What The Data Says On The U.S. Department of Education.

U.S. Department of Education Established (1980) As a department of the federal government, it oversees hundreds of programs that touch students, teachers and schools across the country. Its efficacy and the effectiveness of its policies have been hotly debated over the years. What does the data really show about the impact and role of the U.S. Department of Education? So let’s take a look at the numbers to see what the department has accomplished, and what it faces.

How Much Control the Department Has

The Department of Education is also the main federal agency charged with such tasks: oversight of public education and higher education and related policies across the United States. Its purpose is to advocate for high-quality education and ensure all Americans who need equal access to education. His authority ranges from K-12 schools to student loan programs for higher education, providing him with significant leverage over their lives.

The largest function of the Department is the provision of funding to K-12 public schools. In 2021, the federal government distributed over $80 billion to public education through targeted grants, ranging from Title I dollars meant to reach low-income schools to dollars for special education. To further put this into perspective, federal education outlays, whether for early and childhood education, K-12, postsecondary, or adult education combined, represented approximately only 8 percent of total public education outlays in the United States according to National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) data. The rest is mostly paid for by state and local governments.

The Education Department is not simply a funder of education; it writes the policy. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), signed into law in 2015, replaced No Child Left Behind and gave considerable power back to the states while holding them federally accountable encore. ESSA provides states with considerable freedom in the standards and testing space, but does still pose the accountability challenge to states that they will produce students who achieve at levels and gaps close for low-income populations and others who traditionally underperform.

Impact on School Performance

Academics of students is unquestionably the most significant and important measurement of the performance of the U.S. Department of Education. But although the federal government is unlikely to have a direct role in individual learning moments, data indicate that its financial support and priorities carry significant weight, especially in the most disadvantaged communities.

You are shaped by data to October 2023. For instance, a 2019 analysis from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) found Title I funding to be correlated with increased student test scores, particularly in math and reading. And yes, Title I funded schools do tend to see more cases of school completion, and poverty and access are still real barriers.

But despite federal initiatives aimed at improving outcomes, there remain gaps in achievement. All of this has come amid persistent inequities, with low-income, Black and Hispanic students and students with disabilities continuing to perform at lower academic levels than their peers, NCES said. In 2020, for instance, the average reading score of low-income 4th graders was 17 points lower then their higher-income peers — and the gap has remained large over time. That data indicate that, while the Department of Education’s programs have had some successes, a lot more is needed to close gaps in educational outcomes.

Higher ed and student loans

The department also plays an outsized role in higher education. The Department oversees federal financial aid programs, including Pell Grants that help mostly poor students attend college. In 2021 alone, the federal government disbursed $28 billion in Pell Grants, enabling millions of people to access postsecondary education.

The growing burden of student loan debt has become an escalating challenge. Student loan debt in the United States surpassed $1.7 trillion in 2023 — second only to mortgage debt among types of consumer debt. The Department of Education’s student loan programs — which have delivered financial aid to millions of borrowers — have been accused of contributing to this debt crisis. This data indicates a lot of students are having trouble paying back their loans. More than one in four borrowers currently are either in default of the repayment plan or delinquent on payments, and roughly 40% of borrowers appear to be making no progress in paying off their loan balances while interest accrues, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Overcoming these hurdles, the Department of Education has worked towards solving this issue by introducing income-driven repayment plans and PSLF. But in a 2020 report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that many borrowers were not fully benefiting from these programs, and that loan servicing mistakes and muddled advice had led to “frustration, confusion, and delay in getting relief.”

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Considerations

Removing barriers to education for all students, regardless of their use socioeconomic background, race or disability, is a leading goal of the Department of Education. What’s new: The focus on equity, especially when it comes to issues facing students of color and students with disabilities and LGBTQ students, has grown in recent years.

DATA: A complex picture of educational equity On one hand are policies like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which guarantees students with disabilities a free and appropriate education and has led to increased enrollment and better performance among these students. However, the data show persistent inequities in both resources and outcomes. But access to advanced coursework, college readiness programs, and too many other opportunities are denied to black and Hispanic students.

To add insult to injury, a report released in 2016 by the Office for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education and focusing on technology accessibility in the United States’ schools noted “a significant access gap: 1 in 5 public schools still have no technology tools at all,” and also noted how the students in these institutions with the lowest budgets are impacted much more than other students. And the disparities in access to high-quality education run deep; the federal government is trying to do something about them, but it has a long way to go.

FINALE: And Then, The Road To VIIisipia

And the U.S. Department of Education surely has an important role to play in the nation’s educational system, whether as a significant funding source for schools or a policymaker shaping initiatives with the aim of improving outcomes for low-income students. Furthermore, there’s a fair amount of data showing that Title I and Pell Grants, along with many other federal programs, have a meaningful impact on access and achievement in education. But much work is left to do, particularly on the student loan crisis, widening achievement gaps and educational equity.

But looking forward, the DOE needs to better meet the changing needs of students and schools. Federal funding is “critical,” but the department cannot simply write checks; it must address systemic issues — like inequitable access to resources — to make sure the nation’s educational system is functioning for all, not just the privileged. Data can inform policy decisions; but how we act on that data will define the trajectory of American education.