New Data from the U.S. Department of Education 2009-10 Civil Rights Data Collection Show Continuing Disparities in Educational Opportunities

U.S. Department of Education
Office for Civil Rights
June 30, 2011
Contact:
Public Affairs, (202) 401-1576, press@ed.gov

New Data from the U.S. Department of Education 2009-10 Civil Rights Data Collection Show Continuing Disparities in Educational Opportunities and Resources

Today, the U.S. Department of Education released data that cast much-needed light on disparities in educational resources and opportunities for students across the country. These data provide policymakers, educators and parents with critical information that will aid them in identifying inequities and targeting solutions to close the persistent educational achievement gap in America.
Known as the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), the data released today is the first installment of a two-part biennial survey. The survey covers approximately 7,000 school districts and more than 72,000 schools, and has also been significantly enhanced and made more accessible through improved data collection, additional data indicators, and publicly-accessible online tools for data analysis. Part 2 of the CRDC is expected to be released this fall.
"To meet President Obama's goal to lead the world in college graduates by 2020, we need efficient, practical and accessible information like this to help guide our path," said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. "These data show that far too many students are still not getting access to the kinds of classes, resources and opportunities they need to be successful."
The data released in Part 1 today includes information on: access to the rigorous sequence of college and career-ready math and science courses, the number of first and second-year teachers in schools, the number of high school counselors in schools, availability of pre-K and kindergarten programs, districts operating under desegregation orders or plans, and whether districts have written policies prohibiting harassment and bullying on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, or disability.
Within the 7,000 sampled school districts:
3,000 schools serving nearly 500,000 high school students offer no algebra 2 classes, and more than 2 million students in about 7,300 schools had no access to calculus classes.
Schools serving mostly African-American students are twice as likely to have teachers with one or two years of experience than are schools within the same district that serve mostly White students.
Only 2 percent of the students with disabilities are taking at least one Advanced Placement class.
Students with limited English proficiency make up 6 percent of the high school population (in grades 9-12), but are 15 percent of the students for whom algebra is the highest-level math course taken by the final year of their high school career.
Only 22 percent of local education agencies (LEAs) reported that they operated pre-k programs targeting children from low-income families.
Girls are underrepresented in physics, while boys are underrepresented in algebra II.

Full News Release: http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/new-data-us-department-education-2009-10-civil-rights-data-collection-show-conti

Office for Civil Rights Revamps Civil Rights Data Collection, Unveils New Web Site for Survey Data

U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights
FOR RELEASE:March 16, 2010
Contact: Jim Bradshaw
press@ed.gov(202) 401-1576

The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced today that it will begin collecting new data to measure whether all students have equal educational opportunity and to inform its enforcement of federal civil rights laws. The data will be collected through the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), which surveys school districts in a variety of areas related to civil rights in education.
"Getting relevant, accurate and accessible data is a prerequisite to critical analysis and good decision-making," said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. "Our hope and expectation is that by ensuring that the data collected by the CRDC covers the critical issues in civil rights in education, the department and all stakeholders will have the information they need to ensure that school districts and schools are living up to the promise of providing equal educational opportunity."
After conducting a comprehensive review of the past survey and considering comments from numerous stakeholders, OCR added new data items to be used in the 2009-10 CRDC. The new data items cover critical topics such as students' participation in algebra and other college-preparatory subjects, retention, teacher experience/absenteeism, school funding, harassment, restraint/seclusion, and additional information related to discipline.
Most of the data collected by the CRDC will be disaggregated by race/ethnicity, sex, disability, and limited English proficient status. Along with these changes, OCR streamlined the survey by removing several other data items.
In 2010, the CRDC sample will expand from 6,000 to 7,000 school districts. Every school in a district that is part of the sample is surveyed. The sample now includes all districts with enrollments of more than 3,000 students. The survey, which will be conducted in two parts (March and October 2010), will collect data for the 2009-10 school year.
OCR also has launched a new Web site, http://ocrdata.ed.gov, to make the CRDC data more accessible and usable to its wide variety of users. The Web site contains CRDC data from 2000-2006, and OCR will post the 2009-10 data when it becomes available. The Web site enhancement was undertaken as part of the department's on-going commitment to transparency and accessibility.
For further information about OCR, please visit, www.ed.gov/ocr. For further information on the 2009-10 CRDC, visit http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/whatsnew.html.
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