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DEL.ICIO.USJust The Facts, Ma’am
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There are all kinds of interesting statistics in the new Fact Book on Higher Education, released this morning by the Southern Regional Education Board.
The annual report for Georgia contains all manner of information, including how women are outpacing men in college attendance (74,900 more females enrolled from 1995 to 2005 vs. 37,000 more males) and that fewer than half (48 percent) of full-time freshmen who enrolled at the state’s four-year public colleges and universities in 1999 graduated in six years.
What really piqued my interest was a chart that estimated what the state’s high school senior class might look like in 2018.
According to the report, in the next decade, the percentage of Hispanics graduating from Georgia’s public high schools will explode — growing from a mere 3 percent in 2004 to 26 percent.
During that same time, the percentages of both black and white students graduating in Georgia will decline. Whites will still make up the single largest racial or ethnic group at 39 percent (a precipitous drop from 60 percent), while blacks will barely hold onto second place with 27 percent (a slip from 33 percent).
The bottom line: Georgia’s K-12 public education system will be more diverse than ever with more of a balance among races and ethnicities. The question: Does it matter?
Comments
By fed up
June 25, 2007 1:21 PM | Link to this
Oooooh… I’m staying out of this one…. good luck folks. If this isn’t bait, I don’t know what is.
By mmm
June 25, 2007 1:53 PM | Link to this
It would be interesting to parallel GA numbers with any national projections.
By mmm
June 25, 2007 1:57 PM | Link to this
btw—-when did we decide that there were only three ethnicities? Where are Bosnians? Rwandans and Kurds?
By Bridget Gutierrez
June 25, 2007 2:19 PM | Link to this
mmm: You can find national and regional comparisons in the report, which I’ve linked to above.
As you can see in the chart, Georgia’s Hispanic growth is much more dramatic than either the national or Southern estimates because the Peach State is starting from a much smaller base.
As to your second question: The report only deals with those three groups (black, white and Hispanic), as do most reports that discuss race and ethnicity in Georgia’s schools.
Sometimes, there are additional categories for Asians or Native Americans — but those are less frequently used.
By mmm
June 25, 2007 3:19 PM | Link to this
I know that they pick these categories simply because they always have, so if they ever add or change they won’t be able to compare directly with the questionaire from 20 years ago.
But it forces children of mixed parentage to choose “sides”, and it hides the huge differences between other immigrants. (i.e. should Bosinians self identify as “white” even though they generally arrive poor with no English?)
I haven’t managed to find the detail, but it would also be interesting to know what the projected population size and diversity of private and home-schooled kids will be in 2018?
By HB
June 25, 2007 4:53 PM | Link to this
Well, mmm, that may be their reason for sticking to these old categories, but it’s not a good one. Governemtn reporting categories often don’t match up across agencies, so data can’t be compared well. At the federal level, some improvements are being made. EEOC is changing its race/ethnicity categories to more closely line up with the U.S. Census (although I think they’re still slightly off). Georgia schools and NCLB reporting should use those categories, which include “Two or more races”. It’s just silly for school data not to line up with the best available population data!
By catlady
June 25, 2007 5:38 PM | Link to this
“he percentage of Hispanics graduating from Georgia’s public high schools will explode — growing from a mere 3 percent in 2004 to 26 percent.”
Bridgett—What this sounds like is that 26% of all senior Hispanic kids will graduate, but what I think you mean is that 26% of the graduating senior class will be Latino. Is that right? Those are quite different things…..
In areas where Latinos are becoming predominate, more middle class white kids are going to private school, as they did when b/w integration happened years ago. So the call for a breakdown of public/private would be interesting. I am guessing Georgia public education will look quite different because, with the effects of current ed policy, more and more middle class and affluent parents are going to abandon the public schools to poorer, and frequently darker, students. Separate and unequal will again rule the day.
By Ernest
June 25, 2007 6:21 PM | Link to this
Interesting point, catlady, however another consideration is we may see more affluent residents move closer to the urban centers. It seems the long commutes are playing a role in this possibility. Wouldn’t that be something to see the racial and economic demographics of schools change because of this?
By mmm
June 25, 2007 7:05 PM | Link to this
The Graduation rate in DeKalb for English Language Learners last year was 23.5%, for Hispanics it was 40%. With the new graduation requirements, it may well drop lower. Bridgett may find herself correct with her 26% graduating statement in another 10 years if we don’t do something radically different!