Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Unequal Education in the USA


ProPublica's Miseduction map shows where black and Hispanic students are missing out on educational opportunities compared with white students. The map uses data from the U.S. Department of Education to show which schools and districts have the best and worst racial disparities in educational opportunities and school discipline.

The map allows you to view racial disparities between either educational opportunities, school discipline, segregation or achievement. You can also switch between viewing the racial disparities for either black or Hispanic students.

ProPublica has also created a table which lists how much more likely white students are likely to be in an advanced placement class than black or Hispanic students in every state. The table also shows how much more likely black or Hispanic students are likely to be suspended compared to white students. The columns in this table can be switched to show the results in ascending or descending order so you can quickly view which states have the best and worst records.


Earlier this year Vox looked at how American schools could become less segregated. They argue that the segregation of students in the country's schools is a political decision. There is no good reason why schools are segregated and this segregation can be easily overcome if there is the political will to give all Americans equal educational opportunities.

In We can draw school zones to make classrooms less segregated Vox looks at how school districts can be gerrymandered to make them less segregated. The article includes a map tool which allows you to visualize how segregated schools currently are in your town. If you enter your school district into this tool you can view a choropleth map showing the percentage of students in each elementary school zone who were black or Hispanic in the 2013 school year.

The map allows you to view the current situation in your district using the current zoning regulations and compare this with how it would look if students were just assigned to their nearest school. Beneath the map you can see a graph which reveals if your local zoning regulations are lessening school segregation or making segregation worse

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