Educational Disparities Among Racial and Ethnic Minority Youth in the United States
By Lauren Bushnell
Edited by Sam Lofgran, copyedited by Erica Bassett
Published Spring 2021
Summary+
While the gap in high school completion has narrowed over time, the percentage of Black and Hispanic high school graduates is still significantly less than that of their White counterparts. Throughout the nation, minority students experience disparities in their educational experience that directly impact their long-term learning and success. The most significant contributors to educational disparities amongst the nation’s racial and ethnic minorities include poverty, segregation and racial school districting, inadequate language resources for English language learners, bullying, and lack of access to health resources. The consequences of educational disparities among these minorities include continued poverty, decreased college enrollment and performance, long-term professional disparities, and decreased political participation. Leading practices to reduce educational disparities include sending adequately trained educators to regions in need, providing free, easily-accessible means of education to students requiring additional assistance, implementing early educational programs, and providing the nation’s most disparaged students with tutoring, mentorship, and financial support.
Key Takeaways+
Key Terms+
Educational disparity—Inequalities within the education system reflected in test scores assessing academic achievement, such as reading and mathematics; percentages of those repeating one or more grades; dropout and graduation rates; proportions of students involved in gifted and talented programs; enrollment in higher education; and behavioral markers of adjustment, including discipline, suspension, and expulsion rates.1
Education disparity cycle—The cyclical continuation of diminished educational involvement or academic success across multiple generations. Similar to repeating patterns of the poverty cycle.2
Dropout—A student who discontinues their schooling prior to the reception of a high school diploma, preventing him or her from graduating high school or starting college.3
Gifted and talented programs—Programs that cater to students with the capability to academically perform at higher levels than other students of their same age, experience, and environment. These programs help these students to progress at levels equivalent to their abilities.4, 5
No Child Left Behind—Officially titled the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, this US federal law aimed at improving public primary and secondary school performance. The law significantly increased the federal government’s role in holding schools responsible for the academic progress of all students and placed a special focus on ensuring that states and schools boosted performance of typically underperforming students (such as English language learners), students in special education, and poor and minority students whose achievement, on average, did not meet that of their peers.6
Redlining—Resulting from government surveying and economic districting in the 1930s, redlining is “the systematic denial of various services to residents of specific, often racially associated, neighborhoods or communities, either directly or through the selective raising of prices.”7
Context
The modern United States has an increasingly diverse population that is expected to grow exponentially in coming years. However, the increasing growth of minority groups throughout the nation has not led to an increase in equal status and treatment of these individuals. One of the areas with significant disparities in treatment and opportunities for minorities is the nation’s education system.8 Throughout history, many have considered education a great equalizer in the nation because of its capability to lift disadvantaged youth out of poverty and enhance their ability to succeed as adults.9 Following the establishment of the first public school in the United States, a widespread narrative ensued asserting that education would enable children of any class to have a chance to succeed in life. However, reports on the country’s current education system consistently show a persistence of educational inequity throughout the nation.10 Many children, due to their economic status, race, location, or other factors, often face significant barriers to obtaining a high-quality education and performing well academically.11
This brief will focus on the educational inequalities that children face due to their racial or ethnic minority status, which is often closely tied to economic status and other systemic barriers. For the sake of this brief, the term “minorities” refers to Black and Hispanic populations, both of national and international nativity, living within the United States. This distinction is based on reports that show significantly diminished academic performance for Black and Hispanic students that are not experienced by many other racial minorities, such as those of Asian descent.12, 13 Although other racial and ethnic minority groups represented in the US population likely face similar educational struggles that are of equal importance and warrant future investigation, there is currently a dearth of research on these groups.
The United States’ history of racial segregation in schools and in other areas of life has played a key role in the educational disparities experienced among minorities in modern times. Prior to 1954, the principle of “separate but equal” was the norm in the nation’s education system, allowing for “acceptable” segregation and unequal treatment of the nation’s minorities in schools across the country. This racial segregation began inciting conflict in the late 20th century during the Civil Rights Movement.14 Reacting to the conflict and public attention throughout the nation, the US Supreme Court ruled on the matter in Brown v. Board of Education, deeming racial segregation in schools unconstitutional. In his statement on the ruling, Chief Justice Earl Warren explained, "In the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal."15 Decades later, the Supreme Court’s decision still stands as one of the most pivotal cases in the history of the US education system. However, American public schools continue to remain largely separate and unequal, though no longer due to legal requirements, leaving profound consequences for students of color and minority status.16
Diminished resources and attention given to the nation’s minority students has caused high numbers of America’s students to underperform in key academic measurements. Between 2011 and 2012, a reported 57% of Black students had access to a full range of math and science courses necessary for college readiness compared to 71% of White students.17 The results of such disparities lowered the performance of minority students, both on the elementary and secondary school level. In 2019, White students in the fourth grade scored an average of 230 points on reading exams compared to an average score of 204 points for Black students and 209 points for Hispanic students. White fourth graders similarly earned higher mathematics scores, with an average score of 249 points compared to an average score of 224 points for black students and 231 for Hispanic students.18 In twelfth grade, White students scored almost twice as high as Blacks and Hispanics on reading proficiency, with 46% of white students scoring at or above the proficiency level, compared to 17% of Black students and 25% of Hispanic students.19 Mathematics scores for twelfth grade students show similar results.20 The consistency of lower performance measures for minority students has remained steady for the past 20 years with clear impacts on the overall educational performance level of American students, increasing more each year as the minority population grows.21
Other key academic performance measures that demonstrate the disparities between White and minority students include high school GPAs, ACT and SAT exam scores, graduation and grade repetition rates, and involvement in gifted and talented programs. Between 1990 and 2009, the average high school GPA in core academic subjects greatly differed between White and minority students. On average, White students received a 2.88 GPA in core subjects, in contrast to Black and Hispanic students with an average GPA of 2.47 and 2.60, respectively. Discrepancies in GPA differed by a similar margin in non-core subjects, such as the arts, where White students received an average GPA of 3.22 compared to Black students at 2.82 and Hispanic students at 3.03.22 Second to high school GPA, many postsecondary admissions boards consider SAT and ACT scores as the most important determinants towards college admissions.23 Since the establishment of the SAT exam, students of color have consistently scored lower than their non-minority peers. In 2018, Black students scored an average of 177 points lower than White students, a trend that is expected to continue. This persistence of racial differences in scores has led many college admissions boards to view the SAT as being statistically and racially biased, diminishing the extent to which the SAT can predict college readiness and success of the nation’s minority students. Similar findings and statistics have been reported for the ACT.24
The consistent rate of academic underperformance among the nation’s minority students directly correlates with data regarding grade repetition and retention rates. In 2010, the grade retention rate of all students stood at 15% with a total of nearly 2 million students being held back. Of this percentage, the majority of retained students lived at or below the poverty line and were identified as being Black or Hispanic.25
In addition to these disparities, minority students have been underrepresented in gifted and talented programs in public schools since the programs’ inceptions in 1958.26 Throughout the nation, a significantly lower percentage of minority students are currently involved in gifted and talented programs, particularly within the STEM field. The small number of minority students who are involved in gifted and talented programs indicate a greater lack of perceived support, motivation, and social or cultural connection to their respective programs than indicated by White students.27 As a result, minority students represent a significantly lower percentage of the nation’s gifted and talented program graduates, ultimately leading to lower representation in upper academia and overall decreases in academic performance measures compared to their non-minority peers.28
As the nation’s minority students become a majority of the population, the topic of equality in the education system becomes of increasing importance to provide the nation’s minorities with the educational opportunities and treatment that can enable them to perform at the level of their non-minority peers.29 To truly accomplish what was decided upon decades ago in the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, much still needs to be done to provide every student with an education equal to that of his or her peers.
Contributing Factors
Poverty
Throughout the nation, many minority students come from families and regions of low economic status. In 2018, the national poverty rate was 10.5%, with 34 million Americans living at or below the poverty line.30 While the national poverty level has gradually decreased in recent years, the contrast between the poverty rate for the nation’s racial and ethnic majority and minority populations has remained constant. A 2018 report on America's poverty rates revealed that the Black population experiences the highest level of poverty, with a 20.8% poverty rate representing 8.9 million people. Hispanic minorities follow shortly behind, with a 17.6% poverty rate representing 10.5 million people. In contrast, the poverty rate for Whites stands at 8.1%, down from 8.5% in 2017.31
Despite claims that children who grow up in poverty can achieve academic success when given adequate attention and opportunity, educational reports consistently show that by the time they are 9 years old, the 13 million children being raised in impoverished households are already an average of 3 grade levels behind their higher-income peers.32 While programs such as No Child Left Behind have centered their attention on providing greater educational equity for students of all backgrounds and economic status,33 poverty still remains one of the most influential factors of education disparity.34
Students living in poverty demonstrate consistently lower academic achievement and school completion largely due to the lack of resources available for student success.35 Being raised in poverty is shown to reduce children’s readiness for school due to its impact on development and performance. Impoverished living has consistently been associated with children’s poor physical health and motor skills, diminished abilities to concentrate and remember information, and reduced attentiveness, curiosity, and motivation.36 Children from chronically impoverished families demonstrate lower cognitive and academic performance and a higher rate of behavioral problems than higher-income children experience, partially due to a lack of stimulating behaviors and home experiences among low-income families since impoverished parents have less time and resources to dedicate to helping their children succeed academically.37 As a result, children from lower-income families are more likely than their wealthier peers to have lower test scores and lower levels of school involvement in such areas as clubs, extracurricular programs, and athletics.38
These income-based gaps in achievement and involvement can be at least partially explained by substantial differences in the time, energy, and funds that high- and low-income parents invest in their children. Parents among the top 25% of earners are more than twice as likely to have at least ten books in their home than those of the lowest quartile of earners. To a similar extent, higher-income mothers are over 50% more likely to read to their children at least 3 times per week than low-income mothers are, significantly improving the reading and retention levels of higher-income students compared to students living at or below the poverty level.39 Children from higher-income families are more than twice as likely as lower-income children to be enrolled in special lessons or extracurricular activities, practice or play a musical instrument, and attend professional or community performances. Due to a combination of less available time and dispensable funds, lower-income parents are less able to engage with their childrens’ scholastic experience at the same level as high-income parents, leading to decreased academic performance levels for impoverished, and often Black or Hispanic, children.40
Racial School Districting
One of the key contributors to educational inequality throughout the nation is the high incongruence of governmental funding provided to schools in various locations and school districts. One key determinant for the amount of funding a school receives is the area in which it is located, with direct ties to the economic status of those living in the area. Reports continuously find that children raised in areas with higher-income neighborhoods have access to better schools with increased academic opportunities.41 Meanwhile, those who live in lower-income neighborhoods tend to attend schools with decreased academic opportunities and educational resources.42
Due to the country’s history of residential segregation, Black and Hispanic students are much more likely to live in low-income neighborhoods.43 In the 1930s, government surveyors graded neighborhoods throughout the country, color coding them by location, economic status, and potential for growth. The “best” and most economically advanced neighborhoods were labeled green, blue neighborhoods were “still desirable,” yellow neighborhoods were “definitely declining” areas, and “hazardous” neighborhoods with the least economically-stable inhabitants were labeled red.44 This process is referred to as redlining
Compared to the predominantly White “green” and “blue” neighborhoods, the typical “red” neighborhood was composed of majority Black or Hispanic families.45 Contrasts in culture, economic status, and historical views on racial minorities were further exacerbated by the impacts of impoverished living within redlined neighborhoods. Throughout the nation’s history, Black and Hispanic individuals have consistently fallen into lower income brackets, representing significantly higher percentages of those living at or below the poverty level than White individuals.46 As a result, redlined districts have continued to house those living in poverty, a key determinant in the continued culture and diminished opportunities for growth of those living in red neighborhoods. The discriminatory practices initially captured by the 1930s districting continued until the 1968 Fair Housing Act, which banned racial discrimination in housing. However, locational and cultural ties—further strengthened by the inability for many red neighborhood “natives” to afford moving to other locations—continue to demonstrate a lack of change in these districts with the lingering effects of redlining clearly illustrated through continued racial and residential segregation in many US cities.47 Spanning across the nation, 3 out of 4 formerly redlined neighborhoods continue to struggle economically,48 contributing not only to the continuation of poverty amongst their inhabitants but also to the increased likelihood that redlined children will experience educational disparities throughout their years of schooling and for generations to come.49
Currently, more than half of the nation’s schoolchildren live in racially concentrated school districts, where over 75% of students are of minority status.50 The relationship between location, economic status and taxing, and diminished academic performance results in unequal levels of funding for school services, with students of color most directly impacted.51 Based on a combination of property taxes and overall income level of primarily White versus minority regions, federal funding for public schools is consistently higher for primarily White schools throughout the nation. In 2016, the overall gap in state and local funding for minority schools was reported at $23 billion with White districts receiving, on average, over $2,000 more in funding per student than minority districts.52 Many teachers and administrators of racially districted schools refer to the unequal levels of school funding as the result of federal funding “loopholes” that unjustly enable lower political spending on minority students or students attending segregated schools.53 As a result, these schools are unable to provide their students with equal resources and opportunities, which directly impact the academic performance of minority students.54
Compared to academic performance levels of students in majority-White regions with household incomes of $115,000 or higher, students from neighborhoods with a majority of Black or Hispanic inhabitants and household incomes of $26,000 on average report significantly lower scores in multiple scholastic categories.55 In New York public schools from majority White neighborhoods, math and reading proficiency scores average 84%, compared to the state average of 54%. In stark contrast, students from schools within stereotypically labeled “red,” minority-populated neighborhoods report math and reading proficiency scores significantly lower than their majority-White peers, at 24% and 17%, respectively.56 Consistent reports of diminished academic performance by students from schools with high concentrations of racial and ethnic minorities continue to prove the impact that racial districting plays on the potential and scholastic performance of the nation’s minority students.
Inadequate Language Resources
As the number of minority students has increased throughout the nation, the percentage of students who are engaging in English language learning (ELL) has continued to increase. ELL students are identified as individuals who have difficulty speaking, reading, writing, or understanding the English language in an academic setting. As a result, these students are often less able to participate and learn successfully in an English-speaking classroom.57 Since 2000, the total number of ELL students has increased by over one million, and by 2015 the number of public school students who were identified as English learners had reached 4.9 million students, 77.7% of which were of Hispanic nationality with Spanish as their native language.58 A 2019 study reported that the most statistically increasing population of students in the American school system is children of Hispanic immigrants, over half of whom do not speak English fluently.59
In 2017, the percentage of ELL students throughout the nation was significantly higher for school districts in lower-income, urbanized areas than for those in rural areas at 14.7% and 4.7%, respectively.60 In 2016, 42 states reported higher poverty rates among people living in urban areas, including the ten states that reported the highest population of ELL students.61 While the federal government requires all school districts to provide services to English learners, states are given no specific policy to follow in identifying, assessing, placing, or instructing these students.62 Additionally, funding for ELL programs throughout the nation comes almost entirely from local and state sources, resulting in significantly lessened funding for ELL programs in lower-income districts where the majority of minority students are located.63
Without adequate funding, schools in lower-income districts experience challenges in providing adequate ELL programs, such as finding space to teach ELL students, hiring the staff needed to give ELL students the attention and individual assistance they often need, and providing resources such as duo-language textbooks to help them better understand content.64 The result of the correlation between schools with the highest percentages of ELL students and schools located in impoverished districts consistently contributes to the likelihood of ELL students, and therefore many minority students, not receiving the resources and instruction needed to help them perform at the level of their English-speaking peers.65
As a whole, ELL students consistently demonstrate lower levels of academic achievement than English-speaking students. Compared to the 82% national rate of high school graduates, only 63% of ELL students graduated from high school in 2017, with the highest discrepancy between English-speaking and ELL student graduation rates representing low-income, minority-centric regions.66 Of ELL students who do graduate, only an average of 1.4% take college entrance exams such as the SAT and ACT,67 compared to the national rate of 36% in 2018.68 Without the resources and attention needed to help this increasing population of students receive an education that matches their English-speaking peers, academic performance measures are likely to continue yielding diminished results, both for ELL minority students and the nation as a whole.
Bullying
While bullying is not unique to minority groups, ethnic and racial minority students often experience increased measures of bullying compared to White students.69 In general, children and youth who are vulnerable or marginalized in society tend to be at higher risk for victimization and bullying by their peers, especially if they are one of the few minority students at a mostly-white school.70 Starting in elementary school, minority students report higher levels of bullying compared to non-minority students. In 2006, twice as many elementary school-aged minority students reported being bullied because of their ethnicity than their non-minority peers. 71 These findings were shown to continue throughout students’ schooling with similar results carrying on throughout high school.72 As a result, minority students are more likely than White students to negatively associate school with bullying, causing diminished school involvement and academic performance.73
A 2016 report of 96,000 US public schools reported that 23% of reports of bullying involved harassment or aggression based on race, with the highest percentage of bullying being towards Black and Hispanic students.74 However, despite being bullied at high rates, racial minorities—specifically males—are the least likely group to report having been bullied, likely due to cultural beliefs that reporting aggressions could be seen as a sign of weakness to their families.75 As a result, a higher percentage of racial and ethnic minority students are likely to experience continued physical and verbal bullying throughout their educational experience with no intervention from school authorities, leading to poor school adjustment, increased school avoidance, and decreased levels of student success.76
Higher levels of bullying consistently lead to decreased academic performance amongst elementary and secondary education students, as dictated by lower test scores in schools with high reports of bullying.77 Particularly during their middle school years, students who reported a stronger sense of being bullied not only demonstrated an increased likelihood to obtain lower grades but also were rated by their teachers as less academically engaged. These reports showed stronger correlations between bullying/victimization and academic performance amongst minority students, particularly Black and Hispanic students.78
Lack of Access to Health Resources
Throughout the nation, educationally relevant health disparities continue to exert a powerful but generally overlooked influence on educational performance measures and the overall achievement gap.79 Increasing numbers of children are currently suffering from health disparities due to their race and socioeconomic status, with affluent, White children receiving significantly improved healthcare over minority children of lower economic status.80 Results of these disparities are shown to influence a variety of key areas, one of the most directly impacted being education.81 Specifically, health disparities among the nation’s racial minority students are evidenced by lacking dental care, vaccines, visual or oral assistance to children who are vision or hearing impaired, medical coverage, and access to good medical facilities and resources.82, 83
Due to their inability to access health resources, many students who experience poor health outcomes experience diminished educational experiences and show decreased measures of academic performance. Regardless of how well teachers are prepared to teach or what systems of governance are established for these schools, educational progress is profoundly limited if students are unable to learn at an optimal physical and mental level.84 Health factors show direct and indirect effects on educational outcomes, including standardized test scores and GPA.85 Students who are well nourished, physically active, well rested, and who have received needed medical supplies such as eyewear or hearing aids have clear advantages in cognition and performance compared to students with deficiencies in these areas.86Health conditions, disabilities, and unhealthy behaviors directly correlate with educational outcomes, with illness, poor vision, mental health, asthma, poor vision, and inattention/hyperactivity amongst minority students consistently contributing to diminished school performance.87
Consequences
Poverty
Due to the cyclical nature of impoverished living, poverty is both a contributing factor and a core consequence of dropout amongst the nation’s minority students. As a whole, the majority of students who do not receive basic levels of secondary education are less likely to find careers that will finance movement beyond the poverty level.88 Each year, nearly 1.3 million students drop out of high school, a higher percentage of which identify as Black or Hispanic, at 6.4% and 8% compared to the dropout rate of White students that stands at 4.2%.89 Of 513 dropouts surveyed in a 2012 academic report, only 17% held full-time jobs, and 46% of dropouts who were currently employed in either full-time or part-time jobs reported having little to no opportunity to advance in their current positions.90 The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in 2012, students without a high school diploma earned a 30% lower annual income than their peers who graduated from high school—a correlational contributor to the wage gap amongst the nation’s minority population.91 In contrast, students who received a high school diploma—a greater percentage of which are White—were more likely to graduate and find jobs to provide for living beyond the poverty level.92
One of the key contributors to continued poverty amongst minorities that results from an incomplete high school education stems from lack of representation, opportunities, and support for minority students that many of their White peers experience throughout their public school experience.93 The lesser quality of education and education disparities experienced by any of the nation’s minority students directly contribute to increases in high school dropout rates by minority students, many of whom go on to experience poverty and income inequality throughout their lives.94 Consistently, the less education an individual receives, the higher likelihood that they will struggle financially throughout their life. As a result, these individuals remain in poverty without the means or training to take on careers that will result in earning that will allow them to escape the poverty cycle.
Decreased College Enrollment and Performance
Obtaining a college education continues to represent a major pathway through which individuals can achieve upward mobility in society. However, many of the nation’s high school students are not entering and completing college at the rates necessary to benefit the full expanse of American students.95 These findings are illustrated to an even greater extent among the nation’s Black and Hispanic students. Racial, ethnic, and economic inequalities in primary and secondary education are largely evidenced by college readiness and acceptance rates, university graduation rates, and overall college performance. As a whole, minorities are less likely to continue their education past high school.
A national survey of minority and White students’ post-high school plans and aspirations indicated that the decline in minority students’ college participation rates cannot be attributed to changes in motivation or interest in secondary education.96 In fact, when compared to their non-minority peers, many minority students see more value in receiving a college diploma and express a stronger desire to pursue tertiary education.97 Decreased college enrollment and performance among minorities, then, can be attributed to structural barriers in the educational system. Explanations for the consistently lower rate of minority students pursuing higher education include such disparities as racial segregation in lower-track classes with larger class sizes, less qualified teachers, and lower-quality curriculum to minority students.98 These and other key contributing factors clearly point to the lower percentage of minority students who apply to college, but they only tell half of the story in explaining diminished performance of the nation’s minority students who do attend and graduate from college. At both private and public universities, White students completed their programs at a rate of 62%, contrasted by Black and Hispanic students who graduated at rates of 45.8% and 38%, respectively.99 Similarly, Black and Hispanic students consistently graduate with college-level credentials around 20 points lower than White students pursuing the same programs or specialties.100
Additionally, cultural stereotypes and underrepresentation in higher education settings come together as powerful factors that shape an individual's sense of belonging. Individuals from stigmatized and underrepresented backgrounds are significantly more likely to experience a sense of uncertainty and apprehension than those that identify with majority groups. This sense is particularly common among Black and Hispanic students who represent a significant minority of students pursuing higher education. To these students, social and academic adversities can be particularly trying and confusing as they question whether treatment or adversities emerge as a result of their group membership, stereotyping, or discrimination. The resulting attributional ambiguity often leads traditionally stigmatized people to interpret these adversities as evidence of non-belonging. As a result, even minority students who are accepted to and are academically succeeding in higher education may demonstrate lower levels of overall success and long-term performance as a result of their feeling a lack of acceptance or inclusion in the college environment.101 As a result, less than one-third of low income Black and Hispanic high school graduates currently enroll in college, with college participation rates of Black and Hispanic students regressing in recent years.102
Long-Term Professional Disparities
While typically viewed as the most important determinant of college success, graduation rates only tell a fraction of the story. Disparities in the educational experience of minority students is only the beginning of a life of unequal treatment and opportunities to move forward in society.103
Early academic engagement is critical for students to develop foundational skills that will help them throughout the school experience. Between the ages of 8 and 12, children experience significant growth through development of cognitive skills, personality traits, and interpersonal relationships that help them understand societal values and where they contribute in a social context.104 Underrepresentation in the classroom, conflict with teachers, and rejection from non-minority peers greatly impact minority students’ classroom identification, diminishing their sense of school, community, and societal connection.105 As a result, these students are more likely to pass through this growth stage without key social and interpersonal skills, directly contributing to increased struggles of minority students that are carried into tertiary education and professional work.106 Beyond the lack of representation in school leadership and governance, many minority students’ first experiences with racial discrimination occur in the classroom, beginning a pattern of decreased societal connection and inclusion that students will continue to experience in various contexts.
One of the most clearly evident areas of racial discrimination is within the labor market, evidenced by unequal representation in the workplace, lower pay, decreased professional opportunities, higher unemployment rates, and generally biased interactions with non-minority colleagues or superiors.107 In 2018, the overall unemployment rate in the United States was 3.9%. However, the rate greatly varied across race and ethnicity groups with Blacks standing at 6.5% and Hispanics at 4.7%, compared to Whites at 3.5%108 Across multiple professional sectors, Whites make up the majority of the labor force at 78%. This particularly contrasts to Blacks who constitute 13% of the work force and Hispanics who make up less than 30%.109
As of 2016, the number of racial and ethnic minority workers in skilled managerial, professional, and technical occupations has continued to sit lower than that of their majority race colleagues, with the coefficient of Black workers in skilled positions sitting at 0.7 compared to Whites at a coefficient of 1.110 While contributors to the statistic vary across positions and sectors, differences in educational achievement certainly explain much of these disparities.111 The persistent racial divide in high paying jobs and professional positions reflects a variety of factors, most significantly diminished access to high-quality and well funded/resourced primary, secondary, and tertiary schools. For example, Black and Hispanic students continue showing decreased percentages of high school graduates compared to their White counterparts, leading to the significantly decreased likelihood of Black and Hispanic students to enroll in and graduate from college.112
This significantly higher number of minority students that do not graduate from high school or go onto to pursue tertiary education directly contributes to the lower percentage of minorities represented in higher paying, long-term careers and management positions. The connection between decreased educational opportunities, achievement, and professional work opportunities directly correlates with the higher likelihood of minority individuals who earn lower incomes and who are resultantly more likely to live in positions of poverty and societal inequality.113
Political Participation
Members of ethnic minorities generally exhibit lower political participation than majority populations, which can be partially attributed to lower educational attainment. Reports of voter participation in the 2014 midterm elections found that the individuals who are least likely to vote are typically of a younger age group (18 to 25 years old) from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds, with over 43% of non-voters identifying as Hispanic, Black, or other racial and ethnic minorities. As a result of minority status and commonly diminished political understanding and education, many Black and Hispanic voters are “formally” excluded from the political decision-making system. Consequently, discriminated racial and ethnic minorities may end up feeling a sense of political alienation beginning early in their academic experience that drastically decreases their future likelihood to engage in political participation, with one simulation estimating a decrease from 5.5% to 0.6%.114
The direct correlation between education and political participation is largely a result of diminished social connection and group identification among minorities that begins in the classroom. Across all groups, feelings of belonging, social membership and a sense of community inclusion are fundamental to political incorporation and participation.115 To a large extent, minority students report lower levels of connection and inclusion in academic settings.116 As a result, minority students show decreased community connections and societal engagement compared to their non-minority peers; a key contributor to both long term social engagement and achievement and current academic involvement and performance.117
In addition to decreased connection to the nation and its societal makeup, a larger percentage of minorities lack the civic education needed to make informed voting decisions and are less likely to demonstrate interest in shaping the nation through political participation. More formal education consistently leads to stronger interests in politics, greater concern with elections or political change, greater confidence in playing one’s role as a participatory citizen, and a deeper commitment to citizenship.118 More schooling is also seen to increase political efficacy, based on the belief that an individual has the competence to understand and participate in politics and that their vote can influence the nation’s government system. Simply, education increases voters’ beliefs that they can play a role in the nation’s political process, thus increasing their political participation.119 On the other hand, a lack of education may result in less desire for this type of engagement.
Practices
Teach for America
When students who grow up in poverty are given the attention and opportunities they deserve, many of them excel. However, the public education system often lacks the ability to provide these opportunities, particularly within regions where most of the nation’s racial and ethnic minorities are located. A majority of these schools lack the funding to hire the number of teachers necessary to give students one-on-one attention. Others try to bring in additional instructors or means of support to better focus on the needs of individual students, but schools may struggle to find teachers who are adequately trained to confront the needs of these students.120 One of the means through which this problem can be reduced is by bringing trained educators to districts in need of outside assistance with the goal of providing impoverished or disparaged students the opportunity to receive an education from qualified teachers and leaders. This practice will ensure that regardless of location, ethnic makeup, societal standing, or economic level, all students can receive high-quality education.
The mission of Teach for America (TFA) is to ensure that every child throughout the United States has access to first-rate education that will allow him or her to progress towards academic and professional success and ensure that all children can fulfill their potential.121 Each organization in the Teach for America network enlists the nation's most promising leaders to teach in high-need areas for a period of two years. The long-term mission of the two-year service is to drive systemic change in worldwide education systems. Organizations throughout the country partner and work with schools, communities, and local governments to place participants in areas where education is most lacking.
Impact
In a review of schools that worked with TFA instructors, 86% of responding principals reported being satisfied with corps members at their schools, stating that they felt corps members positively contributed to their school community. Eighty-two percent of principals who worked with TFA instructors noted that they would hire corps members in the future, and 88% said they would confidently recommend hiring corps members to other principals.122 In addition to seamlessly fitting into and benefiting the school environments in which they are located, TFA instructors have consistently yielded positive results for these school districts in the form of improved student performance rates.
A study performed to analyze the impact of TFA found that students taught by TFA teachers demonstrated nearly two months of additional math growth, compared to other permanent teachers in the same schools. TFA classrooms also out-performed other classrooms in reading and reading comprehension by nearly two weeks. Fourth through eight grade students in metro Atlanta who were taught by TFA instructors similarly demonstrated significantly increased growth in science and social studies with nearly two months more growth than other teachers in the same schools. The US Department of Education reported that in 2018, Pre-K through second grade students with TFA teachers received the equivalent of an additional 1.3 months in reading instruction in a year, compared to students of non-TFA teachers at the same school.123
Similar results were demonstrated in STEM fields, with elementary school students of TFA instructors showing consistently higher average math scores than students taught by non-TFA teachers, showing close to an extra month of instruction in TFA teachers’ classrooms. Sixth through twelfth grade students of TFA teachers also demonstrated higher performance, showing an average of 2.6 months or more per year additional progress in math than those taught by non-TFA teachers at the same school. Findings were replicated with state exams, with 39.3% of students in TFA-led classrooms passing annual STAAR exams compared to 36.8% of students in non-TFA classrooms.124 Additionally, TFA instructors for all populations, regardless of race, economic status or language proficiency, were consistently shown to have a greater and more consistent advantage on Black and Hispanic students and for Limited English Proficiency (LEP).125
Gaps
The mission of Teach for America is to create long-lasting change by educating communities to support the children in these struggling areas after Teach for America Corps members have completed their service.126 However, due to the organization’s designed two-year experience, many of these instructors leave before they are able to bring about the lasting change that impoverished school districts require. An additional flaw in the organization’s ability to solve this problem is that the degree of impact varies depending on the instructors, the district, the way they are introduced into the schools they enter, and the possible complications of corps members leaving the schools they enter without the support they have grown accustomed to once their two-years in the corps have ended. While the focus of corps members’ two years of teaching is on teaching and work within their region, many do not plan to continue teaching or working within the education system after completing their two years. As a result, their service and the reach they could extend is halted upon graduation from the corps, leaving much of their work potentially unfinished.
While the organization continues seeking to expand its numbers to extend efforts to school districts throughout the country, it is not fully meeting the demand from districts and education reformers.127 Throughout the country, the need for instructors exceeds the number of corps members, resulting in the organization’s overall impact only demonstrating a small degree of what it could were recruitment efforts to increase.
Khan Academy
Compared to any higher-quality, often White-majority public schools, many schools minority students attend lack the ability and resources to focus on the needs of each individual student. While many students can effectively manage learning on their own, some students require more individualized teaching and attention. Particularly in school districts where students have experienced levels of educational inequity that have left them “behind” in their academic progress, students require more individualized attention and need to be encouraged and assisted throughout the learning process.128 Khan Academy recognizes and seeks to combat the problems of low funding and inadequate teacher to student ratios by providing students with free, easily-accessible teaching resources to prompt learning at their own pace and understanding. This practice will ensure that regardless of what circumstances students may find themselves in, they can receive free access to teaching and training on a variety of subjects.
Khan Academy’s mission is “to provide a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere”.129 The free online resources cover preschool through early college education in a variety of subjects and languages to promote education on an individualized basis, with the goal of fostering learning and knowledge retention. The program uses intelligent software, deep data analytics, and intuitive user interfaces that assess student learning styles and base understanding. It then synthesizes this information to better understand the needs of each individual student in order to provide him or her with practice exercises, detailed instructional videos, study and learning materials, and a personalized learning dashboard to empower learners to study at their own pace both inside and outside of the classroom.130 Since its development Khan Academy has expanded to provide profound results for students across the United States in a variety of locations, learning levels, and situations.
Impact
Since its establishment, the program has delivered 999 million lessons with videos covering a wide variety of subjects and disciplines. An estimated 2.5 million students have used Khan Academy’s free Official SAT Practice exams and approximately 50% of test takers in the United States reported using Khan Academy to prepare for the exam. 64% of first-generation students at top universities in the United States reported that Khan Academy was a meaningful part of their education and reported use of Khan Academy lessons as being a better means of learning than they sometimes received in the classroom.131 Both teachers and administrators have identified dramatic changes in students’ excitement and enthusiasm towards learning with obvious increases in confidence from students who previously struggled with learning within the classroom.
Teachers who regularly integrated Khan Academy into their instruction reported that it increased their capacity to support students in a number of key areas. Across two years of usage, 91% of teachers who used Khan Academy to supplement their teaching indicated that the program increased their ability to provide students with opportunities to practice new concepts and skills that had been recently taught in the classroom. Eight out of ten teachers also reported that usage of Khan Academy increased their ability to monitor students’ knowledge and ability, helping them better identify struggling students and students who are being held back by the current curriculum. Specifically in low-income communities, 48% of teachers reported that Khan Academy helped them move more quickly through the curriculum.132
Over two years of teacher study, roughly 85% of teachers reported that using Khan Academy had made a positive impact on students’ learning and understanding of material, with 42% reporting a strong positive impact. 87% of respondents stated that they believed Khan Academy also had a positive impact on students’ ability to work and learn independently, with 38% reporting a strong positive impact. In terms of specific skills and areas of study, 83% reported feeling that Khan Academy had a positive impact on students’ acquisition of procedural skills, both in and out of the classroom.133 A large majority (80%) of teachers who regularly use Khan Academy in their teaching reported that it has a positive impact on students’ conceptual math skills and understanding, crediting Khan Academy with enabling students to learn new math concepts beyond their grade level, at a 91% impact measurement. Findings were mirrored with teacher reports of Khan Academy positively impacting students’ problem-solving skills and ability to apply mathematics concepts in context.134
Gaps
While Khan Academy has been beneficial in bringing content to students to learn in their own time, the video-based content often lacks detail that students need to truly learn difficult subjects. The online delivery negates any means of active involvement, requiring students to simply watch and then replicate actions. Instructors both inside and outside the classroom explain that this lecture-based style of teaching is typically not the most effective means of instruction, particularly for students who may be struggling within the education system, as many of the nation’s minority students demonstrate.135 Trained educators have also reported that much of the content delivered on Khan Academy fails to address important concepts at the degree of competency required to meet national academic performance measures. As a result, students only learn simplified lessons and do not fully gain the understanding of subjects that a professional instructor could provide.
Another key gap in Khan Academy’s mission to service all students with the individualized teaching and toolset that the platform can provide is accessibility to the site, particularly amongst economically disparaged minority students. Over 4.4 million households with students do not have consistent access to a computer and 3.7 million lack reliable internet access. The large majority of these students represent the racial and ethnic minority population, with nearly 30% of Black and Hispanic students lacking access to a computer compared to 10% of White students.136 Without access to computers or internet, many of the nation’s minority students who could benefit from Khan Academy’s program and materials are unable to take advantage of the program.
Early Childhood Education Programs
Many students who experience the highest levels of educational disparities lack support to help them succeed. These students may not have positive mentors or educational support due to family situations and contexts where academics are low priority in comparison to health, safety, or other necessities. School readiness and students’ resulting ability to profit from the educational experience has been recognized as playing a unique role in ending the poverty cycle. However, to best reach these students and be of impact, school readiness requires support by additional components of poverty alleviation strategy, such as improved community structures, empowerment of families, and early education programs.137
Created in 1965, Head Start’s early childhood education program and comprehensive family support program effectively takes on this role of supporting and educating the nation’s disparaged children, a significant number of which are of Black and Hispanic backgrounds. High quality child care and early education is proven as an effective means to build a strong foundation for young children’s healthy development and long-term learning. Yet many of the nation’s low-income children who could most benefit from these programs lack access to early childhood opportunities.138 Head Start aims to combat this by providing the nation’s impoverished 3- and 4-year-old children with free early educational training, compliment by a range of additional services such as health screenings, referrals and follow-up support, parenting resources, and social services.139
Impact
In 2014, 1.1 million children were served through Head Start programs, showing particular impact on minority participants. Nationally, about 38% of eligible Hispanic children and 54% of eligible Black children participated in the program in 2014, with numbers remaining constant each year.140 The children who participate in Head Start programs demonstrate growth in a variety of key areas, namely academically, socially, mentally, and physically. Compared to children with only parental care, Head Start participants perform considerably higher on cognitive and social-emotional measures in kindergarten, accompanied by fewer attention problems and negative behaviors. Head Start children also consistently show progress in understanding and application in language, literacy, and math, scoring at or above the norm in letter-word knowledge by the end of the school year.141
Head Start children begin experiencing positive effects of program involvement shortly after joining, which they carry with them throughout their years of schooling and into the future. The effects are particularly strong amongst the nation’s minority subgroups, particularly impoverished Hispanic and Black children. Head Start’s annual statistics show that the provision of a high-quality birth-to-five-year education to disadvantaged children can yield a return on investment as high as 13% annually, which continues compounding throughout students’ years in school.142 Head Start children throughout the nation have demonstrated higher 5th grade mean scores in all academic and executive functioning outcomes, higher 8th grade math test scores, and a decreased likelihood for chronic absences and being held back by a school year than non Head Start participants. Head Start students also show an increased likelihood of graduating high school, attending college, receiving post-secondary degrees, licences, or professional certifications, and avoiding unemployment.143
Gaps
While Head Start targets and aims to provide assistance to all of the nation’s impoverished children, fewer than half of all eligible children were served by Head Start in 2016.144, 145 The program’s lack of reach is further exasperated with many of the nation’s minority students, with eligible Black and Hispanic students having the least access to program benefits. When broken down by race, less than 50% of eligible Black preschoolers and 38% of eligible Hispanic children were served by Head Start in 2016, leaving the program unable to benefit the populations it was designed to serve.
Other gaps in the organization’s ability to provide maximum impact include incongruencies in governance and funding across national chapters. While Head Start functions as a federal organization, the program has never been adequately funded, leading national and local program administrators unable to provide services to many of the nation’s eligible students. Lacking funding across national and local chapters has required program administrators to trade-off enrollment of new students against hours and quality, preventing the program from expanding to serve all children regardless of location. As a result, many impoverished families seeking and most in need of Head Start for their children find themselves in a lottery where the likelihood of their children being accepted into the program varies dramatically depending on where they live.146 No amount of reform in governance or structure can compensate for the gaps experienced due to inadequate funding and the resulting non-uniform provision of benefits to eligible children.147
Student and Peer Mentorship
One of the most influential factors on school involvement and resulting academic success is peer relations and the influence of other students. 148 By surrounding students with peers who can act as positive role models and influences on students who may be struggling socially or academically, those who are struggling will be more likely to conform for the better to mirror similar academic goals. However, many students, particularly those from impoverished school districts or backgrounds, may lack peer relations with those who can act as positive influences to boost their academic goals and achievement. To solve this problem, students who struggle and demonstrate the effects of education disparity need a network to partner them with peers who can help them reach higher with their goals and recognize their abilities.
Rather than focusing on changing the education system from the top down, this practice employs a “bottom up” approach by focusing on the students themselves and their peers who are reported as being the greatest influence in these students’ lives. By partnering struggling students with peers who have worked through and overcome similar challenges, they can gain friendships and motivation that teachers cannot provide.149 PeerForward focuses on the belief that it is the students themselves who have the power to transform the educational system and level the playing field for all students to lift each other towards reaching college and career success. Reports of college enrollment rates show that fewer than half of low-income students enroll in college, even when academically qualified to do so. The program aims to reduce this number through peer mentorship and support on the student level with the ultimate goal of helping more students apply to and graduate from college.150
PeerForward works in partnership with schools, school districts, and colleges throughout the nation to develop sustainable models for raising college enrollment rates throughout the nation. The program employs a method to guide more students to college by tapping on the resources of other students. To do this, the program trains, deploys, and coaches teams of Peer Leaders throughout the nation who are charged with boosting college preparation and enrollment across their school.151 The organization’s mission is implemented through a 4-step process that begins with the development of school partnerships throughout the country. Once partnerships have been identified and developed, peer leaders are identified and recruited to serve within the region selected. These leaders are then trained to help them recognize the influence they can have on their peers through involvement in the program. The final step is to assist the peer leaders in running schoolwide college preparation campaigns to increase awareness and action.
Impact
Across multiple states, schools using the PeerForward program reported 22% higher FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) returns than non PeerForward schools. When using a relative scale across all states, the rate estimate increases to a 26% higher FAFSA completion rate.152
Filling out the FAFSA form requires students to create an FSA ID and collect a variety of documents and information, including social security or Alien Registration numbers (for non-US citizens), dependency status, tax information and documentation, records of untaxed income and information on current cash and savings, and other key documentation and financial forms. The FAFSA form is then used to determine the amount of financial aid each student applicant receives, directly contributing to the likelihood for impoverished students to attend and graduate from college.153 However, the large amount of information and documentation required leaves many students intimidated, particularly amongst first-generation students, many of which come from minority and impoverished backgrounds. PeerForward mentors work with these students to help them collect the essential information and fill out their FAFSA form. With help from their PeerForward mentors, these students not only complete, but consistently report higher FAFSA returns that provide them with the funding necessary to finance their time in college and their likelihood to receive a college degree.
As a whole, schools using PeerForward have higher numbers of high school graduates and college applicants than their counterparts, with increased percentages of students who use the financial aid received through the program to help them receive a college degree.154 The program currently reaches over 85,000 students a year in 95 high school across 10 states,155 with the majority of program users demonstrating progress and success through program involvement.156
Gaps
The main conflict with this solution is the requirement for positive peer mentors and leaders who can take on the role of peer mentors for struggling students. Regions with the most educational disparity, such as those within minority-heavy or formerly “red” financial districts, may struggle to find students who can act as these positive leaders and mentors based on the all-around struggling education system of the region. Other districts may be able to identify students to act as peer leaders and mentors, but who fear judgment for their academic success that keeps them from accepting or taking on the role of a peer leader within their region. Bringing in peers from outside regions to mentor those in more highly disparaged regions has shown lower success rates, as students struggle to connect with peers who have not experienced similar situations as their own and see them as being privileged or unable to understand their needs. As a result, PeerForward is unable to yield the results it could were there more peer involvement.
Additionally, the mentorship and relationships fostered by the PeerForward program only represent one area of each student’s academic situation without an ability to influence additional areas of each student’s life. External factors such as income and financial status, family relations, bullying/gang affiliation, personal motivation, and other personal circumstances profoundly influence students’ efforts and ability to progress beyond high school. Regardless of how beneficial the program is or how positive of an impact peer mentors can have on their mentees, the program cannot guarantee that mentees will move beyond the program to actualize the program’s mission.
Preferred Citation: Bushnell, Lauren. “Educational Disparities Among Racial and Ethnic Minority Youth in the United States.” Ballard Brief. April 2021. www.ballardbrief.org.
Viewpoints published by Ballard Brief are not necessarily endorsed by BYU or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
