Education Vital Signs

U.S Schools: The Facts & Figures
Schools are more complicated places than they were a century, or even a few decades, ago. And so is school governance. The time when a few select students could be groomed for college (or largely groomed themselves) has disappeared amid a vast wave of global competition.

Now, nearly all students must be competitive with their peers in other states – and other parts of the world. There is no way to compete in a numbers game with China and India: These emerging powers will always have more scientists, more engineers, more entrepreneurs and inventors.  If the United States is to maintain its edge on a global stage, it must compete in terms of quality, not simply quantity.  In short, U.S. high school graduates will have to be better prepared for college and the job market, and better able to adjust to the social and technological changes that are surely ahead.

Given these challenges and this complexity, schools are becoming more “data-driven” than ever before, and educational decisions – the kind of decisions made by board members and administrators every day -- are increasingly based on the latest and most credible research.

EVS’s compendium of online research has been assembled (and will be continually updated) with these challenges in mind—to give school board members and administrators access to the latest, most useful research on a variety of topics, from Early Learning and Dropout Prevention, to School Spending and School Governance, to Administration and Technology. The timely reports are organized by category, to assist in your search: 21st Century Skills Administration  After School & Summer Programs Bullying Charters & Vouchers Children At Risk Dropout Prevention Early Learning Facilities and School Design Food & Nutrition Health & Wellness Helping Students Learn Immigration & Diversity Leadership Parents & Communities Safe From Harm School Governance School Spending Teachers Technology Focus Testing & Assessment