INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION SCIENCES

Contact: Mike Bowler                                                                           September 13, 2007

202-219-1662

mike.bowler@ed.gov

Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Minorities

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has just released the report Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Minorities.

            The report profiles current conditions and recent trends in the education of minority students. It presents a selection of indicators that illustrate the educational achievement and attainment of Hispanic, Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander students compared with each other and with White students. In addition, it uses data from the 2005 American Community Survey to detail specific educational differences among Hispanic ancestry subgroups (such as Mexican, Puerto Rican, or Cuban) and Asian ancestry subgroups (such as Asian Indian, Chinese, or Filipino). This report presents 28 indicators that provide demographic information and examine patterns of preprimary, elementary, and secondary school enrollment; student achievement and persistence; student behaviors that can affect their education; participation in postsecondary education; and outcomes of education.

• The report finds that over the past quarter century, minority students have made gains in key education areas, such as completing high school and earning a college degree. However, gaps in academic performance persist between students of most minority groups and White students.
• In 2004, minorities represented 42 percent of the public prekindergarten through secondary school enrollment; however, this percentage ranged widely by state, from 80 percent in Hawaii to 4 percent in Vermont.
• On the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics assessment, higher percentages of Asian/Pacific Islander 4th-graders and 8th-graders scored at or above Proficient than did American Indian/Alaska Native, Black, Hispanic, and White students at the same grade levels.
• In 2005, the percentage of 16- to 24-year-olds who were high school status dropouts (the percentage who had not completed high school and were not currently enrolled) was higher among Hispanics than among Blacks, Whites, and Asian/Pacific Islanders.
• Among Hispanic 16- to 24-year-olds, the percentage of status dropouts among those who were foreign born (38 percent) was more than twice that of their native counterparts (13 percent).
• Between 1976 and 2004, the percentage of total undergraduate enrollment who were minority students increased from 17 percent to 32 percent. In 2004, more postsecondary degrees were awarded to Blacks than Hispanics, despite the fact that Hispanics represented a larger percentage of the total population.
• From 1990 to 2005, all racial/ethnic groups experienced an increase in the percentage of adults age 25 and over who had completed high school, and the percentages of White, Black, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native adults with bachelor’s degrees also increased.