Vision 2015

IMAGINE: the best schools in the world for every student in Delaware.

Did You Know?

Education pays.

  1. Expanding preschool access can produce $2 to $4 in net present-value societal benefits for every dollar invested. Committee for Economic Development

  2. On average, a high school graduate earns $600,000 more during his/her lifetime than a dropout.Current Population Survey, U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics.

  3. On average, a college graduate earns $1.4 million more during his/her lifetime than a high school dropout. Current Population Survey, U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics.

  4. On average, a high school graduate saves society $41,000 in Medicaid costs and $25,000 in prison costs. Current Population Survey; Alliance for Excellent Education; Petit and Western, "Life Imprisonment and the Life Course," American Academy of Pediatrics.

  5. On average, a college graduate saves society $71,000 in Medicaid costs and $34,000 in prison costs. Current Population Survey; Alliance for Excellent Education; Petit and Western, "Life Imprisonment and the Life Course," American Academy of Pediatrics.

Student achievement: Our children deserve better.

  1. More than two-thirds of new jobs will require some postsecondary education. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education

  2. 82 percent of U.S. college students say they would have worked harder if they had been challenged more in high school. Rising to the Challenge: Are High School Graduates Prepared for College and Work? Achieve, February 2005.

  3. 5 percent of Delaware children under age 5 are enrolled in nationally accredited preschool programs. National Association for the Education of Young Children

  4. 81 percent of U.S. students say they want more opportunities for real-world learning. The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Dropouts, Civic Enterprises, 2006.

  5. Only 30 percent of Delaware 8th grade students meet national standards in reading and mathematics. NCES online NAEP Data Explorer.

  6. Only about one-third of Delaware's students are really prepared for college. Education Counts database, Postsecondary Education Opportunity research letter #132, "College Entrance Rates by Race/Ethnicity for Recent High School Graduates 1960-2002," 2003; NCES, "Enrollment in Postsecondary Institutions, Fall 2004; Graduation Rates, 1998 & 2001 Cohorts; and Financial Statistics, Fiscal Year 2004," 2006.

  7. 6 in 10 Delaware public school students graduate from high school on time. And only 5 in 10 African-American and Hispanic students graduate from high school on time. Editorial Projects in Education online Education Counts database.

  8. Today, only 2 in 10 whites and 1 in 10 African Americans and Hispanics are earning a two- or four-year college degree by their mid-20s. Education Counts database, Postsecondary Education Opportunity research letter #132, "College Entrance Rates by Race/Ethnicity for Recent High School Graduates 1960-2002," 2003; NCES, "Enrollment in Postsecondary Institutions, Fall 2004; Graduation Rates, 1998 & 2001 Cohorts; and Financial Statistics, Fiscal Year 2004," 2006.

  9. Only 1 in 4 Delaware students who are behind in mathematics in 3rd grade will catch up by 10th grade. Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) and The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) analysis. The data is a comparison of Delaware Student Testing Program (DSTP) scores for a cohort of students who entered 3rd grade in 1997-8 and remained in the Delaware public school system through 10th grade (2004-5). The "1 in 4" is the number of students who scored a 2 or lower on the math DSTP in the 3rd grade and a 3 or higher in the 10th grade.

  10. While 50 percent of Delaware's white 4th graders meet national standards in reading and math, only 15 percent of our African American students do so. NECS online NAEP Data Explorer.

  11. While 40 percent of Delaware's white 8th graders meet national standards in reading and math, only 13 percent of our African American students do so. NECS online NAEP Data Explorer.

  12. Achievement gaps in reading are closing. In fact, many Delaware elementary schools have closed the reading gap in third grade. But gaps remain, particularly in high school math, according to a recent University of Delaware survey.

Nationally and internationally, Delaware needs to do better to compete.

  1. Delaware ranks 50th in entrepreneurial growth. Kauffman Foundation Index of Entrepreneurial Activity (2006)

  2. Delaware ranks 27th among the states in the percentage of 8th grade students meeting national standards in reading and mathematics. NCES online NAEP Data Explorer.

  3. Delaware ranks 8th in education spending among the states, but only 27th in reading and mathematics performance. NCES online NAEP Data Explorer.

  4. American 8th graders rank 17th internationally in reading, 27th in mathematics and 20th in science. OECD, Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), 2003.

Teachers: Our schools' greatest asset.

  1. Research shows that teacher quality is one of the biggest indicators of student achievement. In fact, an average student who has three teachers in a row in the top 25th percentile will improve from the 50th to the 60th percentile. But a student with three teachers in a row who are in the bottom 25th percentile will fall from the 50th to the 40th. "Children First", New York City, 2007

  2. Student achievement on standardized tests has increased as many as 50 percentile points for students taught by effective teachers for three consecutive years. Sanders, W.L. and Rivers, J.C., "Cumulative and Residual Effects of Teachers on Future Student Academic Achievement," Knoxville, University of Tennessee Value-Added Research and Assessment Center, 1996.

  3. Delaware will have to hire 2300 new teachers in the next 10 years to compensate for retirements. Delaware Educator Data Systems data, DDOE retirement information, BCG analysis.

  4. 46 percent of teachers leave the profession in the first five years. No Dream Denied: A Pledge to America's Children, 2003.