120 Years of
120 Years of
American Education:
A Statistical Portrait
Editor
Thomas D. Snyder
Center for Education Statistics
U.S. Department of Education
Lamar Alexander
Secretary
Office of Educational Research and Improvement
Diane Ravitch
Assistant Secretary
National Center for Education Statistics
Emerson J. Elliott
Commissioner
National Center for Education Statistics
¡®¡®The purpose of the Center shall be to collect, analyze,
and disseminate statistics and other data related to education in the United States and in other nations.¡¯¡¯¡ªSection 406(b) of the General Education Provisions Act,
as amended (20 U.S.C. 1221e¨C1).
January 1993
Foreword
Emerson J. Elliott
Commissioner of Education Statistics
NCES statistics and reports are used for myriad
purposes. Congress, federal agencies, state and
local officials, business leaders, scholars and researchers, the news media, and the general public
use our data to formulate programs, apportion resources, monitor services, research issues, and inform and make decisions.
Since 1870, the federal government has collected
statistics on the condition and progress of American
education. In the beginning, data were collected on
very basic items, such as public elementary and secondary school enrollment, attendance, teachers and
their salaries, high school graduates, and expenditures. Over the years, the level of detail has gradually increased. Today, the National Center for Education Statistics has a staff of approximately 130 who
collect information through nearly 40 surveys and
studies and produce more than 175 publications per
year.
Statistics paint a portrait of our Nation. By looking
at changes in the data over time¡ªlike number of
schools, participation rates, completion rates, and expenditures¡ªwe see how our Nation has progressed.
But the questions, too, have changed. Illiteracy, for
example, is defined differently today than it was in
earlier years. While we once looked only at whether
a person could read or write, today we are concerned with how well a person can function in a
modern society. Recent additions to the long-term
data series contain more qualitative information, especially on student performance and classroom activities.
During the period in which this report was prepared, Diane Ravitch, an educational historian by
profession, was Assistant Secretary for Educational
Research and Improvement. Dr. Ravitch knows the
importance of the record that America¡¯s education
data collections form, and it was her personal interest and initiative that prompted preparation of this report. Her support, both as Assistant Secretary and as
an historian of education, has been invaluable to the
production of this volume and in all other efforts of
NCES.
The Assistant Secretary¡¯s Introduction to this volume states that an historical perspective is indispensable for a full understanding of American education
and the changes it has undergone. Such a perspective will help supply that meaning, understanding,
and judgment needed to help improve education in
America.
I join her in thanking Vance Grant of OERI and
Tom Snyder of NCES for producing this work. We
will benefit from the better understanding of our past
that these education statistics bring to us.
This work supplements other major compilations of
education statistics, including the annual Digest and
the Condition of Education reports, and reaffirms the
mission of the National Center for Education Statistics to provide the Nation with data on the condition
and progress of education. Our goal is to make education data accessible, useful, and meaningful to our
many publics. I welcome comments for improvements to our data collections and publications.
iii
Acknowledgments
Many people have contributed in one way or another to the development of 120 Years of American
Education. Foremost among these contributors is W.
Vance Grant, who has served as an education statistics expert since 1955. Thomas D. Snyder was responsible for the overall development and preparation of 120 Years of American Education, which was
prepared under the general direction of Jeanne E.
Griffith, Associate Commissioner for Data Development.
William Sonnenberg served as a statistical consultant in all phases of 120 Years of American Education
and was responsible for chapter 2, ¡®¡®Elementary and
Secondary Education.¡¯¡¯ Irene Baden Harwarth developed a table on higher education enrollment and was
responsible for developing charts for the report.
Charlene Hoffman developed tables on degrees conferred and managed the typesetting. Carol Sue
Fromboluti managed the review process of the publication. Celestine Davis provided statistical assistance.
A number of people outside the Center also expended large amounts of time and effort on 120
Years of American Education. James J. Corina and
Robert Craig of Pinkerton Computer Consultants,
Inc., provided computer support. Louise Woerner,
Barbara Robinson, Jeannette Bernardo, and Jeffrey
Sisson of HCR provided research assistance. Nancy
Floyd copyedited this book, and Margery Martin and
Wilma Greene provided editorial assistance. Annie
Lunsford designed the cover. Jerry Fairbanks and
Kim Stiles of the U.S. Government Printing Office
provided typesetting assistance.
120 Years of American Education has received extensive reviews by individuals within and outside the
Department of Education. We wish to thank them for
their time and expert advice. In the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), Diane
Ravitch, Maris Vinovskis, Mary Frase, W. Vance
Grant, Fred Beamer, Frank Morgan, John Sietsema,
and Irene Baden Harwarth reviewed the entire manuscript. Rosemary Clark and Dave Fleck of the Bureau of the Census also reviewed the entire document. Agency reviews were conducted by the Office
of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Office of
Policy and Planning, Office of Private Education, and
Office of Vocational and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education.
OERI Deputy Assistant Secretary Francie Alexander and NCES Chief of Staff Paul R. Hall provided
leadership and gave enthusiastic support to this
project.
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