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ERIC Number: ED505835
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2009-Jun
Pages: 59
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Characteristics of Public School Districts in the United States: Results From the 2007-08 Schools and Staffing Survey. First Look. NCES 2009-320
Aritomi, Paola; Coopersmith, Jared; Gruber, Kerry
National Center for Education Statistics
This report presents selected findings from the school district data file of the 2007-08 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). SASS is a nationally representative sample survey of public, private, and Bureau of Indian Education-funded (BIE) K-12 schools, principals, and teachers in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The public school sample was designed so that national-, regional-, and state-level elementary, secondary, and combined public school estimates can be made. Public schools include both traditional public and public charter schools. The private school sample was designed so that national-, regional-, and affiliation-level estimates can be produced. BIE schools on the 2005-06 Common Core of Data (CCD) were sampled with certainty, and thus national estimates for BIE schools can be produced. The School District data file includes responses from school districts to the School District Questionnaire along with the "district items" taken from the Public School Questionnaire (With District Items) completed by the subset of public schools that were not associated with "traditional" school districts. These schools include state-run schools, traditional public schools in single-school districts, and independent charter schools. Selected findings reported in tabular form include: (1) Of the estimated 16,330 public school districts in operation, 48 percent (7,770) were located in rural communities, 21 percent (3,480) in suburban areas, 18 percent (2,900) in towns, and 13 percent (2,190) in cities; (2) In districts' salary schedules, the average yearly base salary for teachers with a bachelor's degree and no teaching experience was $33,600, while teachers with the same degree but 10 years of teaching experience had a yearly base salary of $43,000; (3) The average lowest yearly base salary paid to full-time teachers was $34,000 and the highest was $60,400 in 2007-08 among all districts; (4) About 98 percent of school districts offered general medical insurance benefits to teachers, 85 percent offered dental insurance, and 80 percent offered group life insurance; (5) Overall, 24 percent of public school districts offered pay incentives to teachers if they attained certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, 15 percent offered pay incentives to recruit or retain teachers to teach in fields of shortage, 10 percent to reward excellence in teaching, and 6 percent to recruit or retain teachers to teach in a less desirable location; (6) On average, there were 22.4 newly hired teachers per district in the 2007-08 school year, ranging from an average of 2.1 new hires in districts with less than 250 students to an average of 206.2 new hires in districts with 10,000 or more students; (7) While 54 percent of school districts had a collective bargaining agreement with teachers' associations or unions, 11 percent of districts had meet-and-confer agreements with these groups; (8) Overall, 4.4 teachers out of an average 211.4 teachers per district did not have their contracts renewed or were dismissed as a result of poor performance; (9) Among the districts that granted high school diplomas, students were required to take on average 3.9 years of instruction in English or language arts, 3.0 years in mathematics, 1.0 years in computer science, 3.3 years in social sciences and social studies, 2.7 years in physical or biological sciences, and 1.6 years in foreign languages; (10) Among public school districts with more than one school, the average lowest yearly base salary paid to full-time principals was $73,300 in 2007-08, while the highest was $88,600; (11) Collective bargaining agreements with principals' associations or unions were reported by 16 percent of public school districts with more than one school, and meet-and-confer agreements were reported by 10 percent; and (12) Among districts with more than one school, 24 percent of the districts had a training program for aspiring school administrators and 9 percent of principals were newly hired by a district in the 2007-08 school year. Four appendices are included: (1) Standard Error Tables; (2) Methodology and Technical Notes; (3) Description of Data Files; and (4) Description of Variables. (Contains 30 tables and 13 footnotes.
National Center for Education Statistics. Available from: ED Pubs. P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398. Tel: 877-433-7827; Web site: http://nces.ed.gov/help/orderinfo.asp
Publication Type: Information Analyses; Numerical/Quantitative Data; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Elementary Education; Elementary Secondary Education; Grade 1; Grade 10; Grade 11; Grade 12; Grade 2; Grade 3; Grade 4; Grade 5; Grade 6; Grade 7; Grade 8; Grade 9; High Schools; Intermediate Grades; Junior High Schools; Kindergarten; Middle Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: National Center for Education Statistics (ED)
Identifiers - Location: District of Columbia; United States
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A