Education Week - May 14, 2014 - 31

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U.S. SCHOOLS 60 YEARS AFTER BROWN
In the six decades since the U.S. Supreme Court handed
down its decision in Brown v. Board of Education of
Topeka, the racial and ethnic landscape of the United
States has evolved, and the nation's schools along with it.
The U.S. population is much less dominated by nonHispanic
whites than it was in the 1950s. By 2060, the
U.S. Census Bureau predicts, the United States will
become a "plurality" nation, with no one race in the
majority. (Whites will still be the single largest group, with
Hispanic Americans the next-largest group.)
Similarly, concepts of school diversity and integration
are shifting. While the percentage of white children
in public schools has declined in recent years (from
61 percent to 56 percent from school year 2000-01 to
2007-08), and the percentage of black children in the
schools has held steady (at 17 percent), the percentage
of Hispanic students has increased from 17 percent to
21 percent, and the percentage of Asian/Pacific Islander
students has risen from 4 percent to 5 percent, according
to the National Center for Education Statistics. Today,
many of the questions concerning integration turn on
what to do when schools reflect the racial makeup of their
surrounding communities-communities that are largely
of one race or socioeconomic level.
The U.S. Department of Education's 2010 report "Status
and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Groups"
paints a detailed picture of where American children live,
the conditions they find in their public schools, and their
home lives. Based on data from the 2007-08 school year,
the study offers widely divergent snapshots of the life
experiences of children.
Charts on this page excerpt data from the 2010 report,
as well as newer data the Department of Education has
collected.
Where students live affects where they go to school, and different racial groups tend to be concentrated in different
types of communities. White students are concentrated in suburban and rural communities. Black, Hispanic, and
Asian students are most often found in urban and suburban communities.
ALL STUDENTS
29%
12%
CITY
SUBURBAN
TOWN
RURAL
7%
2010 ENROLLMENT BY RACE
7%
25%
34%
WHITE
4%
30%
6%
23%
14%
4%
54%
11%
2%
17%
66%
2%
5%
10%
13%
71%
4%
3% 3%
2009
34%
25%
Higher percentages of black and Hispanic children attend school with peers from
low-income households. White and Asian students are more likely than others to
attend "low poverty" schools, which are defined as those "in which 10 percent or
less of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch."
HIGH-POVERTY SCHOOLS
52% 47%
13%
19%
LOW-POVERTY
SCHOOLS
27%
In Education Week's roundtable blog OpEducation,
four researchers, using statistics from this page,
offer their impressions on school diversity post-Brown.
To read their reactions, go to
www.edweek.org/go/OpEducation.
Higher percentages of minority children than white children are poor. (The
Education Department separated Asian from Pacific Islander children in
this category.)
CHILD
11% 10%
POVERTY
34% 33% 27% 26%
2007
HISPANIC
BLACK
ASIAN
OTHER
White and Hispanic students in the United States tend to go to schools where they are in the racial majority, and
white students only rarely attend schools where they make up less than 25 percent of the enrollment. By contrast,
Asian students are usually in the minority in schools. The illustration below depicts how often students in four
racial/ethnic categories attend schools where they make up 50 percent or more of the enrollment, in orange, or less
than 25 percent of the enrollment, in blue. The chart does not show enrollment shares of 25 percent to 49 percent.
WHITE
84%
45%
5%
30%
SOURCE FOR ALL CHARTS: National Center for
Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education
22%
69%
2007-08
56%
13%
2011
PROPORTION OF
NEW TEACHERS
NATIONALLY
11.5%
* The Education
Department said
this figure should
be interpreted with
caution.
BLACK
HISPANIC
ASIAN
WHITE
10%
Minority students are more likely to be taught by new teachers. During school
year 2007-08, about 11.5 percent of teachers nationwide were considered
new, meaning they had been in the classroom for less than three years. That
year, schools with a majority of white students had a lower percentage of new
teachers (10 percent) than those with majorities of students of color.
NEW TEACHERS IN SCHOOLS WHERE
A MAJORITY OF STUDENTS ARE ...
BLACK
13%
HISPANIC
16%
ASIAN
16%*
EDUCATION WEEK | May 14, 2014 | www.edweek.org/go/commentary | 31
Asian
White
Asian/Pacific Islander
Native Hawaiian or other
Pacific Islander
Hispanic
American Indian
/Alaska Native
Black
Asian/Pacific Islander
Black
Hispanic
White
HOW DO RACE AND POVERTY INTERSECT?
WHERE DO NEW TEACHERS TEACH?
Black
Hispanic
White
MAJORITY
WHERE DO STUDENTS GO TO SCHOOL?
HOW DIVERSE ARE SCHOOLS?
MINORITY
(24% OR LESS)

http://www.edweek.org/go/OpEducation http://www.edweek.org/go/commentary

Education Week - May 14, 2014

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