This report summarizes important developments and trends in education using the latest available data. The report presents 43 indicators on the status and condition of education. The indicators represent a consensus of professional judgment on the most significant national measures of the condition and progress of education for which accurate data are available. The 2008 print edition includes 43 indicators in five main areas: (1) participation in education; (2) learner outcomes; (3) student effort and educational progress; (4) the contexts of elementary and secondary education; and (5) the contexts of postsecondary education. The Web version includes the following: the 2008 Commissioner's statement, a user's guide, special analyses from 2000 through 2007, all indicators from this edition, and selected indicators from earlier editions of "The Condition of Education." Two appendixes include: (1) Supplemental Tables; and (2) Supplemental Notes. A glossary and index are also provided. (Contains 84 tables and 11 notes.) [For the 2007 edition of this publication, see ED497043.]