Archived Information
A National of Charter Schools - July 1998Racial Concentration and School Size. The text in Chapter IV conjectures that there might be a relationship between racial concentration and school size. This issue may be important in the charter school context because there is a higher proportion of small charter schools than other public schools. Exhibits D-1 and D-2 provide data to examine this conjecture.
Chapter IV divides the distribution of the school percentages of White students into three categories of racial concentration: predominantly non-White (the percentage of schools that have less than one-third White students), diverse (between one-third and two-thirds White students), and predominantly White (two-thirds or more White students). Exhibit D-1 shows that:
Exhibit D-2 represents comparable calculations for all public schools in the 16-state base. The data in both exhibits taken together suggest that:
Together these data suggest that charter schools have racial concentration patterns similar to all public schools, except that charter schools tend to have a higher proportion of smaller schools more focused on serving students of color.
EXHIBIT D-1
ESTIMATED SIZE VERSUS RACIAL CONCENTRATION FOR ALL CHARTER SCHOOLS IN THE SIXTEEN CHARTER STATES (1996-97)[1]
A. Percentage of All Charter Schools in Sample
|
Proportion of White Students |
<200 students |
200-599 students |
600+ students |
# schools |
|
0-1/3 |
17.4% |
6.8% |
3.5% |
102 |
|
1/3-2/3 |
11.7% |
5.4% |
3.8% |
77 |
|
2/3-1 |
34.5% |
12.8% |
4.1% |
189 |
|
# schools |
234 |
92 |
42 |
368 |
B. Percentage of School Size (Read Percentage Down Column)
|
Proportion of White Students |
<200 students |
200-599 students |
600+ students |
$ all schools |
|
0-1/3 |
27.4% |
27.2% |
31.0% |
27.7% |
|
1/3-2/3 |
18.4% |
21.7% |
33.3% |
20.9% |
|
2/3-1 |
54.3% |
51.1% |
35.7% |
51.4% |
C. Percentage of Proportion of White Students (Read Percentage Across Row)
|
Proportion of White Students |
<200 students |
200-599 students |
600+ students |
|
0-1/3 |
62.7% |
24.5% |
12.7% |
|
1/3-2/3 |
55.8% |
26.0% |
18.2% |
|
2/3-1 |
67.2% |
24.9% |
7.9% |
|
% all schools |
63.6% |
25.0% |
11.4% |
1 The number of responding charter schools includes 368 open charter schools with valid racial and enrollment data.
EXHIBIT D-2
SIZE VERSUS RACIAL CONCENTRATION FOR ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN SIXTEEN CHARTER STATES (1994-95)[1]
A. PERCENTAGE OF ALL CHARTER SCHOOLS IN SAMPLE
|
Proportion of White Students |
<200 students |
200-599 students |
600+ students |
# schools |
|
0-1/3 |
3.4% |
10.0% |
11.5% |
8332 |
|
1/3-2/3 |
11.6% |
10.1% |
10.0% |
7951 |
|
2/3-1 |
9.5% |
25.2% |
16.7% |
17243 |
|
# schools |
5528 |
15186 |
12811 |
33526 |
B. Percentage of School Size (Read Percentage Down Column)
|
Proportion of White Students |
<200 students |
200-599 students |
600+ students |
$ all schools |
|
0-1/3 |
20.6% |
22.0% |
30.1% |
24.9% |
|
1/3-2/3 |
22.0% |
22.3% |
26.1% |
23.7% |
|
2/3-1 |
57.4% |
55.7% |
43.8% |
51.4% |
C. Percentage of Proportion of White Students (Read Percentage Across Row)
|
Proportion of White Students |
<200 students |
200-599 students |
600+ students |
|
0-1/3 |
13.7% |
40.1% |
46.3% |
|
1/3-2/3 |
15.3% |
42.7% |
42.1% |
|
2/3-1 |
18.4% |
49.0% |
32.5% |
|
% all schools |
16.5% |
45.3% |
38.2% |
1 Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data Survey, 1994-95. For this figure, all public schools refers to open public schools in the sixteen charter states which reported student enrollment and where student enrollment matched the number of students in each of the five census categories.
EXHIBIT D-3
ESTIMATED ENROLLMENT BY RACE FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS (1996-97)[1] AND ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN SIXTEEN CHARTER STATES (1994-95)[2]
| State | Percentage of enrollment in charter schools and all public schools in the state | # of students | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | Black | Hispanic | Asian or Pacific Islander | American Indian or Alaska Native | Other[3] | |||
| California | charter | 47.4% |
11.0% |
33.2% |
6.7% |
1.2% |
0.5% |
41,697 |
state |
41.4% |
8.7% |
37.9% |
11.2% |
0.9% |
NA |
5,342,071 |
|
Arizona |
charter |
51.4% |
9.1% |
17.2% |
1.2% |
21.1% |
0.1% |
14,960 |
|
state |
58.4% |
4.3% |
28.7% |
1.7% |
7.0% |
NA |
722,487 |
Michigan |
charter |
50.2% |
40.2% |
3.3% |
1.6% |
3.7% |
1.0% |
9,891 |
|
state | 77.4% |
17.5% |
2.6% |
1.5% |
1.1% |
NA |
1,611,324 |
Colorado |
charter |
80.5% |
5.3% |
10.2% |
2.5% |
1.6% |
0.0% |
6,342 |
|
state |
73.5% |
5.4% |
17.6% |
2.5% |
1.0% |
NA |
640,503 |
Minnesota |
charter |
52.8% |
27.6% |
2.4% |
9.0% |
8.1% |
0.0% |
2,142 |
|
state |
88.1% |
4.5% |
1.8% |
3.7% |
1.9% |
NA |
820,422 |
Massachusetts |
charter |
54.7% |
23.3% |
19.1% |
2.4% |
0.1% |
0.4% |
3,921 |
|
state |
79.0% |
8.1% |
9.0% |
3.8% |
0.2% |
NA |
861,178 |
Texas |
charter |
18.0% |
26.3% |
51.9% |
2.1% |
0.0% |
1.7% |
2,264 |
|
state |
47.1% |
14.4% |
36.0% |
2.3% |
0.2% |
NA |
3,676,675 |
Wisconsin |
charter |
74.3% |
18.8% |
3.8% |
2.6% |
0.5% |
0.0% |
1,043 |
|
state |
83.7% |
9.3% |
3.1% |
2.6% |
1.3% |
NA |
860,686 |
Georgia |
charter |
74.6% |
19.6% |
4.0% |
1.3% |
0.4% |
0.0% |
5,880 |
|
state |
59.1% |
37.5% |
1.8% |
1.5% |
0.1% |
NA |
1,270,632 |
Florida |
charter |
42.2% |
52.0% |
0.4% |
5.4% |
0.0% |
0.0% |
446 |
|
state |
58.7% |
24.9% |
14.5% |
1.7% |
0.2% |
NA |
2,151,975 |
New Mexico |
charter |
45.4% |
5.5% |
37.2% |
4.5% |
7.4% |
0.0% |
3,699 |
|
state |
39.9% |
2.4% |
46.4% |
1.0% |
10.4% |
NA |
324,569 |
Louisiana |
charter |
43.1% |
53.7% |
1.8% |
0.0% |
1.4% |
0.0% |
281 |
|
state |
51.5% |
45.7% |
1.1% |
1.3% |
0.5% |
NA |
797,933 |
Alaska |
charter |
80.2% |
4.4% |
4.4% |
3.3% |
7.7% |
0.0% |
91 |
|
state |
64.7% |
4.8% |
2.6% |
4.1% |
23.8% |
NA |
126,581 |
Delaware |
charter |
61.7% |
29.7% |
3.4% |
5.2% |
0.0% |
0.0% |
290 |
|
state |
65.4% |
29.1% |
3.6% |
1.7% |
0.2% |
NA |
106,813 |
District of Columbia |
charter |
0.0% |
100.0% |
0.0% |
0.0% |
0.0% |
0.0% |
174 |
|
state |
4.0% |
88.0% |
6.6% |
1.3% |
0.0% |
NA |
80,450 |
Hawaii |
charter |
22.8% |
7.2% |
9.7% |
43.0% |
1.1% |
16.1% |
832 |
|
state |
21.7% |
1.8% |
4.7% |
71.5% |
0.3% |
NA |
89,952 |
1 The number of responding charter schools includes 368 open charter schools with valid racial data. By valid racial data, we mean schools where the number of students in the racial categories added to the total student enrollment.
2 Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data Survey, 1994-95. For this exhibit, all public schools refers to open public schools in the 16 charter states which reported student enrollment and where student enrollment matched the count of students in each of the five census categories. 3 The National Center for Education Statistics does not report an "other" racial category.
EXHIBIT D-4
COMPARING ALTERNATIVE MEASURES OF RACIAL ENROLLMENT PATTERNS FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS (1996-97)[1] AND ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN THE SIXTEEN CHARTER STATES (1994-95)
| State |
% of White students statewide (pooled data) |
Average school percentage of White students |
% of schools that have >2/3 non-White students |
% of schools that have >2/3 White students |
|
|
California |
charter |
47.4% |
56.5% |
28.1% |
44.8% |
|
|
state |
41.4% |
46.4% |
36.7% |
32.3% |
|
Arizona |
charter |
51.4% |
58.4% |
27.3% |
56.8% |
|
|
state |
58.4% |
56.1% |
26.1% |
46.9% |
|
Michigan |
charter |
50.2% |
54.8% |
34.3% |
49.3% |
|
|
state |
77.4% |
79.4% |
11.8% |
80.1% |
|
Colorado |
charter |
80.5% |
83.5% |
0.0% |
83.3% |
|
|
state |
73.5% |
74.3% |
7.7% |
70.6% |
|
Minnesota |
charter |
52.8% |
52.8% |
36.8% |
42.1% |
|
|
state |
88.1% |
85.9% |
4.5% |
85.6% |
|
Massachusetts |
charter |
54.7% |
69.8% |
25.0% |
62.5% |
|
|
state |
79.0% |
80.6% |
9.1% |
79.3% |
|
Texas |
charter |
18.0% |
17.6% |
78.6% |
14.3% |
|
|
state |
47.1% |
50.4% |
32.5% |
39.1% |
|
Wisconsin |
charter |
74.3% |
78.7% |
10.0% |
70.0% |
|
|
state |
83.7% |
87.0% |
5.6% |
88.4% |
|
Georgia |
charter |
74.6% |
73.1% |
0.0% |
75.0% |
|
|
state |
59.1% |
57.5% |
24.3% |
45.9% |
|
Florida |
charter |
42.2% |
45.3% |
40.0% |
40.0% |
|
|
state |
58.7% |
58.6% |
20.7% |
49.2% |
|
New Mexico |
charter |
45.4% |
47.1% |
0.0% |
0.0% |
|
|
state |
39.9% |
38.5% |
44.8% |
17.6% |
|
Louisiana |
charter |
43.1% |
48.1% |
0.0% |
0.0% |
|
|
state |
51.5% |
51.2% |
29.5% |
37.6% |
|
Alaska |
charter |
80.2% |
80.6% |
0.0% |
100.0% |
|
|
state |
64.7% |
47.5% |
40.6% |
44.4% |
|
Delaware |
charter |
61.7% |
69.4% |
0.0% |
50.0% |
|
|
state |
65.4% |
63.4% |
2.2% |
40.7% |
|
District of Columbia |
charter |
0.0% |
0.0% |
100.0% |
0.0% |
|
|
state |
4.0% |
5.3% |
93.7% |
2.9% |
|
Hawaii |
charter |
22.8% |
26.0% |
50.0% |
0.0% |
|
|
state |
21.7% |
22.4% |
81.1% |
1.6% |
1 The number of responding charter schools includes 368 open charter schools with valid racial data.
EXHIBIT D-5
ESTIMATED CONCENTRATION OF STUDENTS BY RACE FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS (1996-97)[1] AND ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN THE SIXTEEN CHARTER STATES (1994-95)[2]
|
State |
% of schools that have the following proportion of White students |
# of schools | |||
|
<1/3 |
1/3-2/3 |
>2/3 |
|||
|
California |
charter |
28.1% |
27.1% |
44.8% |
96 |
|
state |
36.7% |
31.0% |
32.3% |
7,821 |
|
|
Arizona |
charter |
27.3% |
15.9% |
56.8% |
88 |
|
state |
26.1% |
27.0% |
46.9% |
1,100 |
|
|
Michigan |
charter |
34.3% |
16.4% |
49.3% |
67 |
|
state |
11.8% |
8.1% |
80.1% |
3,423 |
|
|
Colorado |
charter |
0.0% |
16.7% |
83.3% |
30 |
|
state |
7.7% |
21.6% |
70.6% |
1,407 |
|
|
Minnesota |
charter |
36.8% |
21.1% |
42.1% |
19 |
|
state |
4.5% |
9.9% |
85.6% |
1,905 |
|
|
Massachusetts |
charter |
25.0% |
12.5% |
62.5% |
16 |
|
state |
9.1% |
11.6% |
79.3% |
1,764 |
|
|
Texas |
charter |
78.6% |
7.1% |
14.3% |
14 |
|
state |
32.5% |
28.4% |
39.1% |
6,477 |
|
|
Wisconsin |
charter |
10.0% |
20.0% |
70.0% |
10 |
|
state |
5.6% |
6.0% |
88.4% |
2,030 |
|
|
Georgia |
charter |
0.0% |
25.0% |
75.0% |
8 |
|
state |
24.3% |
29.8% |
45.9% |
1,766 |
|
|
Florida |
charter |
40.0% |
20.0% |
40.0% |
5 |
|
state |
20.7% |
30.1% |
49.2% |
2,708 |
|
|
New Mexico |
charter |
0.0% |
100.0% |
0.0% |
4 |
|
state |
44.8% |
37.6% |
17.6% |
710 |
|
|
Louisiana |
charter |
0.0% |
100.0% |
0.0% |
3 |
|
state |
29.5% |
32.8% |
37.6% |
1,459 |
|
|
Alaska |
charter |
0.0% |
0.0% |
100.0% |
2 |
|
state |
40.6% |
15.1% |
44.4% |
478 |
|
|
Delaware |
charter |
0.0% |
50.0% |
50.0% |
2 |
|
state |
2.2% |
57.1% |
40.7% |
182 |
|
|
District of Columbia |
charter |
100.0% |
0.0% |
0.0% |
2 |
|
state |
93.7% |
3.4% |
2.9% |
174 |
|
|
Hawaii |
charter |
50.0% |
50.0% |
0.0% |
2 |
|
state |
81.1% |
17.2% |
1.6% |
122 |
|
|
Total |
charter |
27.7% |
20.9% |
51.4% |
368 |
|
state |
24.9% |
23.7% |
51.4% |
33,526 |
|
1 This exhibit draws on data from 368 open charter schools with valid racial data. 2 Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data Survey, 1994-95.
-###-