The National Center for Education Statistics released the 2008 Condition of Education report this morning. If you need any basic stats on education – early childhood through post-secondary – this 300+ page report is for you.
In this year’s report, the NCES drew attention to the changing demography of American schoolchildren. Minority students make up 43 percent of American public school enrollment, and higher proportions in the South (48%) and West (55%). One in five children speak a language other than English at home. The graph below shows demographic enrollment trends from 1986-2006 by region.
Also striking is the extreme racial segregation of our schools. No, it’s not new news – but these figures never fail to astound me. 31% of African-American students attend schools that are 75% or more African-American, while 64% of white public school students attend schools that are 75% or more white. The graph below shows a slightly different cut of the segregation data – the proportion of students in each racial/ethnic group that attend schools with various concentrations of minority students.
