Schools are Still Segregated, and Black Children are Paying a Price

Key Points

• Over six decades after the Brown v. Board of Education decision, schools remain heavily segregated by race and ethnicity.
• Segregation negatively impacts black students' educational outcomes:
  • Lowers standardized test scores.
  • Widens performance gaps between white and black students.
  • Increases likelihood of attending high-poverty schools.
  • Fails to fulfill the promise of equal opportunities.

Impact of Segregated Schools

• Black students perform better in integrated schools with lower poverty and higher percentages of white students.
• National data (NAEP) reveals significant segregation:
  • Only 12.9% of white students attend schools with a majority of students of color.
  • 69.2% of black students attend schools with a majority of students of color.
  • 72.4% of black students attend high-poverty schools, compared to 31.3% of white students.

Statistics on School Segregation

• Black children are five times more likely than white children to attend schools with high concentrations of students of color.
• Black children are over twice as likely to attend high-poverty schools compared to white children.

Interconnection of Race and Poverty

• Race and poverty are intertwined, disadvantaging black students.
• High probability for black students to attend schools with majority poor and students of color.
• Only 3.1% of black students attend low-poverty, mostly white schools.

Educational Outcomes

• Math scores are significantly lower in high-poverty schools with a high concentration of students of color.
• Black students score 20 points lower on average in these schools compared to low-poverty, mostly white schools.
• The performance gap between black and white students is larger in high-poverty schools.

Policy Implications

• Unaddressed school segregation is a major policy failure.
• Segregation continues to impact black children's education and career prospects, perpetuating disparities.

Additional Resources

• Five Key Trends in U.S. Student Performance: Progress by Blacks and Hispanics, the Takeoff of Asians, the Stall of Non-English Speakers, the Persistence of Socioeconomic Gaps, and the Damaging Effect of Highly Segregated Schools by Martin Carnoy and Emma Garca