By Karly Imus
Zephyr staff
posted on October 11, 2000

• Nevada had the biggest percentage increase in school-age population between 1970 and 1998 among 13 western states, with a 160.6 percent jump. Arizona ranked second.
  
  
• Nevada had 331,000 school-age kids in 1998, up from 127,000 in 1970. California had the largest number of school-age kids, with 6,347,000. 325,610 students were enrolled in Nevada's public schools in 1999-2000. Of those, 217,526 were in Clark County and 54,508 were in Washoe County, constituting about 83.5 percent of Nevada's public school population.
  
  
• Two Nevada school districts were among the largest 100 in the nation during the 1997-98 school year, the most recent year statistics were available. Clark County School District in Las Vegas was the ninth biggest, with 190,822 students in 221 schools. Washoe County School District in Reno was the seventy-third largest, with 51,205 students in 85 schools.
  
  
• In 1998-99, 12,633 students graduated from public high schools in Nevada. Of those, 72.5 percent were white, 12.5 percent Hispanic, 6.9 percent black, 6.6 percent Asian or Pacific Islander, and 1.6 percent American Indian or Alaskan Native.
  
  
• Nevada had a 9.8 percent drop-out rate in 1997-98. Clark County had the highest rate with 11.8 percent, followed by Nye County with 11.0 percent. Washoe County had the fourth highest rate at 7.3 percent.
  
  
• In 1999-2000, the Nevada student-teacher ratio was 19 to 1. In 1970-71, the student-teacher ratio was 25 to 1.
  
  
• The American Federation of Teachers ranked Nevada teacher salaries fifteenth in the nation in 1997-98, with an average of $40,572. They reported the national average at $39,347. The National Education Association ranked Nevada twenty-first in the nation in 1998-99, with an average salary of $38,883. That puts Nevada under the national estimate of $40,582.
  
  
• Nevada spent $1,570,576 on public elementary and secondary schools in 1997-98. Of that, 60 percent ($944,837) was spent on instruction, 37 percent ($575,767) was spent on support services, and three percent ($49,972) was spent on non-instruction.
  
  
• Nevada ranked 36th in the nation in 1998 in per-student spending in public schools. Nevada spent $5,601 per student. The national average was $6,548.
  
  
• Nevada students scored above the national average on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) in 1997-98. Nevada students scored 510 out of 800 in verbal and 513 in math. The national average was 505 in verbal and 512 in math. In 1987-88, Nevadans scored 517 in verbal and 510 in math. That year, the national average was 505 in verbal and 501 in math.
  
  
• Forty-three percent of U.S. students took the SAT in 1997-98. Only 33 percent of Nevadans took it.
  

For more information about specific topics, follow these links:

International educational comparisons

National SAT scores by gender

National reading proficiency

National science proficiency

National writing proficiency

National math proficiency

Public elementary and secondary school expenditures by pupil, 1919-1999. Figures are in unadjusted and constant 1998-99 dollars.

National high school drop-out rate by gender, race/ethnicity, from April 1960 to October 1998.

School vouchers

For more resources pertaining to education statistics, follow these links:

www.state.nv.us/education.html Links to the Nevada Department of Education and the University and Community College System of Nevada

www.yahoo.com/education/statistics/ Education links, including census

www.amstat.org/education The American Statistical Association

edreform.com/pubs/edstats.htm The Center for Education Reform

www.fedstats.gov Government statistics

www.ed.gov/pubs/stats.html Government statistics

www.ed.gov/stats.html The U.S. Department of Education

www.lib.virginia.edu/education/statsweb.htm University of Virginia education links

chronicle.com The Chronicle of Higher Education

Sources: 1999 Nevada Statistical Abstract, National Center for Education Statistics, American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association, The Public Policy Institute of New York State, Inc.

Note: The Web site for the Nevada Statistical Abstract was experiencing technical difficulties as of 10/11/00, so those links may not function correctly. The address is www.state.nv.us/budget/stateab.htm. Follow the "education" link.

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