Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Education’s (Department) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) today released new civil rights data from the 2020–21 school year, offering critical insight regarding civil rights indicators during that coronavirus pandemic year. OCR also released seven data reports and snapshots, including A First Look: Students’ Access to Educational Opportunities in the Nation’s Public Schools, which provides an overview of these data and information.
“In America, talent and creativity can come from anywhere, but only if we provide equitable educational opportunities to students everywhere,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “We cannot be complacent when the data repeatedly tells us that the race, sex, or disability of students continue to dramatically impact everything from access to advanced placement courses to the availability of school counselors to the use of exclusionary and traumatic disciplinary practices. The Biden-Harris Administration has prioritized equity for underserved students throughout our historic investments in education, and we will continue to partner with states, districts, and schools to Raise the Bar and provide all students with access to an academically rigorous education in safe, supportive, and inclusive learning environments.”
OCR’s Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) is a mandatory survey of public schools serving students from preschool to grade 12. The purpose of the CRDC is to provide the federal government and members of the public with vital data about the extent to which students have equal educational opportunities required by federal civil rights laws. While OCR generally collects the CRDC biennially, the 2020-21 CRDC is the first published since the 2017-18 collection (which was released in 2020), because OCR paused the collection due to the pandemic. OCR’s 2020-21 CRDC contains information collected from over 17,000 school districts and over 97,000 schools. These data include student enrollment; access to courses, teachers, other school staff, and the Internet and devices; and school climate factors, such as student discipline, harassment or bullying, and school offenses.
The 2020-21 CRDC reflects stark inequities in education access throughout the nation. For example, high schools with high enrollments of Black and Latino students offered fewer courses in mathematics, science, and computer science than schools with low enrollments of Black and Latino students. English learner students and students with disabilities, who received services under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, had a lower rate of enrollment in mathematics and science courses when compared to enrollment rates of all high school students.
“These new CRDC data reflect troubling differences in students’ experiences in our nation’s schools,” said Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon. “We remain committed to working with school communities to ensure the full civil rights protections that federal law demands.”
As part of today’s release of the 2020-21 CRDC, OCR launched a redesigned CRDC website that now includes an archival tool with access to historical civil rights data from 1968 to 1998 which can be found here. The 2020-21 CRDC public-use data file, reports, and snapshots are available on the Department’s redesigned CRDC website. Additional reports and snapshots will be posted periodically on the website.
Key data points from the 2020–21 CRDC are below and highlighted in one or more of the data reports or snapshots.
Harassment or Bullying
- K-12 students reported to school employees over 42,500 allegations of harassment or bullying on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, race, disability, or religion.
- Forty percent of allegations of harassment or bullying was on the basis of sex, 29% was on the basis of race, 19% was on the basis of sexual orientation, 9% was on the basis of disability, and 3% was on the basis of religion.
- Student reports of being harassed or bullied differed by race and sex.
- Black students represented 15% of K-12 enrollment, but 37% of students who reported being harassed or bullied on the basis of race.
- White students represented 46% of K-12 enrollment but 68% of students who reported being harassed or bullied on the basis of sex, and 70% of students who reported being harassed or bullied on the basis of disability.
- American Indian or Alaska Native students represented 1% of K-12 enrollment, but 2% of students who reported being harassed or bullied on the basis of race, sex, or disability.
- Boys were overrepresented in reports of being harassed or bullied on the basis of race or disability. Girls were overrepresented in reports of being harassed or bullied on the basis of sex.
School Offenses
- Districts reported approximately 274,700 incidents of school offenses.
- The majority of incidents (78%) were threats of physical attack without a weapon.
- Public schools reported over 3,000 incidents of rape or attempted rape and sexual assault (other than rape).
- About 180 schools (less than 1%) reported at least one incident involving a school shooting, and about 100 schools (less than 1%) reported a homicide of a student, faculty member, or staff member.
Student Discipline
- About 786,600 students in K-12 received one or more in-school suspensions, about 638,700 received one or more out-of-school suspensions, and about 28,300 received an expulsion.
- Compared to their overall enrollments, Black boys and girls, White boys, and boys of two or more races were overrepresented among K-12 students who were suspended and expelled.
- Both White and Black boys were overrepresented in K-12 school discipline outcomes, but Black boys were nearly two times more likely than White boys to receive an out-of-school suspension or an expulsion.
- When considering their overall enrollment, K-12 students with disabilities were also overrepresented in discipline outcomes.
- Students with disabilities represented 17% of K-12 student enrollment but accounted for 29% of students who received one or more out-of-school suspensions and 21% who received expulsions.
- The nation’s public school districts referred approximately 61,900 K-12 students to law enforcement, and about 14% of those referrals resulted in school-related arrests. These disciplinary actions differed by students’ race/ethnicity and disability.
- Black students represented 15% of K-12 student enrollment, but 18% of students referred to law enforcement and 22% of students subjected to a school-related arrest.
- White students represented 46% of K-12 student enrollment, but 55% of students referred to law enforcement and 47% of students subjected to a school-related arrest.
- Students with disabilities represented 17% of K-12 student enrollment, but 27% of students referred to law enforcement and 28% of students subjected to a school-related arrest.
Restraint and Seclusion
- Approximately 52,800 K-12 students were physically restrained, mechanically restrained, and/or placed in seclusion at schools.
- Boys, Black students, students of two or more races, and students with disabilities who received services under IDEA were subjected to restraints and seclusion at higher percentages than their overall K-12 enrollments.
- Boys represented 51% of K-12 student enrollment, but 83% of students physically restrained, 82% of students mechanically restrained, and 82% of students secluded.
- Black students represented 15% of the K-12 student enrollment, but 21% of students physically restrained, 42% of students mechanically restrained, and 19% of students secluded.
- Students of two or more races were 4% of K-12 student enrollment yet accounted for 7% of students physically restrained and 7% of students secluded.
- Students with disabilities who received services under IDEA represented 14% of K-12 student enrollment but accounted for 81% of students physically restrained, 32% of students mechanically restrained, and 75% of students secluded.
Access to Advanced Courses
- More than half of high schools nationwide do not offer calculus or computer science.
- Some student groups have fewer opportunities to access courses.
- Approximately 35% of high schools with high enrollments of Black and Latino students offered calculus, compared to 54% of high schools with low enrollments of Black and Latino students.
- About 40% of schools with high enrollments of Black and Latino students offered computer science courses, compared to 54% of schools with low enrollments of Black and Latino students.
- Student enrollment in Advanced Placement (AP) courses differed by race or ethnicity.
- Black students represented 15% of students enrolled in high school, but 10% of students enrolled in AP computer science, 8% of students enrolled in AP science, and 6% of students enrolled in AP mathematics.
- Latino students represented 27% of students enrolled in high school, but 20% of students enrolled in AP science, 20% of students enrolled in AP computer science, and 19% of students enrolled in AP mathematics.
- White students represented 48% of students enrolled in high school, 53% of students enrolled in AP mathematics, 51% of students enrolled in AP science, and 44% of students enrolled in AP computer science.
- Asian students represented 5% of all high school enrollment, 17% of student enrollment in AP science, 17% of student enrollment in AP mathematics, and 22% of student enrollment in AP computer science.
Access to Teachers and Other School Staff
- Many students, particularly students of color, did not have access to certified teachers and school counselors.
- Approximately 522,400 students, or 1% of overall student enrollment, attended public schools where fewer than half of the teachers met all state certification requirements. Of students attending those schools, a majority (66%) were Black and Latino students.
- Ninety-six percent (96%) of high school students had access to at least one school counselor.
- Four percent (4%) of high school students attended schools with no school counselors.
- 7 million students attended a school with a school law enforcement officer (SLEO) or security guard, but without a school counselor.
- Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander students and American Indian or Alaska Native students were 1.4 times more likely than White students to attend a school with an SLEO or security guard but no school counselor.
- Black students and students of two or more races were 1.2 times more likely attend these schools compared to White students.
Access to the Internet and Devices
- For the first time, for the 2020-21 school year, schools were required to report data on students’ access to the Internet and devices at schools. Students’ Internet access varied from state to state.
- Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia reported that 99% or more of their schools were connected to the Internet.
- The states reporting the lowest percentage of schools connected to the Internet were Florida (66%) and Alaska (52%).