Greater percentages of Black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaska Native students attended high-poverty schools than did White or Asian/Pacific Islander students in 2006-07.

The percentage of students eligible for the free or reduced-price lunch program provides a proxy measure for the concentration of low-income students within a school. In this indicator, high-poverty schools are defined as public schools where more than 75 percent of the students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. In 2006-07, approximately 16 percent of all elementary and secondary public school students (or 7.7 million students) attended high-poverty schools (see table A-25-1).

In 2006-07, greater percentages of Black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaska Native students attended high-poverty schools than did White or Asian/Pacific Islander students, and greater percentages of Asian/Pacific Islander students attended these schools than did White students. Some 33 percent of Black, 35 percent of Hispanic, and 25 percent of American Indian/Alaska Native students were enrolled in high-poverty schools, compared with 4 percent of White and 13 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander students. In contrast, greater percentages of White (19 percent) and Asian/Pacific Islander (22 percent) students attended low-poverty schools (public schools with 10 percent or less of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch) than did Black (4 percent), Hispanic (6 percent), and American Indian/Alaska Native (6 percent) students.

The pattern seen nationally of higher percentages of Black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaska Native students attending high-poverty schools was also found in each of the locality types (cities, suburbs, towns, and rural areas). For example, in 2006-07, among students attending city schools, 46 percent of Blacks, 47 percent of Hispanics, and 27 percent of American Indians/Alaska Natives attended high-poverty schools, compared with 10 percent of Whites and 22 percent of Asians/Pacific Islanders. In rural areas, greater percentages of Black (24 percent), Hispanic (18 percent), and American Indian/Alaska Native (33 percent) students attended high-poverty schools than did their White and Asian/Pacific Islander (3 percent each) peers.

Technical Notes

Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. For more information on race/ethnicity, locale, and poverty, see supplemental note 1. For more information on the Common Core of Data (CCD), see supplemental note 3. Private school students are excluded from the analysis because large proportions of private schools do not participate in the free or reduced-price lunch program.