Back to School: 2015-2016

Summertime is winding down and vacations are coming to an end, signaling that back-to-school time is here. It’s a time that many children eagerly anticipate — catching up with old friends and making new ones, and settling into a new daily routine. Parents and children alike scan newspapers and websites looking for sales on a multitude of school supplies and the latest clothing fads and essentials. This edition of Facts for Features highlights the many statistics associated with the return to classrooms by our nation’s students and teachers.

Back-to-School Shopping

$8.2 billion  

The estimated amount of money spent at family clothing stores in August 2014. Sales at bookstores in August 2014 were estimated at $1.6 billion. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Monthly Retail Trade and Food Services <http://www.census.gov/retail/mrts/www/data/excel/mrtssales92-present.xls>

For back-to-school shopping, choices of retail establishments abound: In 2013, there were 27,340 family clothing stores, 7,047 children and infants clothing stores, 25,100 shoe stores 6,998 office supply and stationery stores, 7,064 bookstores and 8,102 department stores. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2013 County Business Patterns, NAICS: 448140, 448130, 448210, 453210, 451211, 45211<http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/BP/2013/00A1//naics~44813|44814|448210|451211|4521|453210>

Students

78 million

The number of children and adults enrolled in school throughout the country in October 2013 — from nursery school to college. They comprised 25.9 percent of the entire population age 3 and older.

College Enrollment and Work Activity of 2012 High School Graduates

In October 2012, 66.2 percent of 2012 high school graduates were enrolled in colleges or universities, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Recent high school graduates not enrolled in college in October 2012 were more likely than enrolled graduates to be working or looking for work (69.6 percent compared with 38.2 percent)

More HERE.

Trends in High School Dropout & Completion Rates in the US: 1972–2009

Source: National Center for Education Statistics

From the description:
This report updates a series of NCES reports on high school dropout and completion rates that began in 1988. The report includes national and regional population estimates for the percentage of students who dropped out of high school between 2008 and 2009, the percentage of young people who were dropouts in 2009, and the percentage of young people who were not in high school and had some form of high school credential in 2009. Data are presented by a number of characteristics including race/ethnicity, sex, and age. Annual data for these population estimates are provided for the 1972-2009 period. Information about the high school class of 2009 is also presented in the form on on-time graduation rates from public high schools.

Link to full report (PDF)

High School Longitudinal Study of 2009: A First Look at Fall 2009 9th-Graders

From the National Center for Education Statistics:

This report features initial findings from the base year of a new longitudinal study that started with a nationally representative cohort of ninth-graders in the fall of 2009 and will follow these students through postsecondary education and the world of work. The base year data focus on students’ transitions into high school, especially their decisions about courses and plans for postsecondary education and careers. The HSLS:09 study captures these decisions, plans, expectations, and activities generally but also specifically in math and science.

America’s High School Graduates: Results of the 2009 NAEP High School Transcript Study

This report presents information about the types of courses 2009 high school graduates took during high school, how many credits they earned, and the grades they received. Information on the relationships between high school records and performance in mathematics and science on the twelfth-grade National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is also included. Transcripts were collected from a nationally representative sample of 37,700 high school graduates. The 2009 results are compared to the results of earlier transcript studies, and differences among graduates by race/ethnicity, gender, and other demographic characteristics are examined. In addition, the report takes a closer look at science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) coursetaking, ways in which graduates may earn more credits, and the coursetaking patterns of students with disabilities and English language learners.