ERIC Number: ED539768
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Oct
Pages: 331
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
The Public School Enrollment and Segregation of the Mid-Atlantic States
Frankenberg, Erica
George Washington University Center for Equity and Excellence in Education
The nation and its public school enrollment are in the midst of dramatic racial change (Frey, 2001; Orfield, 2009). Soon, the nation's public schools will enroll a majority of non-White students, a demographic reality that has already occurred in the two largest regions of the country, the South and the West. As the nation's enrollment grows more diverse and complex--Latino students, for example, outnumber Black students nationally--segregation is also on the rise. Nearly 40% of the nation's Black and Latino students are in racially isolated schools, where there are few White students (Orfield, 2009). For Black students in particular, this level of segregation is higher than it has been in four decades, prior to the implementation of more wide-ranging desegregation efforts. Given these demographic trends, and the implications of them for students and society, this paper explores the composition and segregation of schools in the mid-Atlantic region. The data analyzed in this paper is from an annual dataset collected by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics. In particular, data for the District of Columbia and the five states in the mid-Atlantic region are drawn from the 1990-91, 2000-01, and 2007-08 Common Core of Data, Public School Universe. These data provide student enrollment counts for each school, as well as counts by race-ethnicity and eligibility for free or reduced price lunch (FRL). By merging data for each school, we are able to analyze enrollment and segregation changes from 1990 to 2007. In the body of the paper, school-level data is aggregated to the state level to describe enrollment, enrollment change, and segregation. In six appendices (one per state, Appendices B-G), these same measures are reported for each district/local education agency (LEA) within each state. The paper first describes the racial and economic characteristics of students in schools and districts in the mid-Atlantic region. It also examines racial and enrollment change in the region over time. It next analyzes the extent of student segregation using several common segregation measures, first examining racial segregation and then economic segregation. The overlap of racial and economic segregation is also explored. Appended are: (1) Supplemental tables; (2) Delaware; (3) District of Columbia; (4) Maryland; (5) Pennsylvania; (6) Virginia; and (7) West Virginia. (Contains 16 figures, 106 tables, and 10 footnotes.)
Descriptors: Enrollment, Public Schools, School Districts, Racial Segregation, School Segregation, Racial Composition, Poverty, Minority Group Students, Change, School Statistics, Population Trends, Trend Analysis, Enrollment Trends
George Washington University Center for Equity and Excellence in Education. 1555 Wilson Boulevard Suite 515, Arlington, VA 22209. Tel: 800-925-3223; Tel: 703-528-3588; Fax: 703-528-5973; e-mail: ceeeinfo@ceee.gwu.edu; Web site: http://ceee.gwu.edu
Publication Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Department of Education (ED)
Authoring Institution: George Washington University Center for Equity and Excellence in Education
Identifiers - Location: Delaware; District of Columbia; Maryland; Pennsylvania; Virginia; West Virginia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A