education in States and Nations, indicators provide international benchmarks for assessing the condition of education in the U.S. states and in the United States as a whole by comparison with many other industrialized countries for which data are available. On six sets of education indicators background, participation, processes and institutions, achievement and attainment, labor market outcomes, and finance country-level and state-level measures are arrayed side-by-side in order to facilitate that comparison.

The country-level data come from a variety of sources, but two sources are most prominent: the second edition of international education indicators, Education at a Glance, of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); and the International Assessment of Educational Progress, which administered a mathematics test to 13-year-olds in about 20 countries and surveyed them and their school administrators about various aspects of the education process. The indicators in Education in States and Nations correspond to as many of the international indicators for which state-level data were both applicable and available.

This report is the second effort of its kind; the first edition, produced in 1993, was based on state and country data from the late 1980s. This edition, using data primarily from the early 1990s, is much larger than its predecessor. This reflects both a greater availability of suitable international indicators and state-level data, as well as a greater effort to find relevant indicators, both domestic and international.

Like its predecessor, this edition of Education in States and Nations may provoke discussions over what it includes, what it does not include, and how the data are presented. Thus, this report may raise some questions even as it answers others. That, however, should not diminish its usefulness. On the contrary, it will be beneficial if Education in States and Nations sparks a desire in readers to better understand the education systems of other countries or to improve on this set of indicators in future publications. This publication represents another step in an evolving process, not the conclusion of a limited study. As such, NCES would welcome comments or suggestions for future editions.

Jeanne E. Griffith
Acting Commissioner

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