US Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights releases new civil rights data on students’ access to educational opportunities during the pandemic

The U.S. Department of Education’s (Department) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently 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 the 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 at https://civilrightsdata.ed.gov. 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.

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 percent was on the basis of race, 19 percent was on the basis of sexual orientation, 9 percent was on the basis of disability, and 3 percent was on the basis of religion.

Student reports of being harassed or bullied differed by race and sex.

• Black students represented 15 percent of K-12 enrollment, but 37 percent of students who reported being harassed or bullied on the basis of race.

• White students represented 46 percent of K-12 enrollment but 68 percent of students who reported being harassed or bullied on the basis of sex, and 70 percent of students who reported being harassed or bullied on the basis of disability.

• American Indian or Alaska Native students represented 1 percent of K-12 enrollment, but 2 percent 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 percent) 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 percent) reported at least one incident involving a school shooting, and about 100 schools (less than 1 percent) 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 percent of K-12 student enrollment but accounted for 29 percent of students who received one or more out-of-school suspensions and 21 percent who received expulsions.

• The nation’s public school districts referred approximately 61,900 K-12 students to law enforcement, and about 14 percent of those referrals resulted in school-related arrests. These disciplinary actions differed by students’ race/ethnicity and disability.
— Black students represented 15 percent of K-12 student enrollment, but 18 percent of students referred to law enforcement and 22 percent of students subjected to a school-related arrest.
— White students represented 46 percent of K-12 student enrollment, but 55 percent of students referred to law enforcement and 47 percent of students subjected to a school-related arrest.
— Students with disabilities represented 17 percent of K-12 student enrollment, but 27 percent of students referred to law enforcement and 28 percent 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 percent of K-12 student enrollment, but 83 percent of students physically restrained, 82 percent of students mechanically restrained, and 82 percent of students secluded.
— Black students represented 15 percent of the K-12 student enrollment, but 21 percent of students physically restrained, 42 percent of students mechanically restrained, and 19 percent of students secluded.
— Students of two or more races were 4 percent of K-12 student enrollment yet accounted for 7 percent of students physically restrained and 7 percent of students secluded.
— Students with disabilities who received services under IDEA represented 14 percent of K-12 student enrollment but accounted for 81 percent of students physically restrained, 32 percent of students mechanically restrained, and 75 percent 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 percent of high schools with high enrollments of Black and Latino students offered calculus, compared to 54 percent of high schools with low enrollments of Black and Latino students.
— About 40 percent of schools with high enrollments of Black and Latino students offered computer science courses, compared to 54 percent 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 percent of students enrolled in high school, but 10 percent of students enrolled in AP computer science, 8 percent of students enrolled in AP science, and 6 percent of students enrolled in AP mathematics.
— Latino students represented 27 percent of students enrolled in high school, but 20 percent of students enrolled in AP science, 20 percent of students enrolled in AP computer science,and 19 percent of students enrolled in AP mathematics.
— White students represented 48 percent of students enrolled in high school, 53 percent of students enrolled in AP mathematics, 51 percent of students enrolled in AP science, and 44 percent of students enrolled in AP computer science.
— Asian students represented 5 percent of all high school enrollment, 17 percent of student enrollment in AP science, 17 percent of student enrollment in AP mathematics, and 22 percent 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 percent 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 percent) were Black and Latino students.
— Ninety-six percent (96 percent) of high school students had access to at least one school counselor.
— Four percent (4 percent) 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 percent 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 percent) and Alaska (52 percent).

• Eighty-seven percent of schools reported allowing students to take home school-issued devices.

The Department will release additional data reports and snapshots on key topics such as student access to courses and programs and data specific to English learner students and to students with disabilities.