Since the 1960s, the United States has participated actively in international projects that are designed to provide key information about the performance of the U.S. education system compared to other countries. These projects include the Indicators of National Education Systems (INES) at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), both conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA); and, more recently, the OECD's Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). This report, draws on the most current information produced by these projects available at the time of production (fall 2003 to spring 2004) to present a set of education indicators that describes how the U.S. education system compares with those in other economically developed countries. Although the four international education projects cited above involve many countries worldwide, the primary comparisons in this report are with the Group of Eight, or G8, countries. These are the eight most industrialized countries in the world, whose representatives meet regularly to discuss economic and other policy issues: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The countries were selected for comparison because they are relatively similar to the United States in their economic development and because they are among our major economic competitors. The indicators presented in parts II, III, and IV of the report are organized around four education levels-preprimary education, primary education, secondary education, and higher education. The Report begins with a section that highlights key findings and then presents 23 indicators that compare different aspects of education systems in the United States and the seven other G8 countries. The 23 indicators are organized into the following sections: (1) Context of Education;(2) Preprimary and Primary Education; (3) Secondary Education; and (4) Higher Education. Appended is: The Education Systems of the G8 Countries. (Contains 9 tables and 41 figures.)