Trends in School District Demographics, 1986-87 to 1990-91

Executive Summary

Overview

Each year, comparable and comprehensive data about all of the nation?s public elementary and secondary schools, local education agencies (LEAs), and state education agencies (SEAs) are collected through administration of the Common Core of Data (CCD) Surveys. This report summarizes CCD data for a period (1986-87 to 1990-91) during which major changes were occurring in the demographics of the nation?s public school population. Enrollments in public schools began increasing after a decade of decline. The racial-ethnic composition of the student population was also changing, with notable increases in the numbers of Hispanic children enrolling in public schools.

This was also a period characterized by efforts to reform and improve the nation?s education system. In response to these demographic changes and reform pressures, the nation?s education system underwent numerous changes. These changes and the associated systemic responses are the focus of this report.

Summary of Findings

How has the population served by public schools changed in size, and how have school districts responded to the changes?

After enrollment in American public elementary and secondary schools reached a 20-year low in the mid-1980s, this trend was reversed: Between 1987-88 and 1990-91, enrollments rose by 3 percent. At the same time, the number of school districts declined slightly, with the result that the average enrollment in existing school districts increased. Other relevant findings include the following:

• In 1990-91, over half of the regular school districts in the nation served fewer than 1,000 students, but only 7 percent of the nation?s public school students were enrolled in these small districts.

• From 1986-87 to 1990-91, the number and proportion of students in predominantly (at least 80 percent) white school districts decreased; the number and proportion of students in other districts increased.

Districts respond to changes in enrollments in a number of ways. One of the most basic ways is through changes in grade structure?that is, changing the grade levels served.

• From 1987-88 to 1990-91, the most common type of change in a district?s grade structure was the addition of prekindergarten classes, followed by the elimination of prekindergarten classes.

Besides the addition and elimination of prekindergarten classes, districts tended to be stable with respect to the grade levels of students served. Between 1987-88 and 1990-91, only about 2.7 percent of the nation?s school districts per year changed the grade levels of students they served.

How have the grade structure and the program specialization of public schools changed in response to changing needs?

Although districts are relatively stable with respect to the grades served, many districts respond to changing birthrates and changing parent concerns through changes in grades served by each school. Each year from 1986-87 through 1990-91, about one-eighth of the nation?s public schools changed grade spans (i.e., the grade range of students that were enrolled at the school). Most of these changes were relatively minor, but about 2 percent of schools changed from one type of school (elementary, middle, secondary, or combined) to a different type.

Changes in the prevalence and grade spans of separate middle grade schools serving only early adolescent students were substantial during this period. Based on the observation that needs of early adolescents and preadolescents are very different from those of later adolescents, many districts restructured the grade spans of their schools to create schools that would only serve pre- and early adolescent students. The proportion of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders attending these schools increased from 1986-87 to 1990-91.

In this report, middle grade schools include the prototypical junior high school (grades 7-9) because junior high schools serve populations that are predominantly, or almost exclusively, pre- and early adolescent. However, some of the focus of the middle school movement has been on the movement of the sixth grade into middle schools and the ninth grade into high schools. From 1986-87 to 1990-91, the number of schools with the prototypical junior high school grade range (7-9) decreased by 20 percent, while the number of schools with the prototypical middle school grade range (6-8) increased by 23 percent. These changes allowed high schools to remain open as the high-school-age population declined during this period; these changes also addressed elementary school crowding as the population size of this age group grew.

Separate schools for middle grade, early adolescent students were most prevalent in large school districts, which tend to be urban and suburban and in the most affluent districts. Although there were a variety of different grade spans in these separate middle grade schools, almost all of them enrolled seventh-grade students. The higher the socioeconomic status (SES) of a district, the greater was the likelihood that their seventh graders attended separate middle grade schools.

What is the racial-ethnic composition of the populations served by public schools, and how has it changed?

CCD data were used to determine demographic trends, as well as to identify the types of schools and districts undergoing the greatest changes in their racial-ethnic composition from 1987-88 to 1990-91.

• The number of students in public elementary and secondary schools in regular school districts in the United States increased by approximately one million from 1987-88 to 1990-91. Over three-quarters (78.5 percent) of this growth can be attributed to an increase in the number of Hispanic (645,000) and Asian (140,000) students.

• The overall proportion of minority public school students in regular school districts steadily increased from 1987-88 to 1990-91. However, the proportion of black students, like the proportion of white non-Hispanic students, declined.

• In 1990-91, the number of Hispanic students exceeded the number of white non-Hispanic students in schools in large cities. White non-Hispanic students comprised about one-quarter (26 percent) of the public school students in large cities? schools.

• Most of the nation?s minority students were served by school districts with enrollments of 10,000 or more.

• Each year from 1987-88 to 1990-91, the concentration of black students in special education schools, vocational education schools, and alternative education schools was greater than in regular schools; the concentrations of white and Asian students were lower in these schools.

• A district?s racial composition (i.e., the proportion of minority students) was strongly associated with its socioeconomic status. The proportion of white non-Hispanic students was highest in the most affluent districts and was lowest in the poorest districts.

There is substantial evidence that education outcomes are related to the racial composition of classrooms and schools (Coleman et al. 1966; Mahard and Crain 1983). Many desegregation programs have been developed and implemented to ensure equal education opportunities for all races and ethnic groups. As previously noted, the period from 1987-88 to 1990-91 was characterized by substantial changes in the overall racial-ethnic composition of the school population. In order to investigate the net result of these changes and of districts? responses to them, it is necessary to employ indicators of within-district racial balance. These indicators?the index of racial imbalance and the index of minority exposure?are intended to show how white and minority students are distributed among the schools in a district. These indices provide indicators of the impacts of school districts? pupil assignment practices, showing how evenly white non-Hispanic students are spread amongst the districts? schools and whether these practices resulted in schools becoming more or less racially balanced.

• Both indicators provided slight evidence of desegregation improvements from 1987-88 to 1990-91.

• To achieve perfect racial balance in the typical urban school district (in 1990-91), over one-quarter of the minority students would have had to be reassigned to other schools in the district.

• The typical minority student in a large city school attended a school in which only about one-quarter (26 percent) of the students were white.

• The districts with the most racially imbalanced schools were those with the highest overall proportions of minority students in 1987-88. Improvements in these districts? racial balance from 1987-88 to 1990-91 were minimal, at best.

• The proportion of white students in the typical minority student?s class--the minority exposure index--was highest in the most affluent school districts. However, the proportion of white students in the typical minority student?s school decreased the most (that is, became much smaller) in the most affluent districts from 1987-88 to 1990-91.

How have student/teacher ratios changed?

Some believe that small(er) class sizes are generally better than larger class sizes because more individualized attention can be given to each student (Finn and Achilles 1990; Slavin 1989; Glass and Smith 1979). In order to determine whether class sizes were decreasing in the nation?s public schools, and to determine the types of districts realizing these changes, student/teacher ratios in different types of school districts were compared over time. Although class size and student/teacher ratios are not identical, student/teacher ratios are generally believed to be highly associated with class size. These comparisons are also informative about changes in resource distribution policies and practices, both over time and as a function of district characteristics. A decline in student/teacher ratios of 5 percent from 1986-87 to 1990-91 was noted, supporting the belief that class sizes have declined over this period.

• Student/teacher ratios were associated with certain district characteristics. For example, they were lowest in the smallest districts, in rural districts, and in the most affluent districts.

• Student/teacher ratios were highest in districts with the highest proportion of minorities. This was true even when other district characteristics were controlled through use of multivariate analytic techniques.

• Within districts, student/teacher ratios were also a characteristic of the type of school that a student attended. Higher student/teacher ratios were characteristic of:
• elementary schools (in contrast to middle grade schools and secondary schools);

• larger high schools (rather than smaller high schools); and

• regular high schools (rather than specialized high schools).

Conclusion

Although the Common Core of Data does not provide answers to complicated policy questions, it does provide a background for formulating policy research questions and for designing studies to find out how particular interventions have worked in the context of the ever-changing schools and students in America. In one form or another, CCD data have been summarized in previous reports; however, these reports have not been used to examine in detail how our nation?s schools have changed over a 5-year period. This period can also serve as a benchmark against which the magnitude of future changes can be compared.

CCD data cannot be used to address the question "Why?" However, by demonstrating the presence of significant changes and by identifying where these changes are occurring, policymakers and practitioners can better target their efforts. Researchers can develop specific hypotheses and can be much more sharply focused when addressing key research issues.

For questions about the content of this report, please contact John Sietsema.