Stasis and Change in Public School District Racial/Ethnic Segregation, 1993–2015

Abstract

Scholars have often suggested that racial integration is inherently unstable—a transition point in the racial transformation of neighborhoods and schools. While much empirical attention has been paid to documenting changes in segregation in public school districts, in this study we provide initial evidence focusing on the stability of segregation patterns. We calculate annual measures of district racial/ethnic segregation from the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data from 1993 to 2015. Our findings suggest that despite relatively high and stable levels of segregation nationally, stability is the rule, rather than the exception, for the majority of public school districts. Using a taxonomy of severity and stability derived from previous scholarship, we find that most districts are “stably integrated,” with a minority “stably segregated” or exhibiting meaningful change. Our findings suggest that further attention to the characteristics and practices of “stably integrated” districts may be warranted.

Variation in the Local Segregation of Latino Children—Role of Place, Poverty, and Culture

“…Overall, we observe deteriorating levels of racial integration for Latino children attending elementary schools 2000-2015. Stroub and Richards (2013) reported gains in racial integration for Latino students (on the entropy index for 350 metro areas) in the early twenty-first century, along with stable levels in many parts of the nation (Richards et al 2020). We found modest gains in the odds of interaction between poor and nonpoor elementary students (Fuller et al 2019).…”

“…Earlier, Rivkin (1994) found two contradictory trends in the immediate wake of the civil rights era: Black children had become more evenly distributed among schools within districts, yet racial segregation between districts intensified, mostly due to White flight. Later Stroub and Richards (2013) found that evenness within districts between Black and White students improved slightly nationwide from 1998 to 2009, while remaining stable in most parts of the country (Richards et al 2020). But the separation of Black from White peers between districts had continued to worsen (Clotfelter 2001;Logan et al 2008).…”

“…5 At the same time, we know that Black-White residential segregation eased slightly between 1980 and 2010, whereas little change was observed for Latinos vis-à-vis Whites (Iceland and Sharp 2013). The evenness with which Latino and White students were distributed among schools inside districts improved modestly nationwide after 2003 and has mostly stabilized since then (Richards et al 2020). 6 Little research probes how Latino segregation varies among types of school districts or may be conditioned by features of host communities.…”

“…This limits our theoretical grasp of the local forces that may advance integration or impede progress over time, along with evidence on the likely efficacy of desegregation efforts. This article describes how key attributes of districts and their residents correspond to change in Latino children 's segregation, 2000-2015. We know that diminishing interaction between White and Latino children stems in part from the rising share of district enrollments made up of Latino youngsters (Fuller et al 2019;Richards et al 2020). This is not necessarily a negative development, given the cultural assets that Latino children may bring to school (García Coll and Marks 2012).…”

Finding Integrated Schools? Latino Families Settle in Diverse Suburbs, 2000–2015

“…Demographers and sociologists, alternatively, may focus on the distribution of racial groups across schools within districts, gauging the evenness with which a group is distributed across campuses (or entropy, per Reardon and Owens 2014). This barometer remained stable or improved slightly from 1993 to 2015 for Black and Latino students in the nation's school districts, not limited to metropolitan areas or elementary-age children (Richards, Stroub, and Kennedy 2020).…”