This statistical brief presents findings on crimes involving juveniles, both as victims and as alleged or perceived offenders. It includes (1) rates of nonfatal violent victimization by age, (2) the number of deaths of juveniles due to homicide, (3) the percentage of nonfatal violent incidents in which the offender was perceived to be a juvenile, and (4) the percentage of persons arrested who were juveniles. Data shows that the rate of nonfatal violent victimization (which includes rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault and simple assault) for persons ages 12 to 17 was higher in 2022 (27.4 per 1,000) than 2021 (13.2 per 1,000). The rate of nonfatal violent victimization of persons ages 12 to 17 declined 85% in the 30 years from 1993 (184.8 per 1,000) to 2022 (27.4 per 1,000). An estimated 710 persons age 11 or younger and 1,410 persons ages 12 to 17 were victims of homicide in 2022, according to the FBI’s Supplementary Homicide Reports. In 2022, the homicide rate was higher for persons age 18 or older (7.5 per 100,000) than for persons ages 12 to 17 (5.4 per 100,000) and persons age 11 or younger (1.4 per 100,000). In both 2021 and 2022, among incidents where the perceived offender’s age was reported, less than 10% of nonfatal violent incidents were committed by a person the victim perceived to be between the ages of 12 and 17. Juveniles’ share of arrests for violent crimes rose in 2022, with juveniles accounting for 9.9% of all arrests for violent crime, up from 8.7% in 2021. The percentage of persons arrested for property crimes who were juveniles increased from 2021 (8.1%) to 2022 (9.3%).

Individuals age 12 or older participate in the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), providing an array of information related to their experiences of crime. This large-scale annual survey, administered by the U.S. Census Bureau on behalf of the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, produces important measures of the extent of victimization in the United States. The NCVS’s design, however, poses unique challenges for calculating one such measure, the prevalence rate. Prevalence reflects the number or percentage of unique persons who were victims of crime, or of unique households that were victimized, at least once during a given period. One concern is that the true prevalence of crime may be underestimated. A new method for estimating prevalence was developed to address the limitations of the old procedure. The new method is called the one-victimization adjustment method (OVAM) procedure. This report provides an overview of the basic principles that underlie the new OVAM estimation method.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to have profound effects on U.S. society. However, one group that is often forgotten in the public health debate and that is especially vulnerable to the spread of the virus and its adverse consequences is the 1.2 million incarcerated adults in U.S. federal and state prisons. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on rehabilitative programs, including education programs, that are provided in state prison systems. State and federal correctional systems implemented a variety of policies to prevent or contain the spread of COVID-19 within this population. As part of this response, many correctional systems ceased or substantially cut back on programming starting in 2020; this included shutting down ongoing education and workforce training programs, as well as other programs and activities, and preventing instructors and other staff from entering prison facilities. This report presents the authors' findings on how COVID-19 has affected prison education programs within state correctional systems from 2020 through 2023. As late as 2023, instruction continued to be interrupted in different prison facilities because of new outbreaks of COVID-19 and staff shortages exacerbated by the pandemic. A key concern of state correctional education directors was that as a result of the pandemic, incarcerated individuals were being released quickly without high school credentials or without having access to educational programs in general. At the height of the pandemic, 48.7% of Second Chance Pell (SCP) college administrators surveyed reported that COVID-19 resulted in college instruction being canceled and 40.8% reported a reduction in the number of courses that could be offered. One of the most lasting changes as a result of the pandemic is the acceleration of the adoption of educational technology and the move toward hybrid and online learning for this population.

Average U.S. public school spending per pupil in elementary and secondary schools rose 8.9% to $15,633 in fiscal year 2022 from the previous year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent Annual Survey of School System Finances data. States with the highest per pupil spending were: New York ($29,873); District of Columbia ($27,425); New Jersey ($25,099); Vermont ($24,608); and Connecticut ($24,453). States with the lowest per pupil spending were: Utah ($9,552); Idaho ($9,670); Arizona ($10,315); Oklahoma ($10,890); and Mississippi ($10,984). All nine states in the Northeast region ranked in the top 14 for current per pupil spending and seven were in the top 10. Sixteen of the 20 states with the lowest per pupil spending were in the South or West. Iowa, Missouri, Indiana and South Dakota were the remaining four states. Among the nation’s 100 largest school systems by enrollment, the New York City School District in New York ($35,914) spent the most per pupil in Fiscal Year 2022, followed by Washington Schools in the District of Columbia ($27,425); San Francisco Unified in California ($23,654); Atlanta School District in Georgia ($22,882); Los Angeles Unified in California ($21,940); and Detroit School District in Michigan ($21,771).

This dashboard provides state-level data on topics of current interest in American education. Users may hover a state or other entity to see an at-a-glance profile or click to access a detailed state profile. Detailed profiles include data on (1) public schools (e.g., enrollment, pupil/teacher ratios, teacher salaries, graduation rates, assessment scores, expenditures); (2) private schools (e.g., enrollment, numbers of schools, teachers, and graduates); and (3) postsecondary institutions (e.g., enrollment, student charges). For academic year 2021, Florida had 2,791,707 students in public schools and 486,830 students in private schools. Florida also had 159,806 teachers in public schools and 39,310 teachers in private schools for that same year. Florida’s total number of public schools was 4,191 in academic year 2021, while the number of private schools was 2,640.

Drawing on the spring 2023 American Instructional Resources Survey, the authors examine teachers' use of foundational reading activities in their instruction. These activities correspond to the four foundational reading skill domains for kindergarten-through-grade-5 students that are set forth in the Common Score of State Standards: print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, and fluency. The authors compare teacher responses by grades taught, characteristics of their schools and classrooms (e.g., students' race or ethnicity, English language proficiency, disability status), and state policy context. At least two-thirds of kindergarten through grade 5 teachers and one-third of middle and high school teachers who teach English and Language Arts (ELA) reported frequently engaging their students in foundational reading activities. Secondary ELA teachers who served schools with a majority students of color and who taught classes that consist of more than 10% of English Learners were more likely to report that their students frequently engaged in foundational reading activities. Elementary ELA teachers in classrooms in which 10% to 49% of students have Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) were less likely to frequently engage their students in foundational reading activities. Elementary teachers in states with and without legislation relating to reading instruction were equally likely to report frequently engaging their students in foundational reading activities. Secondary ELA teachers in states with reading legislation were significantly more likely to report frequently engaging their students in these activities than secondary ELA teachers in states without such legislation, even though only one-quarter of states with these laws include requirements around secondary ELA instruction.

In 2021, approximately five million young people in the United States were not in school or working. This group of young people transitioning to adulthood, roughly ages 16 to 24, are often referred to as “opportunity youth” and sometimes “disconnected youth.” Young people from low-income families and from communities of color—such as Native, Black, and Latino Americans— experience higher rates of disconnection, as they face significant obstacles related to poverty and racial inequality. Research shows that disconnection from school and work during these transformative years can have negative, long-term consequences on a range of outcomes—from earnings to incarceration to homeownership to physical and mental well-being—that result in significant costs for these individuals, their communities, and society at large. Community-based programs are an important source of support for young people to reconnect to school and work. They may help young people work toward a high school credential, connect to postsecondary education or training, earn an occupational credential, gain employability skills and work experience, and advance in the labor market. the research team reviewed two sets of community-based programs for the analysis presented in this report—32 programs that had at least one impact or outcome study, and 52 programs for which such evaluations were not available as of June 2023. The analysis found that programs that have impact or outcome studies are generally similar to programs without such studies in most ways, including in the types of services that they offer to young people. Programs identified in the scan were generally less than 15 years old, operated by community-based organizations using public funding, and located in urban areas. Many programs combined funding from multiple sources to meet the complex needs of the young people they served. Programs also developed partnerships with other community-based organizations, employers, and public and private institutions (such as the local police or a trade union) to fund their services, recruit participants, and connect participants to other services or resources in the community. The geographic and community contexts of the programs thus significantly affect their abilities to engage and serve young people.

Evaluations of employment and training programs often use state unemployment insurance (UI) wage records to measure effects on participants’ employment and earnings. These data offer several benefits for evaluation purposes: They are generally accessible to evaluators (pending agreements with state departments of labor), they cover over 90% of employment in a state, and they allow evaluators to track participants over long periods to assess how program impacts evolve over time. These wage records also have some constraints. They miss earnings from certain types of work, such as self-employment, informal off-the-books jobs, and employment with the federal government. State UI wage records also do not capture out-of-state work—which can limit evaluations, especially those that focus on programs that serve individuals who live near a state border (and therefore may cross the border for work) or individuals who relocate often. This brief examines the implications of relying only on in-state UI wage records to evaluate programs that are designed to increase employment and earnings. It uses data from the Portland, Oregon, site of the National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies (NEWWS), an assessment of a series of programs that were implemented and evaluated in the 1990s. An earlier analysis of the Portland program found that the employment rate impacts differed—primarily five to eight years after study entry—depending on whether national or Oregon-only data were used. This brief builds on that work by presenting differences between the two data sets in employment rate impacts, year by year, through Year 20. It also presents year-by-year differences in earnings impacts, comparing Oregon-only earnings data with data from a broader group of states. The findings show that, using either data set, the overall assessment of the program is generally similar, particularly through the first four years: The Portland program led to relatively large increases in employment and earnings. Where the findings differ, somewhat, is over the longer term. The estimated effects on employment faded more quickly when using national data on employment. Thus, the use of Oregon-only data led to a small overestimate of program effects in later years.

With state and local government procurement expending more than $1 trillion each year, removing barriers to contracting participation—especially for minority-owned business enterprises (MBEs)—could advance a more equitable and accessible contracting environment. This research examines state and local procurement practices through interviews with leaders and staff in government procurement, including training and technical assistance providers, disparity study consultants, legal experts, government officials across a wide range of departments, advocates, researchers, small-business owners, and others. The authors found that there is considerable potential for procurement to be a transformative tool to work toward increasing opportunities for growth for MBEs. Open and fair contracting processes can boost financial stability and wealth for diverse business owners and their communities. There is no one-size-fits-all approach, and implementing multiple practices in tandem may be the most impactful. This report discusses numerous key strategies to remove barriers to participation in public contracting, including bolstering outreach and offering technical assistance to small businesses navigating the contracting process, developing data systems to track vendors by type of firm and owner attribute, and paying vendors in a timely manner. Recommendations include that state and local governments establish and maintain streamlined systems for the collection, tracking, and management of procurement spending data to monitor MBE utilization; strategically assess contracts to determine opportunities for unbundling (breaking large contracts into smaller contracts), especially in sectors with high concentrations of MBE; and identify and strengthen race-neutral strategies—such as proactive outreach, pre-bid informational sessions, and one-on-one technical assistance for bid submission—that can support MBE participation in contexts where race-conscious strategies either are not allowed or do not exist.

Oral health is associated with overall health, especially in older adults (age 65 and older). Chronic conditions in older adults may affect oral health, and poor oral health may increase the risk of certain chronic conditions. Poor oral health has also been associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk. Several factors, including chronic conditions, health status, race, and income have been associated with reduced dental care use among older adults. This report describes the percentage of older adults who had a dental visit in the past 12 months by selected sociodemographic characteristics and chronic conditions using the 2022 National Health Interview Survey. Key findings include that in 2022, 63.7% of adults age 65 and older had a dental visit in the past 12 months, and women (64.9%) were more likely than men (62.3%) to have had a dental visit. Among older adults, dental visits generally increased with increasing family income. Dental visits were higher among older adults with dental coverage (69.6%) compared with those without dental coverage (56.4%). Adults in fair or poor health and those with diabetes or heart disease were less likely to have had a dental visit compared with those without these conditions.

Using National Survey of Family Growth data from 2015–2019, this report presents updated national estimates of infertility in U.S. women and men and estimates of impaired fecundity (physical ability to have children) in U.S. women. Detailed demographic breakdowns are also presented, and overall estimates for 2015–2019 are compared with those for 2011–2015. Data for this report come primarily from the 2015–2019 National Survey of Family Growth, which consisted of 21,441 interviews with men and women ages 15–49, conducted from September 2015 through September 2019. The percentage of women ages 15–44 who had impaired fecundity did not change between 2011–2015 and 2015–2019. The percentage of married women with impaired fecundity also remained stable over this time period. Among all women, 13.4% of women ages 15–49 and 15.4% of women ages 25–49 had impaired fecundity in 2015–2019. The percentage of married women ages 15–44 who were infertile rose from 2011–2015 (6.7%) to 2015–2019 (8.7%). Among married and cohabiting women ages 15–49 in 2015–2019, 7.8% had infertility. Both infertility and impaired fecundity were associated with age for nulliparous (never had a live birth) women after adjusting for other factors. Some form of infertility (either subfertility or nonsurgical sterility) was seen in 11.4% of men ages 15–49 and 12.8% of men ages 25–49 in 2015–2019.

In 2017, the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program sought to better understand the state of health research involving 9/11 responders and survivors. Evidence from the prior review has since been used in scientific planning by the WTC Health Program in several ways. The review was used to support new funding for interventional and health services research to improve health care delivery and outcomes; further inquiry into special topics such as a focused review and scientific planning meeting on youth-focused research; and direct public access to peer-reviewed research findings. The WTC Health Program seeks to assess the inventory, quality, and impact of its funded research in the context of all clinical and translational research involving WTC populations. This paper presents a protocol for ongoing scoping reviews of WTC-related health research, as the WTC Health Program is authorized to fund medical monitoring, care, and research through 2090. The authors also summarize existing research involving WTC populations, including the extent, nature, and signals of impact of WTC-related health research.