Sustainable Development Goals - 17 Goals to Transform our World

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

Indicator 4.5.1: Parity indices (female/male, rural/urban, bottom/top wealth quintile and others such as disability status, indigenous peoples and conflict-affected, as data become available) for all education indicators on this list that can be disaggregated

US Reading literacy among 4th graders

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This table provides metadata for the actual indicator available from US statistics closest to the corresponding global SDG indicator. Please note that even when the global SDG indicator is fully available from US statistics, this table should be consulted for information on national methodology and other US-specific metadata information.

Actual indicator available Data are based on indicators 4-1-1, 4-2-1, 4-2-2, 4-3-1, 4-4-1, 4-6-1, 4-7-1. Description of indicators are contained in meta data for those indicators.
Actual indicator available - description Descriptions of indicators are based on information in other metaprovided in indicators 4-1-1, 4-2-1, 4-2-2, 4-3-1, 4-4-1, 4-6-1, 4-7-1. Variable lists provided under other indicator metadata. Raw data are provided since there it would seem to be inappropriate to have some groups in the numerator on some metrics and in the denominator on others.
Date of national source publication Varies
Method of computation
Periodicity Varies
Scheduled update by national source Varies
U.S. method of computation Refer to metadata for specific indicators.
Comments and limitations Refer to metadata for specific indicators. Note that parity measures suggested above are highly sensitive to small differences and do not account for differences strictly due to standard errors of the samples. The problem with the suggested metric is compounded when comparing relatively small percentages. So, if 10 percent of males and 12 percent of females were enrolled at a particular level, and there was a standard error of .75 on each metric, there would be no significant difference yet the parity ratio as specified above would be .83 which might suggest a substantial difference. The two point difference flipping the perspective to 88 and 90 percent enrolled would yield a metric of 98, which would be more in line with the non-significant difference. As a result of these concerns with the specified metrics and the nonlinear aspect of the metric, we strongly recommend a different approach be used to compare across countries when the differences from country to country in the raw metrics may be assumed to be very large.
Date metadata updated 11/2016
Disaggregation geography National
Unit of measurement Percentages or scores
Disaggregation categories National and gender for most indicators.
International and national references https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/annualreports/
Time period 2003 to 2015
Scheduled update by SDG team

This table provides information on metadata for SDG indicators as defined by the UN Statistical Commission. Complete global metadata is provided by the UN Statistics Division.

Indicator name Parity indices (female/male, rural/urban, bottom/top wealth quintile and others such as disability status, indigenous peoples and conflict-affected, as data become available) for all education indicators on this list that can be disaggregated
Target name By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations.
Global indicator description Parity indices require no additional data than the specific disaggregations of interest. They are simply the ratio of the indicator value for one group to that of the other. Typically, the likely more disadvantaged group is the numerator. A value of exactly 1 indicates parity between the two groups.
UN designated tier 1, 2 or 3 depending on index
UN custodial agency UNESCO-UIS {Partnering Agencies: OECD)
Link to UN metadata Link opens in a new window
Organisation National Center for Education Statistics
Agency Staff Name Tom Snyder
Agency Survey Dataset National Center for Education Statistics
Notes nces.ed.gov
Title
Link to data source