This report examines progress on key education indicators of black children and adults, utilizing statistics published by the National Center for Education Statistics in various reports and from other federal agencies. It shows that more black students have completed high school and gone on to college, levels of parental education have increased, and the number of black individuals and families below the poverty level has decreased. Despite these gains, progress has been uneven over time and across various measures, and differences persist between blacks and whites on key indicators of educational performance. Blacks are more likely than whites or Hispanics to be enrolled in center-based preprimary education. Most black students attend public schools where minorities represent the majority of the student body. Blacks have higher dropout rates than whites but lower rates than Hispanics. Long term trends show increased reading and mathematics performance for black students. In 1999, more black and Hispanic than white children attended public schools chosen by their parents. However, a lower percentage of black and Hispanic than white children were in private schools. In 1999-2000, the proportion of associate degrees earned by blacks was greater than that of bachelor's degrees earned by blacks. Blacks in 2000 had higher unemployment rates than whites and Hispanics at every level of education. (Contains 56 bibliographic references and 89 tables.) (SM)