by Alex Fitzsimmons
Compared with white students, African American and Hispanic students are far more likely to be held back a grade and less likely to have access to challenging courses to prepare them for postsecondary education, according to new data released from the Department of Education (DOE) on March 6. (Enter your school or district under Detailed Tables to view data.)
An especially wide achievement gap exists for black students. Almost half of the students suspended more than once during the 2009-10 school year were black, even though they accounted for less than one-fifth of all K-12 students. Also, less than a third of high schools with large minority populations offered calculus, compared with 55 percent of schools with the lowest minority enrollments.
The disparities continue: Black and Hispanic students are more likely to be disciplined and less likely to attend classes taught by experienced teachers. More than 70 percent of students arrested or referred to law enforcement were black or Hispanic. And schools with the most minority students were twice as likely to have teachers with fewer than two years of experience.
To make these findings possible, the Department of Education collected data from more than 72,000 schools across the country. The new numbers, which represent about 85 percent of the nation's students, are the second part of the 09-10 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC). The government released part 1 in June 2011.
The agency's interactive website allows users to pull up information on individual schools and create custom charts and tables. The latest survey is the first to include detailed discipline data, including student suspensions and school-related arrests. Although the agency's Office for Civil Rights has gathered educational data from schools since 1968, this latest round contains some of the most comprehensive analysis available.
As state legislators and staff are well aware, K-12 education is predominately a state and local responsibility. Therefore, NCSL strives to provide state lawmakers with the research and resources to find innovative solutions, including this information to help tackle educational inequity.
Policymakers may also want to refer to other NCSL resources that look at various state policies to ensure success for all students:
- A January 2011 report by NCSL's Task Force on Dropout Prevention, "A Path to Graduation for Every Child: State Legislative Roles and Responsibilities"—a series of recommendations designed to improve national dropout rates.
- Research on school choice, including charter schools, private-school vouchers, and tuition tax credits.