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Overview of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools and Districts: School Year 1995-96

February 1998

(NCES 98-206) Ordering information

Types of Public Schools

In the 1995-96 school year 85,102 public schools provided instruction to 44.8 million students in the United States (table 1). \1\ This was an increase of about 1.7 percent over the previous year for students but virtually no change in the number of schools. Most of these institutions were regular schools (80,314). Regular schools often provide a range of special, vocational, and alternative programs in addition to their traditional curriculum offerings; however, there are some schools that offer these specialized programs as their primary function. Among this group in 1995-96 were 1,667 schools whose major function was to provide special education for students with disabilities and 339 schools identified as vocational. Some 2,782 schools were reported to offer other alternative programs, an increase of about 6.8 percent from 1993-94.

The great majority of public school students, 98.2 percent, were enrolled in regular schools. An additional 0.5 percent were in special education schools, 0.4 percent in vocational schools, and 0.9 percent in alternative schools. These distributions were unchanged from the previous year. Mississippi, New Hampshire and North Dakota had only regular schools. With 7.7 percent of its pupils enrolled in non-regular schools, Delaware had the greatest proportion of students in these specialized schools.

Schools and Community Size

Table 2 shows that while one in eight schools was located in a large city (12.6 percent), one in six students attended large city schools There were slightly more schools in rural areas than in any other locale (25.2 percent). However, almost three-fourths of the students were enrolled in, or in the fringes of, large and midsize cities. Compared with the previous year, the proportion of students attending schools in small towns or rural areas declined by 2.4 percent.

Primary, Middle, High Schools

Among the 85,102 public schools with students in membership during the 1995-96 school year, about 59.3 percent spanned the traditional primary grades, typically beginning with prekindergarten or kindergarten and going no higher than grade 8 (table 3; see Key Terms for complete definitions of instructional levels). About half (50.7 percent) of the nation's public school students were enrolled in these schools. An additional 17.1 percent of the schools covered the upper elementary and middle grades, and offered instruction to 19.5 percent of public school students.

High schools represented 18.7 percent of the schools reported, and enrolled 26.7 percent of the total number of students. About 4.9 percent of schools followed some other grade configuration, including schools that spanned all of grades kindergarten through 12 and those that were ungraded.

School District Grade Spans

In 1995-96 there were 14,887 public education agencies providing education services directly to students in the United States. \2\ Some of these were operated directly by states or federal agencies, or had a primary role other than that of administering regular educational services. However, the majority of public education agencies (14,367) were regular school districts providing education to children within their jurisdiction (table 4).

States varied in the organization of their regular education agencies. Hawaii and the District of Columbia each consist of a single school district. Seventeen of the other 49 states had no more than one or two districts that did not span all grades. On the other hand, in nine states less than half of the school districts included grades kindergarten through 12.

Among the 14,367 regular school districts with pupils in membership, 3,169 were responsible for only the elementary grades, beginning with grades prekindergarten, kindergarten, or one and ending at grade eight or below (table 4). These districts enrolled 5.9 percent of the nation's public school students. An additional 531 agencies could be characterized as secondary school districts, with a low grade of 7 or higher and a high grade of 12. Some 2.2 percent of all students attended schools in these districts. However, almost three out of four districts (10,537) provided instruction from the beginning of school through graduation. Fully 91.8 percent of all students were enrolled in these comprehensive school districts.

School District Size

School districts ranged greatly in size, as measured by the number of students in membership. A very few districts (23) enrolled 100,000 or more students while a larger number (1,699) reported fewer than 150 students (table 5). While small in number, the largest districts served a considerable portion of America's public school students. Although only about 1.5 percent of districts served 25,000 or more students, fully 30.5 percent of students received their education in these largest districts. To show the contrast from a different perspective, almost half of the school districts in the United States had fewer than 1,000 students in 1995-96. At the same time, almost half of the public school students in this country attended schools in districts of 10,000 students or more.

Student Characteristics

Because participation in the Free Lunch Program depends on income, eligibility for this program is often used to estimate student needs. Thirteen states did not report free lunch eligibility data for at least 70 percent of their schools, so national totals could not be calculated. Within those states and schools that did provide this information, the proportion of students who were reported as eligible to receive a free lunch ranged from a low of 12.4 percent in New Hampshire to a high of 69.4 percent in the District of Columbia. Louisiana and Mississippi reported that at least half of their public school students were eligible for free lunch (see table 6).

Three states did not report the number of students with individual education programs (IEPs), who participate in special education services. Among the states for which this information was available, the percentage of students with IEPs ranged from under 5.0 percent in Illinois and Michigan to 15 percent or more in Massachusetts, Missouri, Rhode Island, and West Virginia.

About two-thirds of the public school students in the United States in 1995-96 were white, non-Hispanic and about one-sixth were black, non-Hispanic. The highest proportion of American Indian/Alaskan native students was found in Alaska (comprising 24.5 percent of that state's students), while the greatest proportion of Asian/Pacific Islander students was in Hawaii (69.3 percent). More than one-third of the students were Hispanic in California, New Mexico and Texas. Over half of the students were black, non-Hispanic, in the District of Columbia (87.6 percent) and Mississippi (51.0 percent). White, non-Hispanic students comprised less than half of the student membership in six states, but represented 90 percent or more of the students in six other states. At the national level, none of the racial/ethnic groups changed by as much as 1 percent over the previous year.

Dropouts

Thirty states and Puerto Rico reported dropout statistics in agreement with the CCD’s definition (see table 7). Among these jurisdictions, two states reported that more than 10 percent of students in grades 9-12 had dropped out during the preceding school year. Two others reported dropout rates among these grades at less than 3 percent. Fourteen states had dropout rates somewhere between 4.0 and 5.9 percent. Dropouts were more likely to be male than female. In only five reporting jurisdictions were less than 55 percent of the grade 9-12 dropouts male. In 10 states half or more of the dropouts were minority students (note that all of Puerto Rico’s students were reported as Hispanic).

Technical Notes

The Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey and Public Education Agency Survey are annual state-level collections of information about the numbers and types of public schools and education agencies, the numbers and selected characteristics of students, dropouts, and numbers of staff. These two surveys also include directory information such as school and agency names, addresses and telephone numbers. The School and Agency Surveys are part of the Common Core of Data (CCD) collection of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), and use information reported by state education agencies.

Not all states collect and report all of the data items on these surveys. NCES estimates, or imputes, missing data at the state level if an item has been reported in the past. If an item has never been reported, it is not imputed but is shown as "missing." When information is missing for one or more states, as is the case with counts of students eligible for the federal Free Lunch Program, NCES does not calculate national totals. (A state is considered to have missing data if an item is reported by less than 70 percent of the schools or agencies.) Because some students may receive a public education outside a local school district or school (for example, in a state-operated residential school) the numbers of students on the school or agency reports are not used as the official state totals. The numbers of students shown in table 1 are taken from the State Nonfiscal Survey of the CCD. The percentages of students shown in tables are based on the School or Agency Surveys. It should be noted that this report, which includes only schools with pupils in membership, excludes a disproportionally high number of vocational schools whose enrollment is often attributed to regular school.

Key Terms

A public school provides educational services to students, has an assigned administrator, receives public funds as its primary support, and is operated by an education agency. A single school may operate at multiple locations (for example, an urban "storefront school" for potential dropouts with a single principal responsible for programs at several addresses). And, two schools may operate at the same location, as is the case when a kindergarten-grade 12 facility has both an elementary and a high school principal. This report excluded 2,023 schools that did not report any students in membership for the 1995-96 school year.

Regular schools do not focus primarily on special, vocational, or alternative education, although they may offer these programs in addition to the regular curriculum. A special education school focuses primarily on special education, with materials and instructional approaches adapted to meet the students' needs. A vocational education school focuses primarily on vocational education and provides education or training in at least one semiskilled or technical occupation. An alternative education school addresses the needs of students that typically cannot be met in the regular school setting, and provides nontraditional education.

Membership is the annual headcount of students enrolled in school on October 1, or the school day closest to that date. In any given year, some small schools will not have any pupils. And, in reporting to the CCD, states assign students who attend more than one school to a single school rather than prorating students across all the schools they attend.

Instructional levels are calculated from the lowest and highest grades for which students are reported in a school. Primary schools are those with a low grade of prekindergarten through grade 3 and a high grade of up to 8. Middle schools contain a low grade of 4 to 7 and a high grade ranging from 4 to 9. High schools have a low grade of 7 to 12 and must extend through grade 12. All other grade configurations, including schools that are completely ungraded, are grouped under the heading of "other."

Free lunch eligibility is the number of students in a school who apply for and are eligible to receive free lunch under the National School Lunch Act.

A dropout is a student who was enrolled at any time during the previous year, is not enrolled at the beginning of the current year, and has not graduated or transferred to another school.

The race/ethnicity categories used in the CCD are those approved, at the time these data were collected, by the federal Office of Management and Budget. They are mutually exclusive.

IEP counts are reported at the school district level and reflect the numbers of students with individual education programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)- Part B.

School locale code is assigned on the basis of the school's mailing address. The locale code categories are:

Large city-- central city of a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) or consolidated MSA (CMSA); with a population of at least 250,000.

Midsize city-- central city of an MSA or CMSA; with a population less than 250,000.

Urban fringe of a large city-- any incorporated place, Census-designated place (CDP), or non-place territory within a CMSA or MSA of a large city and defined as urban by the U.S. Bureau of the Census.

Urban fringe of a midsize city-- any incorporated place, CDP, or non-place within a CMSA or MSA of a midsize central city and defined as urban by the U.S. Bureau of the Census.

Large town-- an incorporated place or CDP with a population of at least 25,000 and located outside a CMSA or MSA.

Small town-- an incorporated place or CDP with a population between 2,500 and 24,999 and located outside a CMSA or MSA.

Rural-- any incorporated place, CDP, or non-place territory designated as rural by the U.S. Bureau of the Census.

Regular school districts are agencies responsible for providing free public education for school-age children residing within their jurisdiction. This category excludes local supervisory unions that provide management services for a group of associated school districts; regional education service agencies that typically provide school districts with research, testing, or data processing services; state and federally operated school districts; and other agencies that do not fall into these groupings. This report excluded 399 regular school districts that did not report any students in membership for the 1994-95 school year, a condition that can occur when a small district has no pupils or contracts with another district to educate the students under its jurisdiction.

More information

For further information about this Statistics in Brief or related publications and data sets, contact Lena McDowell at Lena.McDowell@.ed.gov. More NCES publications are available at http:// nces.ed.gov.

Acknowledgments

This paper was improved by the suggestions of the reviewers, Steve Broughman, Charlene Hoffman, and Frank Morgan of NCES; Judith Fillion at the New Hampshire Department of Education; and Adriane Williams of the Council of Great City Schools. Marilyn McMillen and Robert Burton of NCES provided valuable technical guidance, while Jonaki Bose and Frank Johnson ensured the quality of the information and the analyses. The tables were prepared by Michael Freeman and Sheryl Jones of the U.S. Bureau of the Census.

Notes:

1/ See Key Terms. Although the outlying areas are included in the tables, national totals are limited to the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Comparisons are based on the Overview of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools and Districts: School Year 1994-95.

2/ There were 16,265 education agencies in 1995-96. Of these, 14,766 were regular school districts and 1,499 were agencies that typically offer research, administrative, or other support to client agencies. Some 399 of the regular school districts and 979 of the other agencies did not report students. The 14,887 agencies cited exclude the 1,378 without students. Tables are limited to the 14,367 regular school districts with students in membership.


Table 1.--Number of public elementary and secondary schools with membership and percentage of students in membership, by type of school and by state: School year 1995-96

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                                                                                                         Type of school

                                                       ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                                                 Regular                 Special education           Vocational education       Alternative education

                                Schools                ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                 having         Total   Number of      Percentage     Number of     Percentage     Number of     Percentage     Number of   Percentage

State                        membership      students     schools     of students       schools    of students       schools    of students       schools  of students

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

United States                    85,102    44,840,481      80,314            98.2         1,667            0.5           339            0.4         2,782          0.9



Alabama                           1,316       746,149       1,281            99.6            17            0.1             3            0.0            15          0.2

Alaska                              479       127,618         446            96.2             2            0.3             4            0.4            27          3.1

Arizona                           1,079       743,566       1,026            98.1            14            0.1             6            0.6            33          1.3

Arkansas                          1,095       453,257       1,094            99.5             0            0.0             1            0.5             0          0.0

California                        7,875     5,536,406       6,993            96.7           127            0.5             0            0.0           755          2.8



Colorado                          1,418       656,279       1,357            99.0             5            0.0             3            0.1            53          0.9

Connecticut                         976       517,935         929            97.3             2            0.1            17            1.8            28          0.8

Delaware                            181       108,461         146            92.3            28            2.7             5            4.9             2          0.1

District of Columbia                185        79,802         167            96.5            10            1.9             1            0.5             7          1.1

Florida                           2,689     2,176,222       2,327            97.6            95            1.0            42            0.2           225          1.2



Georgia                           1,763     1,311,126       1,735            99.5             8            0.1             1            0.1            19          0.3

Hawaii                              246       187,180         241            99.9             4            0.0             0            0.0             1          0.1

Idaho                               611       243,097         558            98.8            13            0.2             0            0.0            40          1.0

Illinois                          4,125     1,943,623       3,820            97.4           234            1.2            27            0.7            44          0.7

Indiana                           1,863       977,263       1,819            99.6            23            0.2             1            0.0            20          0.2



Iowa                              1,551       502,343       1,509            99.1            17            0.3             0            0.0            25          0.6

Kansas                            1,485       463,008       1,467            99.6             1            0.0             0            0.0            17          0.4

Kentucky                          1,368       659,821       1,311            99.6             8            0.1             3            0.1            46          0.2

Louisiana                         1,470       797,366       1,364            96.9            39            0.4            11            0.3            56          2.4

Maine                               697       213,569         695           100.0             2            0.0             0            0.0             0          0.0



Maryland                          1,276       805,544       1,191            97.3            47            0.9            11            1.1            27          0.6

Massachusetts                     1,831       915,007       1,760            96.2             1            0.0            43            3.4            27          0.4

Michigan                          3,455     1,641,456       3,255            98.2            93            0.8            12            0.2            95          0.8

Minnesota                         1,958       835,166       1,514            96.7            71            0.3             2            0.0           371          3.0

Mississippi                         888       506,272         888           100.0             0            0.0             0            0.0             0          0.0



Missouri                          2,072       889,881       2,036            99.0            15            0.5             5            0.4            16          0.1

Montana                             893       165,547         888            99.9             2            0.0             0            0.0             3          0.1

Nebraska                          1,390       289,744       1,328            99.6            62            0.4             0            0.0             0          0.0

Nevada                              419       265,041         384            98.1            11            0.4             2            0.7            22          0.9

New Hampshire                       460       194,171         460           100.0             0            0.0             0            0.0             0          0.0



New Jersey                        2,278     1,197,381       2,155            97.4            79            0.8            44            1.8             0          0.0

New Mexico                          721       329,640         682            98.5            14            0.6             0            0.0            25          0.9

New York                          4,148     2,813,230       3,976            97.0            83            0.7            25            1.2            64          1.0

North Carolina                    1,975     1,183,090       1,902            99.3            26            0.4             2            0.0            45          0.4

North Dakota                        573       119,100         573           100.0             0            0.0             0            0.0             0          0.0



Ohio                              3,704     1,836,015       3,658            99.6            23            0.1            14            0.2             9          0.1

Oklahoma                          1,821       616,393       1,808            99.7            13            0.3             0            0.0             0          0.0

Oregon                            1,216       527,914       1,166            99.0            15            0.1             0            0.0            35          0.9

Pennsylvania                      3,113     1,787,533       3,078            98.3            11            1.0            14            0.6            10          0.1

Rhode Island                        309       149,799         301            98.7             3            0.4             2            0.5             3          0.4



South Carolina                    1,052       645,586       1,023            99.5            11            0.1             0            0.0            18          0.3

South Dakota                        818       144,685         795            99.0            13            0.4             0            0.0            10          0.6

Tennessee                         1,515       893,770       1,483            99.7            12            0.1             6            0.1            14          0.1

Texas                             6,638     3,748,167       6,050            98.6           221            0.5            22            0.1           345          0.9

Utah                                735       477,121         669            98.0            24            0.4             2            0.1            40          1.5



Vermont                             362       105,565         323            98.6            38            1.4             0            0.0             1          0.0

Virginia                          1,781     1,079,854       1,716            99.5            30            0.2             0            0.0            35          0.4

Washington                        1,949       956,572       1,745            97.7            80            0.5             3            0.1           121          1.7

West Virginia                       842       307,112         818            99.7            10            0.2             4            0.0            10          0.2

Wisconsin                         2,037       870,175       2,010            99.4             9            0.1             0            0.0            18          0.5

Wyoming                             401        99,859         394            99.2             1            0.1             1            0.3             5          0.4

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      Outlying areas

DOD Dependents Sch                  171        81,771         171           100.0             0            0.0             0            0.0             0          0.0

American Samoa                       31        14,576          29            97.5             1            0.4             1            2.1             0          0.0

Guam                                 35        32,960          34            98.0             1            2.0             0            0.0             0          0.0

Northern Marianas                    24         8,809          24           100.0             0            0.0             0            0.0             0          0.0

Puerto Rico                       1,547       627,620       1,498            97.7            18            0.2            26            1.9             5          0.2

Virgin Islands                       33        22,737          33           100.0             0            0.0             0            0.0             0          0.0

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: Table excludes 2,023 schools for which no students were reported in membership. U.S. totals exclude outlying areas.
Percentages are rounded to the nearest tenth and may not add to 100. Percentages of less than 0.05 are rounded to 0.

Number of students in membership reported on State Nonfiscal Survey.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, School Universe and State Nonfiscal Survey, 1995-96.


Table 2.--Number and percentage of schools with membership and percentage of students in membership, by community type: School year 1995-96

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                            Number of     Percentage      Percentage

Community type               schools      of schools     of students

----------------------------------------------------------------------



United States                85,102           100            100





Large city                   10,726          12.6            17.2



Midsize city                 12,259          14.4            16.3



Urban fringe large city      20,689          24.3            29.4



Urban fringe midsize city     7,592           8.9            9.7



Large town                    1,446           1.7            1.7



Small town                   10,947          12.9            11.2



Rural                        21,443          25.2            14.5

----------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: Community types classify the location of a school relative to populous areas. See technical notes for definitions of locale codes.

Table includes the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Percentages are rounded to the nearest tenth and may not add to 100.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, School Universe, 1995-96.


Table 3.--Percentage of public elementary and secondary schools providing instruction and percentage of students in membership, by specified level of instruction and by state: School year 1995-96

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                                                       Percentage by Instructional Level

                                   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                        Number of

                         schools         Primary              Middle               High                Other

                          having   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

State                   membership  Schools   Students  Schools   Students  Schools    Students  Schools    Students

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



United States             85,102      59.3      50.7      17.1      19.5      18.7       26.7      4.9        3.1



Alabama                   1,316       51.2      43.5      16.9      16.8      19.3       25.2      12.6       14.5

Alaska                     479        34.9      47.5      6.9       13.0      14.0       23.9      44.3       15.5

Arizona                   1,079       65.3      56.6      16.6      17.5      15.8       25.4      2.3        0.5

Arkansas                  1,095       52.9      48.6      15.8      19.8      29.3       27.9      2.0        3.7

California                7,875       63.8      54.0      14.7      18.0      17.4       25.8      4.0        2.2



Colorado                  1,418       59.1      50.9      17.8      21.5      20.3       26.5      2.8        1.2

Connecticut                976        63.1      53.1      18.1      20.7      16.0       25.4      2.8        0.7

Delaware                   181        48.6      40.7      23.2      28.3      17.7       28.9      10.5       2.1

District of Columbia       185        63.2      61.8      14.6      15.7      12.4       17.9      9.7        4.6

Florida                   2,689       57.6      51.0      15.4      20.2      13.4       21.0      13.6       7.9



Georgia                   1,763       62.1      51.0      17.9      20.0      15.9       25.2      4.1        3.7

Hawaii                     246        68.7      54.9      11.4      13.3      12.6       26.5      7.3        5.3

Idaho                      611        53.8      47.9      16.5      22.3      24.7       27.4      4.9        2.4

Illinois                  4,125       62.4      55.4      17.2      15.1      15.6       26.9      4.9        2.6

Indiana                   1,863       63.1      49.3      16.2      18.3      18.6       30.8      2.1        1.6



Iowa                      1,551       54.9      46.4      19.0      20.2      23.9       31.2      2.3        2.2

Kansas                    1,485       58.7      51.1      16.6      19.7      24.0       28.7      0.8        0.5

Kentucky                  1,368       59.2      48.6      17.0      20.4      20.5       30.8      3.2        0.2

Louisiana                 1,470       54.0      47.9      19.0      19.8      17.1       25.6      9.9        6.7

Maine                      697        64.6      49.9      17.5      21.3      15.4       26.7      2.6        2.1



Maryland                  1,276       66.2      52.6      17.5      20.6      14.0       25.7      2.3        1.1

Massachusetts             1,831       66.0      52.8      16.3      18.8      15.8       26.0      1.9        2.5

Michigan                  3,455       59.4      50.4      16.8      19.7      18.5       27.2      5.4        2.8

Minnesota                 1,958       52.4      48.9      13.1      18.5      28.7       30.6      5.8        2.0

Mississippi                888        50.0      44.3      19.1      19.0      19.7       24.2      11.1       12.4



Missouri                  2,072       56.4      48.5      16.3      19.6      23.9       29.7      3.4        2.2

Montana                    893        54.1      49.6      26.1      20.4      19.6       29.3      0.2        0.6

Nebraska                  1,390       68.4      52.1      7.2       14.6      22.5       32.7      1.9        0.6

Nevada                     419        64.0      52.5      14.3      20.7      17.9       25.7      3.8        1.1

New Hampshire              460        62.6      51.0      20.4      22.5      16.1       24.6      0.9        1.9



New Jersey                2,278       63.6      53.1      17.1      17.8      13.4       25.7      5.8        3.3

New Mexico                 721        59.2      49.1      20.8      23.0      17.9       26.7      2.1        1.2

New York                  4,148       58.8      50.2      16.5      18.6      17.7       26.9      7.0        4.3

North Carolina            1,975       60.1      51.2      20.8      21.8      16.5       25.7      2.7        1.4

North Dakota               573        57.9      51.2      6.8       12.3      34.0       33.8      1.2        2.8



Ohio                      3,704       59.1      48.6      18.4      19.5      18.7       29.1      3.9        2.8

Oklahoma                  1,821       54.6      51.8      18.8      21.5      25.4       24.3      1.2        2.4

Oregon                    1,216       61.8      48.6      16.9      21.2      16.9       28.2      4.4        2.0

Pennsylvania              3,113       62.5      48.4      16.9      19.6      19.1       29.6      1.5        2.4

Rhode Island               309        68.0      51.0      17.2      21.6      13.6       27.2      1.3        0.2



South Carolina            1,052       55.7      46.1      23.2      25.0      18.8       28.1      2.3        0.9

South Dakota               818        51.5      48.4      23.7      21.9      22.6       29.2      2.2        0.5

Tennessee                 1,515       62.8      52.1      15.8      16.9      16.7       27.5      4.7        3.5

Texas                     6,638       52.1      49.3      20.7      22.7      19.2       25.1      8.0        2.9

Utah                       735        59.6      50.1      16.2      22.6      18.8       24.9      5.4        2.4



Vermont                    362        69.9      54.6      6.6       9.2       13.5       29.6      9.9        6.6

Virginia                  1,781       62.3      49.1      17.7      21.4      16.5       28.2      3.5        1.3

Washington                1,949       57.6      50.6      16.6      20.2      19.9       26.2      5.9        3.0

West Virginia              842        64.1      47.8      16.3      20.5      14.7       28.3      4.9        3.4

Wisconsin                 2,037       60.3      49.3      17.2      18.9      20.9       30.3      1.6        1.6

Wyoming                    401        59.1      48.4      21.9      23.9      18.7       27.1      0.2        0.6

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   

      Outlying areas

DOD Dependents Sch         171        59.6      60.6      9.9       11.3      22.2       21.1      8.2        6.9

American Samoa              31        74.2      73.9      3.2       3.0       19.4       22.7      3.2        0.4

Guam                        35        68.6      54.0      17.1      21.5      14.3       24.5      0.0        0.0

Northern Marianas           24        83.3      63.0      4.2       12.2      12.5       24.8      0.0        0.0

Puerto Rico               1,547       60.1      45.7      14.3      17.2      10.9       20.3      14.8       16.8

Virgin Islands              33        69.7      52.3      15.2      17.9      12.1       28.1      3.0        1.6

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: Instructional levels are Primary (low grade Prekindergarten to 3, high grade up to 8); Middle (low grade 4 to 7, high grade 4 to 9); High (low grade 7 to 12, high grade 12 only); Other (any grade 4 to 7, high grade 4 to 9); High (low grade 7 to 12, high grade 12 only); Other (any configuration not falling within the previous three, including ungraded schools).
Table excludes 2,023 schools for which no students were reported in membership. U.S. totals exclude outlying areas.

Percentages are rounded to the nearest tenth and may not add to 100.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, School Universe, 1995-96.


Table 4.--Number of regular public elementary and secondary school districts providing instruction and percentage of students in membership, by grade span and by state: School year 1995-96

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                                                                  Grade Span

                                   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                   PK, K, 1 to 8 or below      PK, K, 1 to 9 - 12        7, 8, 9, to 7 - 12               Other

                                   -----------------------   -----------------------   -----------------------   ------------------------   

                          Total    Number of    Percentage   Number of    Percentage   Number of    Percentage   Number of     Percentage

State                   districts  districts   of students   districts   of students   districts   of students   districts    of students

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

United States             14367       3169         5.9         10537         91.8         531          2.2          130           0.1



Alabama                    127         0           0.0          127         100.0          0           0.0           0            0.0

Alaska                     55          0           0.0           54          99.8          1           0.2           0            0.0

Arizona                    214        108          29.9          85          61.2          17          8.9           4            0.0

Arkansas                   311         0           0.0          311         100.0          0           0.0           0            0.0

California                 999        592          21.8         302          68.9         103          9.2           2            0.2



Colorado                   176         1           0.0          175         100.0          0           0.0           0            0.0

Connecticut                166         47          5.8          110          92.4          8           1.4           1            0.3

Delaware                   19          0           0.0           15          94.4          4           5.6           0            0.0

District of Columbia        1          0           0.0           1          100.0          0           0.0           0            0.0

Florida                    67          0           0.0           67         100.0          0           0.0           0            0.0



Georgia                    180         7           0.2          173          99.8          0           0.0           0            0.0

Hawaii                      1          0           0.0           1          100.0          0           0.0           0            0.0

Idaho                      112         5           0.1          106          99.9          0           0.0           1            0.0

Illinois                   905        397          25.9         403          63.1         105          11.0          0            0.0

Indiana                    292         1           0.0          291         100.0          0           0.0           0            0.0



Iowa                       383         29          1.2          353          98.7          0           0.0           1            0.1

Kansas                     304         2           0.0          302         100.0          0           0.0           0            0.0

Kentucky                   176         4           0.2          172          99.8          0           0.0           0            0.0

Louisiana                  66          0           0.0           66         100.0          0           0.0           0            0.0

Maine                      228        110          12.4         112          86.6          5           1.0           1            0.0



Maryland                   24          0           0.0           24         100.0          0           0.0           0            0.0

Massachusetts              248         68          5.2          176          94.3          2           0.2           2            0.3

Michigan                   593         44          0.2          526          99.6          5           0.0           18           0.1

Minnesota                  383         38          0.8          335          98.9          9           0.2           1            0.0

Mississippi                153         0           0.0          149          99.7          3           0.2           1            0.1



Missouri                   525         74          1.4          449          97.9          0           0.0           2            0.8

Montana                    465        286          62.9          47          10.8         118          26.3          14           0.1

Nebraska                   653        331          4.0          267          94.2          23          1.7           32           0.1

Nevada                     17          1           0.0           16         100.0          0           0.0           0            0.0

New Hampshire              164         87          18.6          67          76.9          9           3.9           1            0.5



New Jersey                 582        294          19.3         207          72.2          51          6.6           30           1.9

New Mexico                 89          1           1.9           88          98.1          0           0.0           0            0.0

New York                   709         43          1.0          647          98.4          10          0.6           9            0.1

North Carolina             119         0           0.0          119         100.0          0           0.0           0            0.0

North Dakota               234         45          2.5          178          96.8          7           0.6           4            0.1



Ohio                       611         1           0.0          610         100.0          0           0.0           0            0.0

Oklahoma                   548        116          3.4          431          96.6          0           0.0           1            0.0

Oregon                     233         53          3.5          171          94.1          9           2.4           0            0.0

Pennsylvania               500         2           0.0          498         100.0          0           0.0           0            0.0

Rhode Island               36          4           1.5           31          97.5          0           0.0           1            0.9



South Carolina             95          2           0.1           91          99.7          1           0.1           1            0.2

South Dakota               173         7           0.9          166          99.1          0           0.0           0            0.0

Tennessee                  138         14          2.3          124          97.7          0           0.0           0            0.0

Texas                     1044         73          0.3          970          99.6          0           0.0           1            0.1

Utah                       40          0           0.0           40         100.0          0           0.0           0            0.0



Vermont                    251        185          43.6          35          33.6          30          21.2          1            1.7

Virginia                   132         1           0.0          131         100.0          0           0.0           0            0.0

Washington                 296         47          1.0          248          99.0          0           0.0           1            0.0

West Virginia              55          0           0.0           55         100.0          0           0.0           0            0.0

Wisconsin                  426         47          2.6          368          96.2          11          1.2           0            0.0

Wyoming                    49          2           0.6           47          99.4          0           0.0           0            0.0

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

      Outlying areas

DOD Dependents Sch         12          0           0.0           12         100.0          0           0.0           0            0.0

American Samoa              1          0           0.0           1          100.0          0           0.0           0            0.0

Guam                        1          0           0.0           1          100.0          0           0.0           0            0.0

Northern Marianas           1          0           0.0           1          100.0          0           0.0           0            0.0

Puerto Rico                 1          0           0.0           1          100.0          0           0.0           0            0.0

Virgin Islands              1          0           0.0           1          100.0          0           0.0           0            0.0

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: Grade span is determined by the highest and lowest grades for which student membership is reported among all schools associated with the district. Other includes all grade configurations not represented in the other categories and includes ungraded districts.
Table excludes 399 regular school districts for which no students were reported in membership. U.S. totals exclude outlying areas, but includes 12 Defense Department school districts for military personnel overseas.

Percentages are rounded to the nearest tenth and may not add to 100. Percentages of less than 0.05 are rounded to 0.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, Agency and School Universes 1995-96.


Table 5.--Distribution of regular public elementary and secondary school districts and students, by district membership size: School year 1995-96

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                Number of       Percentage       Percentage

District membership size        districts      of districts      of students

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

United States                     14367           100.0             100.0





100000 or more                     23              0.2              11.7



25000 to 99999                     193             1.3              18.8



10000 to 24999                     553             3.8              18.6



7500 to 9999                       320             2.2               6.2



5000 to 7499                       693             4.8               9.5



2500 to 4999                      2027             14.1             16.0



2000 to 2499                       870             6.1               4.4



1500 to 1999                      1089             7.6               4.3



1000 to 1499                      1595             11.1              4.5



800 to 999                         855             6.0               1.7



600 to 799                         922             6.4               1.4



450 to 599                         952             6.6               1.1



300 to 449                        1152             8.0               1.0



150 to 299                        1424             9.9               0.7



1 to 149                          1699             11.8              0.3

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

NOTE: Table includes the 50 states and the District of Columbia, and excludes 399 regular school districts for which no students were reported in membership.
Percentages are rounded to the nearest tenth and may not add to 100.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, Agency Universe, 1995-96.


Table 6.--Selected characteristics of public elementary and secondary school membership as percentage of school membership by state: School year 1995-96

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                          Percentage         Percentage         American

                         of membership      of membership       Indian /      Asian /                  Black       White

                          Free lunch         Individual         Alaskan       Pacific                   Non         Non

State                      eligible       Education Program      Native      Islander     Hispanic    Hispanic    Hispanic

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

United States                 ---                ---              1.1           3.7         13.5        16.9        64.7



Alabama                       ---               13.2              0.7           0.6         0.5         36.0        62.1

Alaska                       23.8               13.8              24.5          4.4         2.7         4.6         63.7

Arizona                       ---                9.7              7.3           1.7         30.2        4.3         56.5

Arkansas                     35.5               10.5              0.4           0.7         1.5         23.8        73.6

California                   47.3               10.3              0.9          11.2         38.7        8.8         40.4



Colorado                     22.4               10.1              1.1           2.5         18.4        5.5         72.5

Connecticut                  24.6               13.4              0.2           2.4         11.8        13.4        72.2

Delaware                     29.3               12.0              0.2           1.7         4.0         29.4        64.7

District of Columbia         69.4                8.9              0.0           1.4         7.0         87.6        4.0

Florida                      37.2               13.1              0.2           1.8         15.3        25.3        57.5



Georgia                      37.2               10.0              0.1           1.6         2.2         37.9        58.2

Hawaii                       15.5                8.2              0.4          69.3         4.9         2.6         22.9

Idaho                        23.4                9.7              1.3           1.2         7.8         0.6         89.1

Illinois                      ---                4.3              0.1           3.0         12.1        21.0        63.7

Indiana                      22.2               13.6              0.2           0.8         2.3         11.1        85.6



Iowa                         19.8               12.9              0.4           1.5         2.1         3.3         92.7

Kansas                       31.7               11.4              1.1           1.9         6.1         8.5         82.5

Kentucky                      ---                ---              0.1           0.6         0.4         9.8         89.1

Louisiana                    50.1               13.4              0.5           1.3         1.1         46.0        51.0

Maine                        24.3               13.4              0.6           0.9         0.4         0.8         97.3



Maryland                     25.7               12.4              0.3           3.8         3.3         35.0        57.5

Massachusetts                 ---               17.1              0.2           3.8         9.3         8.2         78.5

Michigan                     25.6                4.0              1.0           1.5         2.7         18.3        76.4

Minnesota                    19.0                ---              1.9           3.9         2.0         4.8         87.4

Mississippi                  54.5               13.2              0.4           0.6         0.3         51.0        47.7



Missouri                      ---               15.4              0.2           1.0         1.0         16.0        81.7

Montana                      23.2               11.1              9.8           0.8         1.4         0.5         87.5

Nebraska                     20.6               13.8              1.4           1.3         4.4         5.9         87.2

Nevada                       32.7               10.6              1.9           4.5         17.2        9.5         66.8

New Hampshire                12.4               13.0              0.2           1.1         1.2         0.9         96.7



New Jersey                   24.3                5.4              0.2           5.3         13.5        18.5        62.5

New Mexico                    ---               14.3              10.4          1.0         46.8        2.4         39.5

New York                      ---               12.4              0.4           5.0         17.4        20.3        56.9

North Carolina               30.3               12.4              1.5           1.3         1.9         30.7        64.6

North Dakota                 20.2               10.2              7.7           0.8         1.1         0.8         89.6



Ohio                          ---                3.9              0.1           1.0         1.4         15.3        82.2

Oklahoma                     36.1               11.6              15.0          1.3         3.9         10.4        69.5

Oregon                       23.2               10.8              2.0           3.4         6.8         2.6         85.2

Pennsylvania                  ---               10.5              0.1           1.8         3.5         14.0        80.6

Rhode Island                 26.7               16.5              0.5           3.3         10.3        7.0         78.9



South Carolina               39.7               11.3              0.2           0.7         0.7         41.7        56.7

South Dakota                  ---               11.3              13.9          0.7         0.7         0.9         83.7

Tennessee                     ---               14.2              0.4           0.9         0.8         23.0        74.9

Texas                        40.3               11.6              0.3           2.3         36.7        14.3        46.4

Utah                         19.8               11.0              1.4           2.2         5.4         0.7         90.3



Vermont                      20.2                9.8              0.6           1.0         0.4         0.7         97.3

Virginia                     25.5               13.0              0.2           3.5         3.2         26.5        66.6

Washington                    ---                ---              2.6           6.5         7.8         4.7         78.3

West Virginia                39.8               15.1              0.1           0.4         0.3         4.0         95.2

Wisconsin                    20.2               12.2              1.3           2.8         3.3         9.4         83.2

Wyoming                      19.4               11.3              2.7           0.8         6.1         1.0         89.3

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

     Outlying areas

DOD Dependents Sch            ---                8.2              1.0           9.5         8.5         22.3        58.7

American Samoa               94.9                2.5              0.0          100.0        0.0         0.0         0.0

Guam                         23.9                6.3              0.1          91.5         0.5         1.3         6.6

Northern Marianas            37.5                2.9              0.0          99.3         0.0         0.0         0.7

Puerto Rico                  80.7                ---              0.0           0.0        100.0        0.0         0.0

Virgin Islands               64.0                3.0              0.0           0.4         14.1        84.6        0.9

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: Data are shown as "---" if reported for less than 70 percent of schools or agencies. Percentages are based on schools and agencies reporting.
U.S. totals exclude outlying areas.

Percentages are rounded to the nearest tenth and may not add to 100. Percentages of less than 0.05 are rounded to 0.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, School and Agency Universes, 1995-96.


Table 7.--Number and percent of students dropping out of grades 9 through 12 who are male or minority, among reporting states: School year 1994-95

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                      Group 9-12     Percent         Percent

                        Group  9-12    Percent       Dropouts        Dropouts

State                     Dropouts     Dropouts   who were Male   who were Minority

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alabama                    12,525        6.2           57.5           41.2

Arkansas                    6,248        4.9           58.0           39.2

California                 63,881        4.4           54.5           73.6

Connecticut                 6,406        4.8           56.9           50.2

Delaware                    1,389        4.6           61.8           42.2

District of Columbia        1,879       10.6           55.6           95.8

Georgia                    30,158        9.0           58.2           45.9

Hawaii                      2,465        4.9           55.5           71.0

Indiana                    13,183        4.6           57.0           19.5

Iowa                        5,120        3.4           57.8           11.5

Kansas                      6,594        5.0           56.1           28.9

Louisiana                   7,549        3.5           57.5           65.3

Maine                       1,863        3.3           58.6            2.6

Massachusetts               8,384        3.5           58.8           40.4

Minnesota                  12,219        5.1           57.1           29.6

Mississippi                 8,700        6.4           59.9           54.6

Missouri                   17,637        7.0           57.7           28.7

Nebraska                    3,737        4.4           58.1           28.3

Nevada                      6,703       10.3           54.1           39.4

New Mexico                  7,826        8.5           52.8           68.1

New York                   32,002        4.1           55.5           65.4

North Dakota                  906        2.5           54.9           26.5

Ohio                       28,281        5.3           59.9           28.5

Oregon                     10,656        7.1           56.9           21.5

Pennsylvania               20,992        4.1           56.9           41.5

Rhode Island                1,852        4.6           59.2           29.5

Texas                      26,042        2.7           50.8           66.3

Utah                        5,107        3.5           55.5           14.0

West Virginia               4,091        4.2           57.9            5.1

Wyoming                     2,010        6.7           57.5           18.8

Puerto Rico                 3,615        2.2           48.5          100.0

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, Agency Universe, 1995-96.

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