Understanding the facts is important when determining education policy.  When ABEC staff comes across education data, we want to be sure to share that data with all stakeholders.

As data is collected, the information will be listed in one of the following categories:

• Early Childhood
• K-12 Education
• Postsecondary Education
• The Economy
• Workforce Development

Please check back occasionally as staff continues to add content and update this section of the ABEC website.

K-12 Education

26% - The number of Arizona fourth graders who score “at or above proficient” on the most widely used national reading assessment.
Source: Arizona Directions 2012

Postsecondary Education

21% - The number of Latino adults who have an associate degree or higher, compared to 57% of Asian Americans, 44% of Whites and 30% of African-Americans.
Source:

The Economy

401,664 – The number of Arizona children who were living in poverty in 2010.  Arizona's childhood poverty rate is at 25 percent, the highest ever.  Last year, the national average was 21.6 percent. Only 10 states and the District of Columbia had a higher childhood poverty rate than Arizona last year.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau

$1.3 trillion to $2.3 trillion – It’s estimated that the nation's gross domestic product would have been this much higher in 2008 if the United States had closed achievement gaps between black and Latino students and their white counterparts, gaps between students based on socioeconomic status, and gaps between lower-performing and higher-performing states.
Source:  The Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap in America’s Schools - McKinsey & Company, 2009

$20,000 – The estimated amount that a good teacher (one who is in the top 15 percent in terms of effectiveness) can add to a student's lifetime earnings in one year.
Source:  Report by National Bureau of Economic Research