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Race and Equity Trends > Education

Explore the Data for Education Below:

Race Equity Trends:
Education

Overview
education
Education provides broad benefits to a community. Communities with more educated populations tend to earn higher average salaries.1 However, the benefits of education are not always equally distributed. Disparities persist in educational test scores and attainment of Lincoln students by race/ethnicity. Research illustrates that multiple factors can serve as barriers to educational outcomes and attainment, including economic and historical factors, such as redlining, that segregate schools by race and family wealth creating inequitable school academic opportunities.2,3,4 Educational disparities observed in Lincoln Vital Signs over the past decade continue to persist.

Lincoln students from households that tend to have higher average levels of income and caregiver educational attainment also tend to have better average performance in school. Study after study demonstrates that there is a strong relationship between a students’ educational outcomes (as measured by test scores and grades), their household income, and the educational level of their caregivers, regardless of race or ethnicity. This relationship has been found in studies looking at the individual, school, district, state, and national level.5 In other words, differences in educational outcomes for children cannot be separated from differences in family income and educational attainment.

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Footnotes

  1. Glaeser, E. L. (Edward L. (2011). Triumph of the city: How our greatest invention makes us richer, smarter, greener, healthier, and happier. New York: Penguin Press.
  2. Annie E. Casey Foundation. (2006). Race matters: How race affects education opportunities. https://assets.aecf.org/m/resourcedoc/aecf-racemattersEDUCATION-2006.pdf
  3. Rothstein, R. (2017). The color of law : a forgotten history of how our government segregated America. Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W.W. Norton & Company.
  4. Hernandez, D. J. (2011). Double jeopardy: How third-grade reading skills and poverty influence high school graduation. Baltimore, MD: Annie E. Casey Foundation.
  5. Ladd, Helen F. (2012). Presidential Address: Education and Poverty: Confronting the Evidence. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 31(2)207-227.

 

OMB race and ethnicity standards

There is some variation in reporting of racial and ethnic categories within this website based on availability from the data source. Most of these data are from the U.S. Census Bureau and other federal agencies that are reported in accordance with 1997 U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) standards, and generally reflect a social definition of race based upon self-identification. The Census Bureau reports a minimum of five race categories (American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and White) and two ethnicity categories (Hispanic or Latino and Not Hispanic or Latino). Ethnicity, as specified by OMB, is treated as a separate and distinct concept from race. Respondents may choose more than one race, along with ethnicity. However, for purposes of presentation, race and ethnicity are often reported in a single graphic figure. Further, we have shortened titles of race and ethnic categories, in most cases. When population sizes of racial groups are small, access to specific data about these populations may be excluded and/or unavailable due to privacy concerns for small populations.

Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) Descent

Under the OMB standards, the U.S. Census Bureau currently classifies people with Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) descent as White, while many people of MENA descent may not identify as White. Research by the Census Bureau and recommendations from several groups suggest reforming federal data collection by adding a “Middle Eastern or North African” box, and to remove people with MENA origins from the white category. However, these recommendations have not yet been implemented, which may impact current data.