Does this mean that those with high school diplomas will be able to get jobs and support themselves, even if the employers believe that they have learned less than the basics? Not necessarily. As we saw in an earlier panel, most of the unemployed function at the two lowest levels of literacy. But, most of the employed function at higher levels, suggesting they have knowledge beyond just "the basics." Most jobs (75.8% in 2000) do not require a college degree, suggesting that those who take advantage of educational opportunities in high school will be prepared to enter the workforce. Unfortunately, Reality Check 2002 found that most students surveyed admitted that the prevailing attitude was to get by with the least effort possible: 56% of students admitted that they themselves "could try a little harder" in school.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of the Census. "Table P-16. Educational Attainment - People 25 Years Old and Over by Median Income and Sex: 1991 to 2000", "Table P-17. Years of School Completed - People 25 Years Old and Over by Median Income and Sex: 1958 to 1990." and "Table 1. Weighted Average Poverty Thresholds for Families of Specified Size 1959 to 2000." Online. Available: http://www.census.gov. "Reality Check 2000." Education Week, 16 February 2000 and "Public Agenda: Reality Check 2002." Education Week, 6 March 2002. Online. Available: http://www.edweek.org. April 3, 2002. Hecker, Daniel E. "Occupational employment projections to 2010." Monthly Labor Review, November 2001.
1 The actual peak was in 1969 (not shown), when the percentage of 17-year olds who graduated high school was 77.1% The lowest percentage since then was in 1998 when 69.3% graduated.
2 1999 was the last year data were available.
3 Unfortunately, later studies have shown that getting a GED is not equivalent to a high school diploma. Of the 60% of GED holders who try to get a higher education, nearly 75% drop out of community colleges (compared to 44% of high school graduates) and 95% drop out of 4-year colleges (compared to 25% of high school graduates). Source: The Detroit News, April 7, 2002. Full citation in source note above.
4 In this panel, "college" means all degree-granting institutions of higher learning.
5 Current dollars. Year 2000 data are from 1999. 1970 data from Historical Statistics of the United States, Table G189-204. 1980-2000 data from Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2001, Table 673. Full citations are in the source note.
6 The survey involved 25,750 adults. 13,600 were randomly selected; 1,150 were inmates in federal and state prisons; and 11,000 were interviewed based on their participation in a concurrent survey that provided comparable results. The survey involved various tasks using the kinds of materials they would encounter in their daily lives. The results were scored on a 500-point scale. The "% of literacy tasks performed correctly" in the graph on the previous page is based on the average scores of the participants.
7 Level 1 also includes those who cannot read and write at all. In 1979, the most recent year available, this was 0.7% of the population 14 years old and older. In 1980, when the decennial census was taken, this included over 12 million people. (Figures based on the 15 year old and older population in 1980, approximately 175.3 million.)
8 As cited in the previous panel, some suggest that those functioning at the two lowest levels of literacy are "functionally illiterate."
9 The minimum "basic" proficiency level score is 265. In 1984, Hispanic students scored 268.1. In 1988, black students scored 274.4. Since then, scores for Hispanics have increased to 270.7 and declined for blacks to 263.9 in 1999.
10 4 years of English, 3 years of mathematics, 3 years of science, 3 years of social studies, and one half-year of computer science. For college-bound students, 2 years of a foreign language was recommended also.
11 The minimum "basic" proficiency level score is 288.
12 Completion of secondary school. Not all countries from the 4th and 8th grade lists had data available for the 12th grade.
13 NA stands for not available.
14 In fiscal year 2000-01 dollars, the increase would equal nearly $15 billion, from $10.4 billion in 1965 to $25.1 billion in 1970.
15 The Scholastic Assessment Test existed before 1970. The scores shown in the graph were included to show a national sampling of high school student performance. Most standardized testing is administered on a state-by-state basis.
16 Source: "President Bush Signs Landmark Education Reforms into Law." Retrieved April 16, 2002 from http://www.whitehouse.gov.
17 The survey is based on a national telephone sampling of 803 parents of public school students in grades K-12. The margin of error is +/-3%. Fifty-six percent of parents questioned had at most a high school diploma or some college with no degree. Seventy-four percent were white, 12% African-American, 8% Hispanic, 3% Asian. Fifty-one percent lived in a suburban area, 29% in an urban area, and 20% in a rural area.
18 This amount is an average. Some districts spend less per-pupil; some more. Only a portion of the funding that would normally go for the student's education in his own district is given to the school of choice.
19 ETS stands for Educational Testing System. ETS administers the SAT for the College Board.
20 A 1998 U.S. Department of Education writing exam given to 4th, 8th, and 12th graders showed that only about 25% of students wrote at grade level. Source: Wall Street Journal, 5 June 2002.
21 The new version of the test was first administered in October 1989.
22 Data for previous years were not available.
23 Those with selective admissions standards require 22 or higher, which is higher than the national average. Those with highly selective admissions standards, such as Harvard or Yale, require a 27 or above.
24 Based on 1,065,000 test takers in 2000.
25 The NAEP is also known as "The Nation's Report Card." The Commissioner of Education Statistics in the U.S. Department of Education is responsible, by law, for carrying out this assessment. The assessment has been done periodically since 1969 in reading, mathematics, science, writing, U.S. history, civics, geography, and the arts.
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