Measuring Up 2000: The State-by-State Report Card for Higher Education
PREPARATION


Texas Arizona Florida California Nevada Oregon Washington Wyoming North Dakota South Dakota Colorado New Mexico Oklahoma Kansas Utah Alaska Hawaii Iowa Wisconsin Montana Idaho Louisiana Mississippi Minnesota Missouri Tennessee Alabama Georgia South Carolina North Carolina Indiana Kentucky West Virginia Virginia Michigan Ohio New York Pennsylvania Maryland Delaware New Jersey Connecticut Rhode Island Massachusetts Vermont New Hampshire Maine Nebraska Illinois Arkansas
.A
.B
.C
.D
F

Compare State Performance
Compare States by Contextual Information
Performance Gaps or Change Over Time

PREPARATION
HIGH SCHOOL COMPLETION
High School Credential
K-12 COURSE TAKING
Math Course Taking
Science Course Taking
Algebra in 8th Grade
K-12 STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
Math Proficiency
Reading Proficiency
Writing Proficiency
Math Proficiency among Low-Income
College Entrance Exams
Advanced Placement Exams

How adequately are students in each state being prepared for education and training beyond high school?

As a nation, the United States has improved over the last decade on the extent to which its young residents are being prepared for college-level education and training. This improvement has been uneven, however, with wide disparities between and within states.

High School Completion

° States range from a high of 95% (North Dakota) to a low of 75% (Oregon) on the percentage of their residents who earn a high school diploma or a General Education Development (GED) diploma by age 24.
° Over the past decade, Kentucky has shown the largest increase on this measure, moving up by 12%.

There are wide gaps in the performance of different groups within states:

° In Oregon, 85% of white 18- to 24-year-olds have a high school or GED diploma, compared with only 42% for all other racial and ethnic groups.
° In Illinois, 97% of high-income 18- to 24-year-olds have a high school or GED diploma, compared with 62% for low-income 18- to 24-year-olds.

K-12 Course Taking

The nation as a whole has made large improvements in the percentage of high school students taking upper-level math and science.

° States range from a high of 61% (Nebraska) to a low of 27% (Alabama) on the percentage taking upper-level math.
° Over the past decade, Nebraska and Arkansas have led the nation in improving course taking in upper-level math and science. In Nebraska nearly 70% more high school students are now taking upper-level math than a decade ago. In Arkansas, about 140% more students are now taking upper-level science than a decade ago.
° In Minnesota, on the other hand, the percentage of high school students taking upper-level math has declined, and the percentage taking upper-level science has remained stagnant.

K-12 Student Achievement

° In Minnesota, 35% of 8th graders score at proficient levels or above on national assessments of math, making Minnesota the top performer on this measure.
° In Louisiana and Mississippi, only 7% of 8th graders score at proficient levels or above on national assessments of math.
° Connecticut has the largest gap in performance between low-income 8th graders and others: 31% of all 8th graders in Connecticut score at or above proficient on national assessments of math, while only 9% of low-income 8th graders have similar scores.

A
Alaska, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, Utah, Wisconsin
B
Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Vermont, Virginia
C
California, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wyoming
D
Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, West Virginia
F
Alabama, Louisiana