Editing Education in the United States (section)

==Statistics==
[[File:Educational Attainment in the United States 2009.png|thumb|Educational attainment in the United States from 1940 to 2009<ref name="US Census Bureau report on educational attainment in the United States, 2009">{{cite web |last1=Ryan |first1=Camille |last2=Siebens |first2=Julie |date=March 2016 |title=Educational Attainment in the United States: 2015 |url=https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2016/demo/p20-578.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160615014108/https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2016/demo/p20-578.pdf |archive-date=2016-06-15 |access-date=December 22, 2017 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau}}</ref>]]
In 2000, 76.6 million students had enrolled in schools from [[Kindergarten#United States|kindergarten]] through graduate schools. Of these, 72% aged 12 to 17 were considered academically "on track" for their age, i.e. enrolled in at or above grade level. Of those enrolled in elementary and secondary schools, 5.7 million (10%) were attending private schools.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016|title=CAPE {{!}} Private School Facts|url=https://www.capenet.org/facts.html#:~:text=There%20are%2034,576%20private%20schools,2%20of%20the%20PSS%20Report|access-date=2021-03-07|website=www.capenet.org}}</ref>[[File:2017 US High School Graduation Rate.svg|thumb|High school graduation rate per state as of 2017
{{legend|#238B45|90.0–90.4%}}
{{legend|#4BA869|85.0–89.9%}}
{{legend|#7FC5A5|80.0–84.9%}}
{{legend|#B0E2DA|69.9–79.9%}}]]As of 2022, 89% of the adult population had completed high school and 34% had received a [[bachelor's degree]] or higher. The average salary for college or [[university]] graduates is greater than $51,000, exceeding the national average of those without a high school diploma by more than $23,000, according to a 2005 study by the U.S. Census Bureau.<ref name="census">{{Cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/004214.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050330044033/http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/004214.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2005-03-30|title=US Census Press Releases}}</ref>
The 2010 [[Unemployment in the United States|unemployment]] rate for high school graduates was 10.8%; the rate for college graduates was 4.9%.<ref name="wp100606">
{{cite news|first=Alan Scher|last=Zagier|title=Rethinking the four-year degree|newspaper=Washington Post|location=Washington Post|pages=A2|date=June 6, 2010}}
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<!---the 98% reading literacy rate. I have read through the reference material and cannot confirm this rate. There are actually three different factors used in the reference. For Prose or Document literacy, the rates are 86% and 88% respectively as noted on page 4 figure 2.--->
The country has a reading [[Literacy in the United States|literacy rate]] of 99% of the population over age 15,<ref name=EDU>[http://nces.ed.gov/NAAL/PDF/2006470.PDF A First Look at the Literacy of America's Adults in the 21st Century], U.S. Department of Education, 2003. Accessed May 13, 2006. 2% of the population do not have minimal literacy and 14% have Below Basic prose literacy.</ref> while ranking below average in science and mathematics understanding compared to other developed countries.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) |url=https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pisa/index.asp |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=nces.ed.gov |language=EN |quote=reading literacy, science literacy and mathematics literacy all rank near the bottom of OECD-countries,}}</ref> In 2014, a record high of 82% of high school seniors graduated, although one of the reasons for that success might be a [[dumbing down|decline in academic standards]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://edexcellence.net/articles/the-phoniest-statistic-in-education|title=The Phoniest Statistic in Education|last=Pondiscio|first=Robert|date=13 January 2016|website=[[Thomas B. Fordham Institute]]|access-date=17 July 2016}}</ref>

The poor performance has pushed public and private efforts such as the [[No Child Left Behind Act]]. In addition, the ratio of college-educated adults entering the workforce to the general population (33%) is slightly below the mean of other{{which|date=November 2014}} developed countries (35%)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ecs.org/html/offsite.asp?document=http%3A%2Fcc |title= Offsite Link from ECS|website=www.ecs.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527072725/http://www.ecs.org/html/offsite.asp?document=http%3A%2Fcc |archive-date=May 27, 2013}}</ref> and rate of participation of the labor force in [[continuing education]] is high.<ref>[https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/education-at-a-glance-2005_eag-2005-en Education at Glance 2005] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723201800/http://www.ecs.org/html/offsite.asp?document=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.oecd.org%2Fdataoecd%2F20%2F25%2F35345692.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050917015552/http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/20/25/35345692.pdf |archive-date=2005-09-17 |url-status=live|date=July 23, 2013}} by [[OECD]]: Participation in continuing education and training</ref> A 2000s (decade) study by Jon Miller of [[Michigan State University]] concluded that "A slightly higher proportion of American adults qualify as scientifically literate than European or Japanese adults".<ref>"[https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070218134322.htm Scientific Literacy: How Do Americans Stack Up?]." ''[[Science Daily]]''.</ref>

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In 2006, there were roughly 600,000 [[Homelessness in the United States|homeless students in the United States]], but after the [[Great Recession in the United States|Great Recession]] this number more than doubled to approximately 1.36 million.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/number-of-us-homeless-students-has-doubled-since-before-the-recession/2015/09/14/0c1fadb6-58c2-11e5-8bb1-b488d231bba2_story.html|title=Number of homeless students in U.S. has doubled since before the recession|first1=Lyndsey|last1=Layton|first2=Emma|last2=Brown|date=September 14, 2015|via=www.washingtonpost.com}}</ref> The Institute for Child Poverty and Homelessness keeps track of state by state levels of child homelessness.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.icphusa.org/interactive_data/the-united-states-of-homelessness/|title=The United States of Homelessness|website=Institute for Children, Poverty & Homelessness}}</ref> {{as of|2017}}, 27% of U.S. students live in a mother-only household, 20% live in poverty, and 9% are non-English speaking.<ref name="Kolbe">{{cite journal|doi=10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040218-043727|doi-access=free|title=School Health as a Strategy to Improve Both Public Health and Education|year=2019|last=Kolbe|first=Lloyd J.|journal=Annual Review of Public Health|volume=40|pages=443–463|pmid=30566386}}</ref>

An additional factor in the United States education system is the socioeconomic background of the students being tested. According to the [[National Center for Children in Poverty]], 41% of U.S. children under the age of 18 come from lower-income families.<ref name="Kobal-2018">{{Cite web |last1=Kobal |first1=H. |last2=Jiang |first2=Y. |date=January 2018 |title=Basic Facts about Low-Income Children: Children under 18 Years, 2016 |url=https://www.nccp.org/publication/basic-facts-about-low-income-children-children-under-18-years-2016/ |access-date=2024-02-27 |website=[[National Center for Children in Poverty]] |language=en-US}}</ref> These students require specialized attention to perform well in school and on the standardized tests.<ref name="Kobal-2018" />

The Human Rights Measurement Initiative<ref>{{Cite web|title=Human Rights Measurement Initiative|url=https://humanrightsmeasurement.org/|access-date=2022-02-08|website=Human Rights Measurement Initiative|language=en-US}}</ref> finds that the United States is achieving 77.8% of what should be possible on the right to education at its level of income.<ref>{{Cite web|title=United States - HRMI Rights Tracker|url=https://rightstracker.org/|access-date=2022-02-08|website=rightstracker.org|language=en}}</ref>

Resulting from [[Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education in the United States|school closures necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic]], over one million eligible children were not enrolled in kindergarten for the 2021–2022 school year.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Goldstein |first1=Dana |title=The Kindergarten Exodus|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/07/us/covid-kindergarten-enrollment.html |access-date=25 July 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=7 August 2021}}</ref> The 2022 annual ''Report on the Condition of Education''<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kena |first1=Grace |title=Where can I find information about the condition of education in the United States? |url=https://nces.ed.gov/blogs/nces/post/where-can-i-find-information-about-the-condition-of-education-in-the-united-states |website=nces.ed.gov |publisher=National Center for Education Statistics |access-date=8 August 2022 |date=26 May 2016}}</ref> conducted by the [[National Center for Education Statistics]] (NCES) for the U.S. Department of Education<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kuykendall05 |first1=Kristal |title=Report: Historic Decline in U.S. Public School Enrollment From Fall 2019 to Fall 2020; Dropout Rates Fell Since 2010 Among Hispanic, Black Students |url=https://thejournal.com/articles/2022/05/31/report-shows-historic-decline-in-us-public-school-enrollment-from-fall-2019-to-fall-2020.aspx |access-date=7 August 2022 |work=thejournal.com |publisher=The Journal |date=31 May 2022}}</ref> indicates that prekindergarten to grade 12 enrollment decreased from 50.8 million in fall 2019 to 49.4 million students in fall 2020, a 3% decrease, which matches 2009 enrollment, eradicating the previous decade of growth. During the 2019–2020 school year, enrollment rates decreased by 6% for those aged five, dropping from 91% to 84%, and by 13% for those aged three and four, from 54% to 40%.<ref name=NCES-2020>{{cite web |author1=Véronique Irwin and Josue De La Rosa |title=Report on the Condition of Education 2022 |url=https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2022/2022144.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531143805/https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2022/2022144.pdf |archive-date=2022-05-31 |url-status=live |website=nces.ed.gov |publisher=National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education |pages=iii, 10|access-date=7 August 2022 |date=May 2022}}</ref>

Summer 2022 polls and surveys revealed that mental health issues were reported by 60% of college students, with educational institutions being understaffed and unprepared to effectively address the crisis.<ref>{{cite news |last1=LEONHARDT |first1=Megan |title=Crisis on campus: 60% of college kids are living with mental health disorders, and schools are woefully unprepared |url=https://fortune.com/well/2022/07/12/mental-health-crisis-college-schools-unprepared/ |access-date=7 August 2022 |work=fortune.com |publisher=Fortune |date=2 July 2022}}</ref>

A five-year, $14 million study of [[Literacy in the United States#Measuring adult literacy|U.S. adult literacy]] involving lengthy interviews of U.S. adults, the most comprehensive study of literacy ever commissioned by the U.S. government,<ref name="nces93275">{{cite web |date=April 2002 |title=Literacy in America |url=http://nces.ed.gov/pubs93/93275.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030620064907/http://nces.ed.gov/pubs93/93275.pdf |archive-date=2003-06-20 |access-date=December 11, 2007 |publisher=National Center for Educational Statistics}}</ref> was released in September 1993. It involved lengthy interviews of over 26,700 adults statistically balanced for age, gender, ethnicity, education level, and location (urban, suburban, or rural) in 12 states across the U.S. and was designed to represent the U.S. population as a whole. This government study showed that 21% to 23% of adult Americans were not "able to locate information in text", could not "make low-level inferences using printed materials", and were unable to "integrate easily identifiable pieces of information".<ref name="nces93275" />

The U.S. Department of Education's 2003 statistics indicated that 14% of the population—or 32 million adults—had very low [[literacy]] skills.<ref>{{cite web |last=Toppo |first=Greg |date=January 8, 2009 |title=Literacy study: 1 in 7 U.S. adults are unable to read this story |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-01-08-adult-literacy_N.htm |access-date=September 21, 2013 |publisher=Usatoday.com}}</ref> Statistics were similar in 2013.<ref>{{cite web |date=September 6, 2013 |title=The U.S. Illiteracy Rate Hasn't Changed in 10 Years |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/06/illiteracy-rate_n_3880355.html |access-date=July 29, 2014 |work=[[The Huffington Post]]}}</ref> In 2015, only 37% of students were able to read at a proficient level, a level which has barely changed since the 1990s.<ref>{{cite web |title=NAEP - 2015 Mathematics & Reading Assessments |url=https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reading_math_g12_2015/#reading/acl#header |website=www.nationsreportcard.gov}}</ref>

===Attainment===
{{Main|Educational attainment in the United States}}
In the 21st century, the [[educational attainment]] of the U.S. population is similar to that of many other industrialized countries with the vast majority of the population having completed secondary education and a rising number of college graduates that outnumber high school dropouts. As a whole, the population of the United States is becoming increasingly more educated.<ref name="US Census Bureau report on educational attainment in the United States, 2009" />

Post-secondary education is valued very highly by American society and is one of the main determinants of [[Social class in the United States|class]] and [[Social class in the United States#Social status|status]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}} As with [[Household income in the United States|income]], however, there are significant discrepancies in terms of race, age, household configuration and geography.<ref name="US Census Bureau report on educational attainment in the United States, 2003">{{cite web |title=US Census Bureau report on educational attainment in the United States, 2003 |url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/p20-550.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040825101913/http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/p20-550.pdf |archive-date=2004-08-25 |access-date=July 31, 2006}}</ref>

Since the 1980s, the number of educated Americans has continued to grow, but at a slower rate. Some have attributed this to an increase in the foreign-born portion of the workforce. However, the decreasing growth of the educational workforce has instead been primarily due to the slowing down in educational attainment of people schooled in the United States.<ref>[[Claudia Goldin]], [[Lawrence F. Katz]]. ''The Race between Education and Technology''. The Belknap Press of the Harvard University Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts: 2008.</ref>

====Remedial education in college====
Despite high school graduates formally qualifying for college, only 4% of two-year and four-year colleges do not have any students in noncredit [[Remedial education|remedial courses]]. Over 200 colleges place most of their first-year students in one or more remedial courses. Almost 40% of students in remedial courses fail to complete them. The cause cannot be excessively demanding college courses, since [[grade inflation]] has made those courses increasingly easy in recent decades.<ref>{{cite web |last=Butrymowicz |first=Sarah |date=30 January 2017 |title=Most colleges enroll many students who aren't prepared for higher education |url=https://hechingerreport.org/colleges-enroll-students-arent-prepared-higher-education/ |access-date=1 March 2019 |website=Hechinger Report |publisher=Teachers College at Columbia University |quote=A high school diploma, no matter how recently earned, doesn't guarantee that students are prepared for college courses.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Jaschik |first=Scott |date=29 March 2016 |title=Grade Inflation, Higher and Higher |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/03/29/survey-finds-grade-inflation-continues-rise-four-year-colleges-not-community-college |access-date=7 July 2016 |website=Inside Higher Ed}}</ref>

====Sex differences====
{{main|Sex differences in education in the United States}}
[[File:Algebra_I_by_Sex_or_Race_(2015-16).png|thumb|Significant race or sex differences exist in the completion of [[Mathematics education in the United States#Secondary school|Algebra I]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 2018 |title=A Leak in the STEM Pipeline: Taking Algebra Early |url=https://www2.ed.gov/datastory/stem/algebra/index.html |access-date=May 13, 2023 |website= |publisher=U.S. Department of Education |language=en}}</ref>]]
According to research over the past 20 years, girls generally outperform boys in the classroom on measures of grades across all subjects and graduation rates. This is a turnaround from the early 20th century when boys usually outperformed girls. Boys have still been found to score higher on standardized tests than girls and go on to be better represented in the more prestigious, high-paying STEM fields.

====Religious achievement differences====
According to a [[Pew Research Center]] study in 2016, there is an association between [[Religiosity and education|education and religious affiliation]]. About 77% of [[Hinduism in the United States|American Hindus]] have a [[Academic degree|graduate]] and [[Postgraduate education|post-graduate]] degree followed by [[Unitarian Universalism|Unitarian Universalists]] (67%), [[American Jews|Jews]] (59%), [[Anglicanism|Anglicans]] (59%), [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopalians]] (56%), [[Presbyterian Church (USA)|Presbyterians]] (47%), and [[United Church of Christ]] (46%).<ref name="Pew2016">{{cite web |date=2016-10-16 |title=The most and least educated U.S. religious group |url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/04/the-most-and-least-educated-u-s-religious-groups/ |publisher=Pew Research Center}}</ref> According to the same study, about 43% of [[Atheism in the United States|American atheists]], 42% of [[Agnosticism|agnostics]], and 24% of those who say their religion is "nothing in particular" have a [[Academic degree|graduate]] or [[Postgraduate education|post-graduate]] degree.<ref name="Pew2016" /> Largely owing to the size of their constituency, more [[Catholic Church in the United States|Catholics]] hold [[college degree]]s (over 19 million) than do members of any other faith community in the United States.<ref name="Pew2016" />

====International comparison====
{{see also|List of American universities and colleges outside the United States}}
In the [[OECD]]'s [[Programme for International Student Assessment]] 2003, which emphasizes problem-solving, American 15-year-olds ranked 24th of 38 in mathematics, 19th of 38 in science, 12th of 38 in reading, and 26th of 38 in problem-solving.<ref>{{cite web |title=International Outcomes of Learning in Mathematics Literacy and Problem Solving |url=http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/2005003.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050516053839/http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/2005003.pdf |archive-date=2005-05-16 |access-date=September 21, 2013 |publisher=National Center for Education Statistics}}</ref> In the 2006 assessment, the U.S. ranked 35th out of 57 in mathematics and 29th out of 57 in science. Reading scores could not be reported due to printing errors in the instructions of the U.S. test booklets. U.S.<!--PISA---> scores were behind those of most other developed nations.<ref>{{cite web |title=PISA 2006 Science Competencies for Tomorrow's World Volume 1: Analysis. |url=http://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisaproducts/39703267.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907200146/http://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisaproducts/39703267.pdf |archive-date=2015-09-07 |access-date=April 14, 2010}}</ref>
[[File:PISA Reading Scores (2018).png|center|On the 2018 PISA Reading test, Asian Americans, Asians, and European Americans outclass their global peers.]]

In 2007, Americans stood second only to Canadians in the percentage of 35 to 64-year-olds holding at least two-year degrees. Among 25 to 34-year-olds, the country stands tenth. The nation stands 15 out of 29 rated nations for college completion rates, slightly above Mexico and Turkey.<ref name="bfp081207" />

In 2009, US fourth and eighth graders tested above average on the [[Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study]] tests, which emphasizes traditional learning.<ref>{{cite news |author=Jay Mathews |author-link=Jay Mathews |date=October 19, 2009 |title=Tests don't always offer right answers |pages=3B |newspaper=Washington Post |url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/class-struggle/2009/10/politicians_and_pundits_are_us.html#more|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130224114743/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/class-struggle/2009/10/politicians_and_pundits_are_us.html#more|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 24, 2013}}</ref>

In 2012, the OECD ranked American students 25th in math, 17th in science, and 14th in reading compared with students in 27 other countries.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Carnoy |first1=Martin |last2=Rothstein |first2=Richard |year=2015 |title=What International Test Scores Tell Us. |journal=Society |volume=52 |issue=2 |pages=122–128 |doi=10.1007/s12115-015-9869-3 |s2cid=143594805}}</ref>

In the 2013 OECD Survey of Adult Skills, 33 nations took part with adults ages 16 to 65, surveying skills such as: numeracy, literacy, and problem-solving. The Educational Testing Service (ETS) found that millennials—aged from teens to early 30s—scored low. Millennials in Spain and Italy scored lower than those in the U.S., while in numeracy, the three countries tied for last. U.S. millennials came in last among all 33 nations for problem-solving skills.<ref>National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). "No Time to Lose, How to Build a World-Class
Education System State by State." NCSL, Aug. 2016. Web. 07 Oct 2016.
<http://www.ncsl.org/documents/educ/EDU_International_final_v3.pdf>.
</ref>

In 2014, the United States was one of three OECD countries where the government spent more on schools in rich neighborhoods than in poor neighborhoods, the others being Turkey and Israel.<ref>{{cite news |date=January 24, 2015 |title=Education, and class. America's new aristocracy |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |url=https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21640331-importance-intellectual-capital-grows-privilege-has-become-increasingly |access-date=January 29, 2015}}</ref>

According to [[U.S. News & World Report Best Global Universities Ranking|a 2016 report]] published by the ''[[U.S. News & World Report]]'', of the top ten colleges and universities in the world, eight are American.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/rankings|title=Top World University Rankings – US Best Global Universities|work=U.S. News & World Report|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022072047/http://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/rankings|archive-date=October 22, 2016}}</ref>