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Disproportionality and Disparities in Education,
Juvenile Justice, Child Welfare, and Health Services
ISSUES AND DATA
Updated in December 2008
ADDED IN DECEMBER
(1) An Analysis of Racial/Ethnic Disproportionality and Disparity at the National, State, and County Levels (in the child welfare system).
(2) Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States, 2006.
(3) Juvenile Justice: Theme Issue of The Future of Children.
(4) Latino Students and Disproportionality in Special Education: Policy Brief.
(5) Obstacles to Opportunity: Alexandria, Virginia Students Speak Out.
(6) Psychometric Issues in ELL Assessment and Special Education Eligibility.
Titles are presented in alphabetical order.
A Call to Action on Behalf of Latino and Latina Youth in the U.S. Juvenile Justice System: Dónde está la justicia?Building Blocks for Youth, Washington DC. (2002). F. A. Villarruel & N. E. Walker with P. Minifee, O. Rivera- Vázquez, S. Peterson, & K. Perry “Latino communities, and their youth in particular, are increasingly singled out by the criminal justice system. Harsh and disparate treatment at all stages of the justice system (including police stop, arrest, detention, waiver to adult criminal court, and sentencing) is a grim reality for many Latinos. Racial and ethnic disparities in the system are compounded by an unprecedented rate of construction of new juvenile facilities, jails, and prisons across the country. . . . The report provides a picture of Latino/a youth in the justice system; describes barriers to collection of comprehensive information; and contains detailed “recommendations for action” for Latino/a communities, youth, and parents; law enforcement and other components of the juvenile and criminal justice systems; advocates and grassroots organizers; policymakers; and researchers.” Available in English and Spanish. Full text, executive summary action packet, and press releases:http://www.buildingblocksforyouth.org/latino_rpt/index.html
A Critical Look at Bilingualism Discourse in Public Schools:
Autoethnographic Reflections of a Vulnerable Observer.
Bilingual Research Journal (2006). National Association for Bilingual Education and Southwest Center for Education Equity and Language Diversity, Arizona State University. M. Souto-Manning. “A bilingual elementary school teacher and mother of a bilingual child, the author questions the presence of specific bilingualism discourses in two Southeastern public schools. Despite research that shows the acquisition and development of two languages actually augment language processing and problem solving skills, the perception of children’s brains as buckets preprogrammed for the development of a single language is still commonly employed in these schools and serves to support the placement of English language learners in special education classes. . . . The article shows how the bilingualism discourse continues to reflect a deficit orientation.” Abstract and link to full text – Scroll down (second item from the end):http://brj.asu.edu/abstracts.htmlAfrican American Children in Foster Care: Additional HHS Assistance Needed to Help Reduce the Proportion in CareU.S. Government Accounting Office (GAO). (2007). C. Ayers & D. A. Signer. “A significantly greater proportion of African American children are in foster care than children of other races and ethnicities, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and other research. Given this situation, GAO was asked to analyze the (a) major factors influencing the proportion of African American children in foster care, (b) extent that States and localities have implemented promising strategies, and (D) ways in which federal policies may have influenced African American representation in foster care. GAO’s methodologies included a nationwide survey; a review of research and federal policies; State site visits; analyses of child welfare data; and interviews with researchers, HHS officials, and other experts. GAO suggests that Congress consider amending current law to allow subsidies for legal guardianships. HHS believes its proposal for restructuring child welfare funding would give States the option to do this, but the viability of this proposal is uncertain. GAO also recommends that HHS further assist States in addressing disproportionality.” Full text: http://www.cwla.org/advocacy/GAO07816.pdfAmerica’s Health Starts With Healthy Children: How Do States Compare?Commission to Build a Healthier America, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Washington DC. (2008). “This chartbook examines the health of children from different socioeconomic backgrounds in every State to document how healthy our nation's children are now and how healthy they could be if we as a nation were realizing our full health potential.” In addition to the report, State comparison charts show state-by-state data. Full text – And click for State comparison charts:http://www.commissiononhealth.org/StateByStateData.aspxAn Analysis of Racial/Ethnic Disproportionality and Disparity at the National, State, and County LevelsCasey-SCCP Alliance for Racial Equity in Child Welfare, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Baltimore, Maryland. (2007). R. B. Hill This study expands the knowledge about racial and ethnic disproportionality and disparity at the national, State and county levels for the field of child welfare, using two national data sets, the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) and the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), to examine the participation of Native American/American Indians, Asian Americans/Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites at three decision-making points: child protection investigations, substantiated investigations, and placement into foster care. Full text -- Item 3 under Recent Publications:http://www.cssp.org/major_initiatives/racialEquity.htmlAlso see related publications on this page.
An Exploratory Phenomenological Study of African American High School Students in Gifted Education Programs: Implications for Teachers and CounselorsE-Journal of Teaching and Learning in Diverse Settings (2004). Southern University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. L. A. Flowers, Y. Zhang, J. L. Moore III, & T. A. Flowers. “This study utilized the phenomenological approach to explore the perceptions, attitudes, and experiences of African American high school students in a gifted education program. The results of the study indicated that numerous school-related problems hindered student achievement. As a way of retaining more African American students in gifted education programs, recommendations were made to teachers and school counselors.” Full text: http://www.subr.edu/coeducation/ejournal/Flowers%20et%20al.%20Article.htm
Are Schools Ready for Joshua? Dimensions of African American Culture Among
Students Identified as Having Behavioral/Emotional Disorders
Summary of a study by G. Webb-Johnson. Data Trends. (2004).
Research and Training Center on Family Support and Children’s Mental Health.
Portland State University, Oregon.
“The author describes the results of an ethnographic study of expressions of African American culture and coping styles among students identified as having behavioral/emotional disorders (BED). The study was designed to examine coping styles enacted in special education classes that demonstrate African American cultural norms, to describe teacher perception of those behaviors, and to discuss the possible impact on academic success.”
Summary – Scroll to #101:
http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/pgDataTrends2004.shtml
Avoidable Losses: High-Stakes Accountability and the Dropout Crisis
Education Policy Analysis Archives. (2008). Arizona State University and
the University of South Florida. L. M. McNeil, E. Coppola, J. Radigan, & J. V. Heilig.
“In the state of Texas, whose standardized, high-stakes test-based accountability system became the model for the nation's most comprehensive federal education policy, more than 135,000 youth are lost from the State's high schools every year. Dropout rates are highest for African American and Latino youth. . . . (This study) includes (a) analysis of the accountability policy in operation in high-poverty high schools in a major urban district, (b) analysis of student-level data for more than 271,000 students in that district over a seven-year period under this policy, and (c) extensive ethnographic analysis of life in schools under the policy. Results show that the State's high-stakes accountability system has a direct impact on the severity of the dropout problem. The study carries great significance for national education policy because its findings show that disaggregation of student scores by race does not lead to greater equity, but in fact puts our most vulnerable youth, the poor, the English language learners, and African American and Latino children, at risk of being pushed out of their schools so the school ratings can show measurable improvement.’"
Full text:
http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v16n3/
Bad Boys: Public Schools in the Making of Black Masculinity.
University of Michigan Press. (2001). A. A. Ferguson. Winner -- Gustavus Myers Center for The Study of Human Rights in the United States' 2001 Outstanding Book Award; Winner -- American Sociological Association's 2001 Distinguished Book Award. “Statistics show that black males are disproportionately getting in trouble and being suspended from the nation's school systems. Based on three years of participant observation research at an elementary school, Bad Boys offers a richly textured account of daily interactions between teachers and students to understand this serious problem. (The author) demonstrates how a group of eleven- and twelve-year-old males are identified by school personnel as ‘bound for jail’ and how the youth construct a sense of self under such adverse circumstances. . . . She argues that rather than simply internalizing these labels, the boys look critically at schooling as they dispute and evaluate the meaning and motivation behind the labels that have been attached to them. Supplementing the perspectives of the boys with interviews with teachers, principals, truant officers, and relatives of the students, the author constructs a disturbing picture of how educators' beliefs . . . shape decisions that disproportionately single out black males as being ‘at risk’ for failure and punishment.” For purchase: http://www.press.umich.edu:80/titleDetailDesc.do;jsessionid=F5C780D63C8000AE76899D271BE37AE1?id=16801
Child Well-Being Index: 2007 Report and International Comparisons
Foundation for Child Development, New York City. (2007). The Child Well-Being Index is an evidence-based measure of 28 key national indicators across seven quality-of-life domains beginning with a base year of 1975. Data sources include the U.S. Census, Centers for Disease Control, National Center for Education Statistics, and other vital statistics and sample surveys.” Key indicator data on race/ethnicity are included. The 2007 report includes an analysis comparing the United States to the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. (The 2008 report should become available soon.) 2007 report – full text:http://www.fcd-us.org/resources/resources_show.htm?doc_id=472847Special focus report on international comparisons (United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand:http://www.fcd-us.org/resources/resources_show.htm?doc_id=510642
Children in Vulnerable Families: Fact Sheet
Urban Institute, Washington DC. (2006). “This fact sheet looks at trends in some of the most significant risks facing families today: child maltreatment, domestic violence, children's disabilities, substance abuse, and parental mental illness. While these challenges can occur in families at all income levels, many -- such as depression, domestic violence, and child abuse -- are disproportionately frequent among low-income families. . . The data in this fact sheet are drawn from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Census Bureau, Child Trends Data Bank, and various Urban Institute publications. . . . Unless otherwise indicated, children are under age 18.” Full text: http://www.urban.org/publications/901016.html
Children’s Health and Social Mobility
In “Opportunity in America,” The Future of Children. (2006). A. Case & C. Paxson. The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and the Brookings Institution “Children from low-income families are more likely than other children to have serious health problems. And, as (the authors) show, childhood health problems can prevent poor children from achieving economic success as adults. Income-related disparities in childhood health are evident at birth or even before, and the disparities grow more pronounced as children grow older. Not only do poor children have more severe health problems than wealthier children, but they fare less well than wealthier children who have the same problems. They also receive less and lower-quality medical care for their problems. And poor families may be less well equipped to manage their children's health problems, which could worsen their effects.” Full text – Scroll down and also see eight other articles in this issue:http://www.futureofchildren.org/pubs-info2825/pubs-info_show.htm?doc_id=388485
Context of Minority Disproportionality: Local Perspectives on Special Education Referral
Indiana Education Policy Center, Indiana University, Bloomington. (2003).
R. J. Skiba, A.B. Simmons, S. Ritter, K. Kohler, M. Henderson, & T. Wu.
“This report describes an intensive study undertaken across 14 schools within seven Indiana school corporations to improve . . . understanding of the factors that may contribute to the disproportionate referral and placement of minority students in special education. (The researchers) interviewed 66 educators — teachers, principals, school psychologists, and special education directors — about their perspectives. (They) spoke with them on the challenges faced in urban education, on the process of special education, on resources both available and needed, and on the specific topics of diversity and disproportionality. Analysis of the rich data that resulted from those conversations led to a number of clear themes.”
Full text – Scroll down:
http://www.indiana.edu/%7Esafeschl/minor.html
Delinquency Cases in Juvenile Courts 2004: Fact Sheet
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention,
U.S Department of Justice. (2008). A. L Stahl
“In 2004, juvenile courts in the United States processed an estimated 1.66 million delinquency cases that involved juveniles charged with criminal law violations. In the 10 years between 1995 and 2004, the number of delinquency cases handled by juvenile courts decreased 7%. During this time, public order offense cases increased 41%, drug law violation cases increased 19%, person offense cases increased 2%, and property offense cases decreased 33%.” Here are the data on all of these issues.
Delinquency data:
http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/fs200801.pdf
Differential Treatment of African American Youth
National Center on Education, Disability and Juvenile Justice, University of Maryland, College Park. (2000). W. Drakeford & L. F. Garfinkel.
“This article examines racial factors within the juvenile justice and mental health systems that contribute to the overrepresentation of African American men and boys in correctional facilities. The authors also explore recent efforts by lawmakers and academic institutions to address these inequalities.”
Full text:
http://www.edjj.org/Publications/list/drakeford_garfinkel-2000.html
Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs: What Is and What Should Be.
Texas Public Policy Institute, Austin, Texas. (2005). M. Levin. The author says that, “while Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs (DAEPs) have a valid purpose in ensuring that the education of the many is not unduly impeded by the severe misbehavior of a few, we must focus on reforms such as eliminating unnecessary DAEP referrals, holding DAEPs to a higher level of accountability, and developing best practices for DAEPs in order to produce verifiable results in academic performance and behavior modification for Texas' youth.” Full text – Scroll down:http://www.texaspolicy.com/tppn_archive.php?cid=1135808990
Disproportionality of Minorities in Child Welfare: Synthesis of Research Findings
Race Matters Consortium, Westat, Chicago, Illinois. (2003). R. B. Hill.
“The disproportionality of minority children has been a major concern of child welfare for decades. between the treatment and services provided to minorities. . . . . By 2000, children of color accounted for six out of ten of the more than 550,000 children in foster care, while comprising only three out of ten of all children in this country. . . . This research summary (focuses) on two dimensions of disproportionality: (a) disproportionate representation, i.e, the over- or under-representation of minority children in child welfare as compared to their representation in the general population; and (b) disproportionate treatment, i.e, the disparate treatment or services provided to minority children as compared to those provided to similarly situated Caucasian children.”
Full text – Scroll down:
http://www.racemattersconsortium.org/whopapers.htm
Disproportionate Minority Contact in the Juvenile Justice System
Child Welfare League of America, Washington DC. (2005). J. Short & C. Sharp. Distributed by the National Institute of Corrections, Washington DC. “This monograph describes the prevalent phenomenon of disproportionate minority contact in the juvenile justice system. It delineates the extent of racial disparity among juvenile offenders in the arrest, referral, preadjudication detention, adjudication, and post-disposition confinement stages, and examines how statutory and policy shifts have exacerbated disproportionality minority contact. Examples of such shifts include transfer statutes for juveniles to be prosecuted in adult criminal courts, the war on drugs, detention of immigrant youth, and anti-gang laws. In addition, the monograph reviews the status of federal legislation pertaining to juvenile disproportionality minority contact, causal factors, and lessons from successful state and local models, and includes recommendations for further research, policy, advocacy, and programmatic initiatives.” Full text – and see related articles: http://www.nicic.org/Library/020668Disproportionate Minority Contact in the Juvenile Justice System:
A Study of Differential Minority Arrest/Referral to Court in Three Cities
A Report to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. (2007). D. Huizinga, T. P. Thornberry, K. E. Knight, P. T. Lovegrove, R. Loeber, K. Hill, & D. P. Farrington Distributed by the National Criminal Justice Reference Service. “This report uses information from three community studies of delinquency to examine disproportionate minority contact (DMC) and factors that might affect DMC at the police contact/court referral level. Although these studies were not designed to study DMC issues and, as such, have some limitations in the kinds of issues that can be examined, these studies do provide the relatively unique ability to examine two often-given reasons for DMC -- offending behavior and the greater presence of risk factors for contact/referral among minorities.” Full text: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/grants/219743.pdf
Disproportionate Representation of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students in Special Education:
Measuring the Problem
National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCRESt)
Arizona State University, Tempe. (2004).
M. Coutinho & D. Oswald.
Full text - Scroll down: http://www.nccrest.org/publications/briefs.html
Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States, 2006
National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education. (2008).
J. Laird, E. F. Cataldi, A. KewalRamani, & C. Chapman.
“This report builds upon a series of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports on high school dropout and completion rates that began in 1988. It presents estimates of rates for 2006 and provides data about trends in dropout and completion rates over the last three decades (1972-2006), including characteristics of dropouts and completers in these years. Report highlights include: The averaged freshman graduation rate, which provides an estimate of the percentage of public high school students who graduate with a regular diploma four years after starting 9th grade, was 74.7 percent for the class of 2005. Students living in low-income families were approximately four times more likely to drop out of high school between 2005 and 2006 than were students living in high-income families. In October 2006, approximately 3.5 million civilian noninstitutionalized 16- through 24-year-olds were not enrolled in high school and had not earned a high school diploma or alternative credential.”
Full text
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2008053
Education on Lockdown: The Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track
The Advancement Project, Washington DC, in partnership with Padres and Jovenes Unidos, Southwest Youth Collaborative, and the Children & Family Justice Center of Northwestern University School of Law. (2005).
This report is a follow-up to Derailed: The Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track, which was published in 2003. It “further investigates the nationwide trend toward using zero tolerance polices in schools as a ‘take no prisoners’ approach to dealing with the most trivial acts of student misconduct. The report also examines how students of color are disproportionately affected by these policies.”
Full text -- Scroll down for the 2005 (Lockdown) and 2003 (Derailed) reports:
http://www.advancementproject.org/publications/opportunity-to-learn.php
Engines of Inequality: Diminishing Equity in the Nation’s Premier Public Universities
The Education Trust, Washington DC. (2006). D. Gerald & K. Haycock. According to this report, “the nation’s 50 flagship universities serve disproportionately fewer low-income and minority students than in the past. . . . Students in the entering and graduating classes at these schools look less and less like the State populations those universities were created to serve. The study shows how financial aid choices made by these prestigious public universities result in higher barriers to college enrollment and success among low-income students and students of color. . . . Engines of Inequality also includes a report card for each State’s flagship institution, typically the State’s oldest and most prestigious public university. The report cards grade each campus on: (a) access for low-income students; (b) access for minority students; and (c) gaps in graduation rates between groups. In addition, the report cards indicate whether these institutions are becoming more or less representative of their states over time.” Press release and click for full text: http://www2.edtrust.org/EdTrust/Press+Room/Engines+of+Inequality.htmFacts from NLTS2: School Behavior and Disciplinary Experiences of Youth With Disabilities
National Longitudinal Transition Study 2 (NLTS2), SRI International,
Menlo Park, California. (2006).
“Data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2) provide a national picture of disciplinary experiences at the secondary school level of youth with disabilities, offering a perspective on youth who exhibit problem behaviors at school and on schools’ implementation of disciplinary actions.” The paper reviews percentages of students with disabilities who exhibit behavior problems at schools; patterns of disciplinary actions; detected differences in rates of disciplinary actions across demographic categories.
Highlights and click for full text:
http://www.nlts2.org/reports/school_behavior_disciplinary.html
Given Half a Chance:
The Schott 50-State Report on Public Education and Black Males
The Schott Foundation, Cambridge, Massachusetts. (2008).
For over five years, The Schott Foundation for Public Education has tracked the performance of Black males in public education systems across the nation. . . . The 2008 edition details the drastic range of outcomes for Black males, especially the tragic results in many of the nation’s biggest cities. Given Half a Chance also deliberately highlights the resource disparities that exist in schools attended by Black males and their White, non-Hispanic counterparts. The 2008 Schott report documents that states and most districts with large Black enrollments educate their White, non-Hispanic children, but do not similarly educate the majority of their Black male students.” The report includes the Black Male Data Portal, a searchable Map showing data for each State that has 10,000 or more Black male students and for the largest school districts in those States. In addition, the Inequity Index shows state-by-state graduation rates across all States depicted as five levels, with six accompanying tables for the nation, States, and major districts.
Executive summary of the report – The full text is for purchase.
http://blackboysreport.org/node/13
Black Male Data Portal:
http://blackboysreport.org/node/16
The Inequity Index:
http://blackboysreport.org/node/21
High School Dropout: A Quick Stats Fact SheetNational High School Center, American Institutes for Research, Washington DC. (2007). M. Monrad This fact sheet summarizes (a) current dropout data; (b) race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status of dropouts; (c) the impact of dropping out on crime; (d) the impact on the economy; and (e) the impact on personal income and employment. Full text – Scroll down and also see related papers:http://www.betterhighschools.org/pubs/How Language Proficiency Tests Mislead Us About Ability:
Implications for English Language Learner Placement in Special EducationTeachers College Record. (2006). Columbia University Teachers College. J. MacSwan & K. Rolstad. “The authors argue that English language learner language assessment policy and poor language tests partly account for English language learners' disproportionate representation in special education.” Abstract (full text by membership or purchase):http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentID=12806
It Was Written All Over Him:
Classroom Teachers’ Referral Criteria for Special Education ServicesInternational Journal of Special Education (2006). University of British Columbia. M. W. Dunn. This in-depth paper by a special educator illustrates the irregularity of the process of identifying students with disabilities, both as a function of teachers’ referrals and as a function of the subsequent assessment process. Although the author describes these issues in the context of new curriculum standards and standardized testing in Ontario, Canada, the paper generalizes to similar situations in the United States. Abstract and click for full text – Scroll to the second title from the bottom of the page:http://www.internationaljournalofspecialeducation.com/articles.cfm?y=2006&v=21&n=2Juvenile Justice: Theme Issue of The Future of ChildrenWoodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs at Princeton University and The Brookings Institution, Washington DC. (2008). In addition to the extensive Introduction, this theme issue includes papers on (a) Adolescent Development and the Regulation of Youth Crime; (b) Improving Professional Judgments of Risk and Amenability in Juvenile Justice; (c) Disproportionate Minority Contact; (d) Juvenile Crime and Criminal Justice: Resolving Border Disputes; (e) Understanding the Female Offender; (f) Adolescent Offenders with Mental Disorders; (g) Juvenile Justice and Substance Use; and (h) Prevention and Intervention Programs for Juvenile Offenders. Full text of theme issue: http://www.futureofchildren.org/pubs-info2825/pubs-info_show.htm?doc_id=708717Latino Students and Disproportionality in Special Education: Policy BriefCenter for Evaluation & Education Policy, Indiana University, Bloomington. (2008). B. Pérez, R. J. Skiba, & C-G. Chung “The purpose of this briefing paper is to examine the representation of Latino students in special education. (The authors) review data from both the national level and Indiana that shows that Latino students are in general under-represented in special education. Possible reasons for that representation and future directions will be outlined. Full text -- Scroll to January 31, 2008:http://ceep.indiana.edu/new/#6Labeled: The Students Behind NCLB’s Disability DesignationCharts You Can Trust, Education Sector, Washington DC. (2007). E. Dillon. “As part of its accountability requirements, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) calls for schools to separate test-score data by student subgroup — categories of students that include major racial groups, low-income students, English language learners, and students with disabilities. This prevents schools, school districts, or states from letting high overall student achievement hide low achievement among certain groups of students. NCLB defines the students-with-disabilities subgroup as all students served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). As Chart 1 shows, this is a broad definition and includes students with a wide range of disabilities.” The document includes various other charts, including Chart 3 on the distribution of students with disabilities, by race and disability type in 2005, with an accompanying commentary. Full text – Click on Analysis and Perspectives:http://www.educationsector.org/analysis/analysis_show.htm?doc_id=509392Limited English Proficient Students and Special Education Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), Wakefield, Massachusetts Summary of a Paper by M. L. Minow. (2001). “Some school districts have at times confused the educational needs of limited English proficient (LEP) students with the special education services required by students with disabilities. . . . There are a number of possible causes for the disproportionate representation of LEP students in special needs categories.” This paper summarizes these issues. Full text: http://www.cast.org/publications/ncac/ncac_limited.htmlReference for the summary: Minow, M. L. (2001). Limited English proficient students and special education. Wakefield, MA: National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum.
Longitudinal Trends in Race/Ethnic Disparities in Leading Health Indicators
from Adolescence to Young Adulthood
Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. (2006). American Medical
Association, Washington DC.
K. M. Harris, P. Gordon-Larsen, K. Chantala, & J. R. Udry.
The authors examined a “nationally representative data for more than 14,000 adolescents enrolled in wave I (1994-1995) or wave II (1996) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and followed up into adulthood (wave III; 2001-2002). . . . On most health indicators, white and Asian subjects were at lowest and Native American subjects at highest risk. Although white subjects had more favorable health in adolescence, they experienced greatest declines by young adulthood. No single race/ethnic group consistently leads or falters in health across all indicators.” Full text – Skip the ad: http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/160/1/74
Losing Our Future: How Minority Youth Are Being Left Behind by the Graduation Rate Crisis
The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. (2004).
G. Orfield, D. Losen, J. Wald, & C. B. Swanson
Distributed by the Urban Institute, Washington DC.
This report examines the “dangerously high percentage of students—disproportionately poor and minority—disappear from the educational pipeline before graduating from high school. Nationally, only about 68 percent of all students who enter 9th grade will graduate “on time” with regular diplomas in 12th grade. While the graduation rate for white students is 75 percent, only approximately half of Black, Hispanic, and Native American students earn regular diplomas alongside their classmates. Graduation rates are even lower for minority males. Yet, because of misleading and inaccurate reporting of dropout and graduation rates, the public remains largely unaware of this educational and civil rights crisis.”
Executive summary and click for full report:
http://www.urban.org/publications/410936.html
Mental Health: Culture, Race, Ethnicity
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2001).
Supplement to Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General.
This report is a Supplement to the first ever Surgeon General's Report on Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999). That report provided extensive documentation of the scientific advances illuminating our understanding of mental illness and its treatment. . . . This supplement was undertaken to probe more deeply into mental health disparities affecting racial and ethnic minorities. Drawing on scientific evidence from a wide-ranging body of empirical research, this supplement has three purposes: (a) to understand better the nature and extent of mental health disparities; (b) to present the evidence on the need for mental health services and the provision of services to meet those needs; and (c) to document directions toward the elimination of mental health disparities and the promotion of mental health.”
Executive summary and full text of the supplement: http://www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/cre/default.asp
Minority Disproportionality in Special Education and the Achievement Gap:
Common Issues, Shared Solutions
Teleconference by Anthony Sims, Institute for Educational Leadership. (2005).
National Center for Secondary Education and Transition.
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
This is the complete transcript of an NCSET teleconference held in March 2005. The printed transcript is accompanied by an accessible PowerPoint presentation that is referenced in the discussion. The presenter says, “I use this term ‘students placed at risk’ . . . because I contend that we have to recognize that when we say ‘at-risk students,’ we sometimes miss an important distinction around the fact that certain groups of students are placed at greater risk for educational failure because of some of the social variables that we cannot control but also because of a myriad of educational institutional variables that place those students at risk for school failure.”
Full text and PowerPoint:
http://www.ncset.org/teleconferences/transcripts/2005_03b.asp
Minority Students in Special and Gifted Education
National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences. (2002).
M. S. Donovan & C. T. Cross (Eds.)
Published by National Academies Press, Washington DC.
This report presents findings on racial inequities, with recommendations for rethinking current approaches for: (a) eligibility determination; (b) use of high-quality interventions in reading, writing, math, social behavior, and emotional regulation; (c) teacher quality; (d) addressing risk factors in early childhood: (e) improving data collection; and (f) other aspects of general and special education that need improvement.
For purchase or download skims by section: http://www.nap.edu/books/0309074398/html/
Obstacles to Opportunity: Alexandria, Virginia Students Speak Out
Advancement Project, Washington DC, Alexandria United Teens,
and Professor Tony Roshan Samara, George Mason University. (2007).
The sources of this report are “students of the Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) system (ACPS) and education advocates who are concerned that many students – particularly those who are Black or Latino, and immigrants of all races – are not receiving a high-quality education within the ACPS. Barriers students face include (a) limited preparation for college; (b) academic tracking of students of color into low-level courses; (c) low expectations of students by school staff that result in students feeling discouraged, unmotivated, and unprepared for college; (d) lack of support for struggling students, and even encouraging some to drop out; (e) English-as-a-second language classes that do not adequately prepare students to graduate high school and attend college; (f) limited access to Advanced Placement (AP) and Honors classes; and (g) unjust discipline policies that push students out of school. . . . In an effort to understand fully the struggles students experience in ACPS and to craft potential solutions, (these sources) developed a survey to measure student views about school climate, academic achievement, and college preparation at T.C. Williams High School, the only high school within ACPS. This report presents the results of this survey and other complementary research completed over the last year. The report reveals an unsettling conclusion: Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) has effectively created a two–track school system — one for a small number of predominantly White students who are actively prepared from an early age for college and successful careers; and the other for the majority of students of color who are not expected to excel and encounter substantial obstacles to achieving their goals.”
Full text:
http://www.advancementproject.org/publications/opportunity-to-learn.php
On the Nexus of Race, Disability, and Overrepresentation: What Do We Know? Where Do We Go?
On Point Series, National Institute for Urban School Improvement
Arizona State University, Tempe. (2001).
G. Meyer & J. M. Patton
This paper reviews data on the problem of over-representation of children of color in special education; what is understood about it; the roots of the issue; understandings about diversity, culture, and the nature of difference. Then it leads to conclusions and general considerations for the future
Full text -- Scroll down at right: http://www.urbanschools.org/publications/on_point.htm
One in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008Pew Center on States, The Pew Charitable Trusts, Washington DC. (2008). J. Warren, Principal Author This report shows that “for the first time in history more than one in every 100 adults in America are in jail or prison — a fact that significantly impacts State budgets without delivering a clear return on public safety. According to a new report released today by the Pew Center on the States’ Public Safety Performance Project, at the start of 2008, 2,319,258 adults were held in American prisons or jails, or one in every 99.1 men and women, according to the study. During 2007, the prison population rose by more than 25,000 inmates. In addition to detailing state and regional prison growth rates, Pew’s report identifies how corrections spending compares to other State investments, why it has increased, and what some States are doing to limit growth in both prison populations and costs while maintaining public safety. . . . A close examination of the most recent U.S. Department of Justice data (2006) found that while one in 30 men between the ages of 20 and 34 is behind bars, the figure is one in nine for black males in that age group. Men are still roughly 13 times more likely to be incarcerated, but the female population is expanding at a far brisker pace. For black women in their mid- to late-30s, the incarceration rate also has hit the one-in-100 mark. In addition, one in every 53 adults in their 20s is behind bars; the rate for those over 55 is one in 837.” STATE-BY-STATE DATA are included. Press release and click at the bottom of the page for the full text:http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/news_room_detail.aspx?id=35912Opportunities Suspended: The Devastating Consequences of Zero Tolerance and School Discipline PoliciesReport from a National Summit on Zero Tolerance. (2000). The Advancement Project and The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University.
“By consulting with attorneys, psychiatrists, academians, educators, and children’s advocates, the Civil Rights Project and the Advancement Project embarked upon a multi-disciplined approach to review . . . the harsh and mandatory ‘take-no-prisoners’ approach to discipline. This is the first comprehensive national report to scrutinize the impact that the brutally strict Zero Tolerance approach to discipline, currently being used in public schools, is having on American children. The report illustrates that Zero Tolerance is unfair, is contrary to the developmental needs of children, denies children educational opportunities, and often results in the criminalization of children.”
Executive summary and click for full text:
http://www.eric.ed.gov:80/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&
ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED454314&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=eric_accno&accno=ED454314Over-Identification of Students of Color in Special Education: A Critical OverviewAlliance Project, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee. (2001). A. Artiles, B. Harry, D. J. Reschly, & P. C. Chinn. This paper outlines the history of over-representation, identifies several forces that shape this problem (such as poverty, structural factors, instructional and assessment issues, cultural discontinuity between teachers and students), and discusses ways to address over-representation of students of color in special education. Full text: http://www.alliance2k.org/products/4003.pdfPsychometric Issues in ELL Assessment and Special Education Eligibility Teachers College Record., Columbia University, New York City. (2006). J. Abedi. “This article discusses psychometric issues in the assessment of English language learners (ELLs) and examines the validity of classifying ELL students, with a focus on the possibility of misclassifying ELL students as students with learning disabilities.” Abstract (full text by membership or purchase):http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentId=12805 Race Matters in Child Welfare: The Overrepresentation of African American Children
in the System
Child Welfare League of America, Washington DC. (2005). M. F. Testa, J. Poertner, & D. Derezotes. “Although African Americans constituted 15% of the child population of the United States in 1999, they accounted for 45% of the children in substitute care. In contrast, Caucasian children, who constituted 60% of the U.S. child population, accounted for only 36% of the children in out-of-home care. Additionally, several studies show that children of different ethnic or racial backgrounds receive dissimilar treatment by the child welfare system, but little is known about the appropriateness of the treatment. This compilation of papers critically examines child welfare policy and practice, the causes of child maltreatment, and how each impacts the disproportionate representation of African American children in the system.” For purchase: http://www.cwla.org/pubs/pubdetails.asp?PUBID=8746
Race, Poverty, and Special Education: Apprenticeships for Prison Work.
Poverty and Race. (2003). Poverty & Race Research Action Council, Washington, DC. R. A. Smith This article reviews the disproportionality of African American children in the mental retardation and emotional disturbance categories, and summarizes issues including IQ test bias, uninformed teacher referrals, and differences in disproportion across States. The author also discusses misclassification as a precursor for criminalizing black youth. Full text:
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Early Childhood Health and Health Care
Pediatrics. (2005). American Academy of Pediatrics.
G. Flores, L. Olson, & S. C. Tomany-Korman.
The authors “analyzed data for 2608 children, 4 to 35 months of age, from the 2000 National Survey of Early Childhood Health, a nationwide household survey. The overall response rate was 65.6%. Survey questions addressed health, health care, and interactions with health care providers.” A number of disparities were found, including (a) health status, (b) insurance status, (c) providers’ understanding of parents’ child-rearing preferences, (d) providers’ understanding of children’s needs, (e) questions asked of parents, (f) phone calls to doctors’ offices; and (f) providers’ referrals of children to specialists.
Full text: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/115/2/e183
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health and Access to Care Among Older Adolescents
Incenter Strategies, Washington DC. (2007) H. B. Fox, M. A. McManus, M. Zarit, A.E. Cassedy, & G. Fairbrother “This fact sheet presents new national information on disparities and health status and access to care among Hispanic, Black, and White adolescents ages 18 through 21. A set of five widely used indicators was selected to assess whether income, insurance, and mother’s education explain racial and ethnic differences.” Full text – Scroll down:http://www.incenterstrategies.org/publications-all.htmlAlso see related articles on this page.Racial Inequity in Special Education: An Executive Summary for Federal Policy Makers
Civil Rights Project at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. (2002). D. Losen & G. Orfield (Eds.) Distributed by the Civil Rights Project at the University of California, Los Angeles This paper summarizes the findings and recommendations of the Civil Rights Project’s study of racial inequality in the identification and placement of minority children in special education. Executive summary: http://www.civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/specialed/IDEA_paper02.phpTo purchase the book: http://www.hepg.org/hep/book/37
Racial Stigma and Its Consequences
Focus. (2005). Institute for Research on Poverty,
University of Wisconsin-Madison. G. C. Loury.
It is the author’s premise that “nearly a century and a half after the destruction of the institution of slavery, and a half-century past the dawn of the civil rights movement, social life in the United States continues to be characterized by significant racial stratification. Numerous indices of well-being — wages, unemployment rates, income and wealth levels, ability test scores, prison enrollment and crime victimization rates, health and mortality statistics — all reveal substantial racial disparities. . . . So we have a problem; it will be with us for a while; and it behooves us to think hard about what can and should be done.” Full text – Scroll down to Vol. 24:1, Fall 2005. See related papers in the same edition.http://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/focus.htmRemoving the Roadblocks: Fair College Opportunities for All California Students
UC ACCORD: All Campus Consortium on Research for Diversity and the UCLA Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access, Los Angeles. (2006). J. Oakes, J. Rogers, D. Silver, S. Valladares, V. Terriquez, P. McDonough, M. Renee, & M. Lipton. This report “provides research that explains how and why ending affirmative action (in California) has produced neither the ‘results’ nor the opportunities that were promised. It shows the representation of Latino, African American, and American Indian students in the University of California (UC), and particularly at the UC’s most selective campuses, has decreased, even as these groups make up a larger share of California high school graduates. California’s Latino, African American, and American Indian students have not received the ‘the tools to compete.” This report reviews the record of low college participation and college eligibility among African American, Latino, and American Indian students, and it examines the K-12 school conditions that contribute to these inequalities. It concludes with a comprehensive set of policy recommendations for removing roadblocks that unfairly impede the educational progress of Latino, African American, and American Indian students. These are not ‘pie in the sky’ proposals. Rather they are strategies that have been tried in other states, as well as in California districts and schools.” Full text: http://idea.gseis.ucla.edu/publications/roadblocks/index.html
Representation of Minority Students in Special Education: Complicating Traditional Explanations
Educational Researcher. (2006). American Educational Research Association, Washington DC. A. J. Artiles, J. K. Klingner, & W. F. Tate (Eds.). After an editors’ introduction, this theme issue presents four articles: (a) Race, Class and Disproportionality: Reevaluating the Relationship Between Poverty and Special Education; (b) The Cultural Work of Learning Disabilities; (c) Disability Justifies the Exclusion of Minority Students: A Critical History Grounded in Disability Studies; and (d) Disproportionate Representation of African American Students in Special Education: Acknowledging the Role of White Privilege and Racism. Full text of the theme issue: http://www.aera.net/publications/Default.aspx?menu_id=38&id=1474
School Reform and Second Generation Discrimination:
Toward the Development of Equitable Schools
In Motion Magazine, NPC Productions. (2006). P. A. Noguera.
“The pursuit of greater equality with respect to educational outcomes and long-term results is what equity, as practiced or at least aspired to in the context of schools, is largely about. As schools and districts struggle with efforts to raise student achievement and reduce disparities in student outcomes, it is clear that many educators and the broader public remain divided and confused about what it means to place equity at the center of reform efforts and what it might take to move in the direction of equality in results.” This article discusses equity in results and how we might get there, prefaced by a few of the earlier practices that resulted in discrimination. Full text: http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/er/pn_second.html
Schools, Prisons, and Social Implications of Punishment:
Rethinking Disciplinary Practices
In Motion Magazine, NPC Productions. (2003). P. Noguera. “Throughout the United States, schools most frequently punish the students who have the greatest academic, social, economic, and emotional needs. An examination of which students are most likely to be suspended, expelled, or removed from the classroom for punishment, reveals that minorities (especially Blacks and Latinos), males, and low achievers are vastly overrepresented. The enactment of zero tolerance policies related to discipline in school districts has contributed to a significant increase in the number of children who are being suspended and expelled from school. This article explains why this has occurred and puts forward an alternative approach to discipline that is aligned with the educational mission of schools.” Full text: http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/er/pn_rethink.htmlSLIIDEA: Placing and Serving Children with Disabilities in the Least Restrictive EnvironmentFrom the Study of State and Local Implementation and Impact of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (SLIIDEA). Project Forum, National Association of State Directors of Special Education, Alexandria, Virginia. (2006). Synthesized by S. Misra. Trends suggest differences in placement in special education by race/ethnicity. . “Black and Hispanic students, for example, are about twice as likely to spend a majority of their school day outside the regular classroom as are white students. . . . This document synthesizes information from SLIIDEA pertaining to the placing and serving of children with disabilities, including minority children, in the least restrictive environment as reflected in data from the 2002-03 school year.” Full text: http://www.projectforum.org/docs/SLIIDEAPlacingandServingChildrenwithDisabilitiesintheLRE.pdfFor access to many other Project Forum papers:http://www.projectforum.org/index.cfm
State Definitions of Significant Disproportionality
Project Forum, National Association of State Directors of Special Education, Alexandria, Virginia. (2007). P. Burdette. “The 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act gives states the flexibility and responsibility under Section 6181 to define ‘significant disproportionality’ based on race or ethnicity at the State (SEA) and local education agency (LEA) levels. This applies to the identification, placement and disciplinary actions. States must make this determination annually based on an analysis of numerical information. . . . Project Forum conducted a survey of all SEAs to determine how they define significant disproportionality for their LEAs in each of the three areas of identification, placement and discipline. Thirty-three SEAs responded to Project Forum’s survey in May 2007.” This is the report of that survey. Full text: http://projectforum.org/docs/StateDefinitionsofSignificantDisproportionality.pdfTo access many more Project Forum papers:http://www.projectforum.orgThe Abandoned Generation: Democracy Beyond the Culture of Fear
Palgrave Macmillan, New York City. (2004). H. A. Giroux.
“Henry Giroux argues that the U.S. is at war with young people. No longer seen as the future of a democratic society, youth are now derided by politicians looking for quick-fix solutions to crime and demonized by the popular media. This perception of fear and disdain is being translated into social policy. Instead of providing a decent education to young people, we offer them the increasing potential of being incarcerated. Instead of guaranteeing them decent health care, we serve them more standardized tests.” For purchase: http://www.palgrave-usa.com/catalog/product.aspx?isbn=1403965366 The Closing of the Education Frontier?
The Color of Discipline: Sources of Racial and Gender Disproportionality
in School Punishment
Safe and Responsive Schools Project, Indiana Education Policy Center,
Indiana University, Bloomington. (2000).
R. J. Skiba, R. S. Michael, A. C. Nardo, & R. Peterson.
The researchers state that “disproportionate representation of minority students, especially African Americans, in a variety of school disciplinary procedures has been documented almost continuously for the past 25 years, yet there has been little study of the factors contributing to that disproportionality. Whether disparate treatment of a group can be judged as bias depends largely on the extent to which other hypotheses that could provide a credible alternative explanation of the discrepancy can be ruled out. In this study, investigation of three alternative hypotheses led to different conclusions for disproportionate representation based on gender, race, and socioeconomic status. . . . Coupled with extensive and highly consistent prior data, (the) results argue that disproportionate representation of African Americans in office referrals, suspension and expulsion is evidence of a pervasive and systematic bias that may well be inherent in the use of exclusionary discipline.” Full text – Scroll down:http://www.indiana.edu/%7Esafeschl/publication.html
The Context of Minority Disproportionality: Practitioner Perspectives on Special Education Referral
Teachers College Record. (2006). Columbia University, New York City. R. Skiba, A.D. Simmons, S. Ritter, K. Kohler, M. Henderson, & T. Wu. “Although there is extensive documentation of minority overrepresentation in special education, knowledge of the factors that create the context within which disproportionality occurs is limited. To gain an understanding of the local processes that may contribute to special education disproportionality, (the authors) interviewed 66 educators about their perspectives on urban education, special education, available and needed resources, and the specific topics of diversity and disproportionality.” Findings are summarized in the abstract. Abstract (full text for purchase or by online membership):http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentID=12562The Flynn Effect and U.S. Policies. The Impact of Rising IQ Scores on American Society Via
Mental Retardation Diagnoses
American Psychologist. (2003). American Psychological Association, Washington DC.
T. Kanaya, M. H. Scullin, & S. J. Ceci.
“The steady rising of IQ scores over the last century – known as the Flynn effect – causes IQ tests norms to become obsolete over time. To counter this effect, IQ tests are ‘renormed’ (made harder) every 15-20 years by resetting the mean score to 100 to account for the previous gains in IQ scores. But according to new research, such renorming may have unintended consequences, particularly in the area of special education placements for children with borderline or mild mental retardation. The findings are reported on in the October 2003 issue of American Psychologist, a journal of the American Psychological Association.” Full text – Scroll down to end of press release:http://www.apa.org/releases/flynneffect2.htmlThe Invisible Dyslexics: How Public School Systems in Baltimore and Elsewhere Discriminate Against Poor ChildrenThe Abell Foundation, Baltimore, Maryland. (2003). K. R. Hettleman. The report states that “our nation’s general failure to diagnose and treat early reading difficulties is disproportionately harmful to poor and minority students. . . . ‘Invisible dyslexics’ are children whose academic futures are doomed because their problems in learning to read are either diagnosed too late and treated too little, or not diagnosed or treated at all. This report outlines several factors that further impede children with "invisible dyslexia" from getting proper instruction in their earlier years (including identification based on a severe discrepancy between achievement and intellectual ability). . . . (The report states that) the discrepancy requirement is not just bad science. It perversely results in high-IQ children with reading difficulties receiving more extra instruction than low-IQ children.” Full text: http://www.abell.org/publications/detail.asp?ID=76
The Role of Reading Instruction in Addressing the Overrepresentation of Minority Children in Special Education in the United States
A Position Statement of the International Reading Association (IRA), Washington DC. (2003). “The International Reading Association (is concerned that lack of appropriate reading instruction and early interventions among low-performing minority children contributes to their overrepresentation in special education programs. (IRA) advocates for effective early reading instruction for all children and for intervention before children are referred to special education. Attention to such issues as ineffective classroom instruction, lack of coordination across programs and teachers, and the frequent overlooking of children’s culturally relevant language skills will help to reduce the number of unnecessary special education referrals for minority students. The position statement includes additional recommendations expressly for the U.S. federal and state governments, school districts, classroom teachers, Title I teachers and reading specialists, special educators, principals, teacher educators and professional developers, and parents.” Full text:http://www.reading.org/resources/issues/positions_minorities.html
The State of Black America®: 2007 Report -- Portrait of the Black Male, and
The State of Black America®: 2008 Report -- In the Black Woman’s Voice.
National Urban League, New York City. (2007 and 2008).
*** Portrait of the Black Male: “According to the State of Black America Equality Index, African American men are more than twice as likely to be unemployed as white males and make only 75 percent as much a year. They’re nearly seven times more likely to be incarcerated, and their average jail sentences are 10 months longer than those of white men. In addition, young black males between the ages of 15 and 34 years are nine times more likely to die of homicide than their white counterparts and nearly seven times as likely to suffer from AIDS.” Other disparities are described. The report also includes 10 essays. *** In the Black Woman’s Voice: The report provides the black female perspective on the challenges that currently confront African Americans in general and women of color in particular. . . . In addition to addressing specific themes, the 2008 State of Black America report, includes the National Urban League 2008 Equality Index,™ an aggregate measure of the relative status between blacks and whites in America, based upon five sub-indexes: (a) economics, (b) education, (c) health, (d) social justice, and (e) civic engagement.” Scroll down for the executive summary, essay abstracts, and to purchase the full text:http://www.nul.org/thestateofblackamerica.htmlOther State of Black America Reports for purchase are described on this page.The Use of a Benchmark Assessment to Track Progress of a Reading Intervention:
A Pilot Study with an Urban Elementary SchoolE-Journal of Teaching and Learning in Diverse Settings. (2004). Southern University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. T. A. Jenkins, A. H. Miranda, & V. E. Cook. “The use of a benchmark assessment to track the general progression of reading acquisition skills for kindergarten students in an urban elementary school was investigated. The benchmark assessment used was the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS), which has been shown to be highly predictive of early literacy. . . . The results of this study indicated that early literacy development in kindergarten is consistent with the research literature demonstrating that African American students are placed at risk for reading failure. Less than 50 percent of the students were on track to becoming established readers. The need for early identification of children at risk for reading difficulty, as well as suggestions for overcoming barriers to implementing prevention reading programs in urban schools, are discussed.” Full text: http://www.subr.edu/coeducation/ejournal/Jenkins%20et%20al.%20Article.htm
Understanding Recent Changes in Child Poverty
Urban Institute, Washington DC. (2006). A. Nichols. “This brief shows that economic conditions, together with parental education and work, are the dominant factors behind recent changes in child poverty. Changes in the share of families headed by single parents seem to have played almost no role in the recent changes in child poverty. According to the analysis, the 1993 to 2000 drop in child poverty was largely due to improvements in the job market, especially for less-educated workers. The economic downturn beginning in 2000 hit all families, even those with more education, but the families of black children were hit hardest.” Summary and click at the bottom for full text: http://www.urban.org/publications/311356.htmlWho Are America’s Poor Children? The Official Story
National Center for Children in Poverty, Mailman School of Public Health,
Columbia University, New York City. (2007).
“Nearly 13 million American children live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level, which is $20,000 a year for a family of four. The number of children living in poverty increased by more than 11 percent between 2000 and 2005. There are 1.3 million more children living in poverty today than in 2000.” This page displays a variety of data on children in poverty. Full text: http://nccp.org/pub_cpt06a.html
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