State Survey on Racial and Ethnic Classifications

Evolution of Social Identity Terms in Lay and Academic Sources: Implications for Research and Public Policy

“…Similarly, the U.S. Department of Education is required to record racial information at a local level and aggregate these figures for further analysis to improve the national education system. The majority (55%) of U.S. public school systems only collect data on students' racial identification (once) during initial registration to school, however, one quarter of public schools records this information on an annual basis (Carey, Farris, & Carpenter, 1995). Further, although 10% of schools include an "other (please specify)" category, 5% contain an "other" non-specified category, and 5% incorporate a general "multiracial" option, the majority (73%) of schools only employ the basic, five category race form imported from the U.S. Census Race Questionnaire (Carey et al, 1995).…”

“…The majority (55%) of U.S. public school systems only collect data on students' racial identification (once) during initial registration to school, however, one quarter of public schools records this information on an annual basis (Carey, Farris, & Carpenter, 1995). Further, although 10% of schools include an "other (please specify)" category, 5% contain an "other" non-specified category, and 5% incorporate a general "multiracial" option, the majority (73%) of schools only employ the basic, five category race form imported from the U.S. Census Race Questionnaire (Carey et al, 1995). When asked in 1995, more than half (54%) of public schools identified the need for a "multiracial" option on their racial classification form as an issue of minor to significant importance (Carey et al, 1995).…”

“…Further, although 10% of schools include an "other (please specify)" category, 5% contain an "other" non-specified category, and 5% incorporate a general "multiracial" option, the majority (73%) of schools only employ the basic, five category race form imported from the U.S. Census Race Questionnaire (Carey et al, 1995). When asked in 1995, more than half (54%) of public schools identified the need for a "multiracial" option on their racial classification form as an issue of minor to significant importance (Carey et al, 1995). Finally, parents and legal guardians of children are most often (73%) asked to identify the race of the student with only 12% being able to make their own specifications.…”

Because the Numbers Matter: Transforming Postsecondary Education Data on Student Race and Ethnicity to Meet the Challenges of a Changing Nation

“…In February 1997, the State Survey on Racial and Ethnic Classifications was conducted for NCES and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to review OMB's Directive 15 and assess the quality and efficacy of the use of the K-12 school data collected by the state departments of education using the five standard federal categories for race and ethnicity (Carey, Rowand, & Farris, 1998). The results included information in every state except Hawaii.…”

“…How can similar situations (such as developing and then abandoning a solution) be avoided in the future? What can be learned from the process followed in the K-12 arena (see Carey et al, 1998;Lopez, 2003) that would benefit this analysis and future change efforts? After NCES issues new IPEDS guidelines, a follow-up study to see how these guidelines were ultimately developed and are being received by a number of stakeholders would be in order.…”