It is essential to recognize that 32.1% of New York is comprised of diverse backgrounds. This year, more than 100 New York City public schools and programs are participating in Diversity in Admissions. Through admission processes, these schools give priority to certain groups of students, including those whose families meet federal income eligibility requirements, English language learners, and students whose families are affected by incarceration. Research has demonstrated that students from diverse schools perform better on aptitude tests than those from segregated schools.
The CCC analyzed student performance data from diverse and intensely segregated schools and found that, across the city, students from diverse schools are more than twice as likely to meet English Language Arts (ELA) proficiency standards as students from intensely segregated schools. The analysis revealed that these disparities are even greater in some school districts. For example, in Brooklyn School District 13, where school diversity has been a major topic of public debate, 47.4% of students from diverse schools achieved ELA proficiency, while only 9.3% of students from intensely segregated schools met competence standards. A similar trend was seen in math proficiency scores. The remaining 7% of public schools represent a variety of different levels of segregation that are neither classified as “intensely segregated” nor “diverse”, as defined in the UCLA study.
This analysis comes amid growing pressure to integrate New York City's public schools, including nearly weekly student protests demanding district-wide action. New York City is one of the most segregated school districts in the country, with only 28 percent of its schools considered diverse (defined as no group exceeding 50 percent or 80 percent). The city's schools overall are 41 percent Latino, 26 percent black, 16 percent Asian and 15 percent white. While diversifying schools across the city must remain the “long-term goal”, the New York Citizens for Children Committee suggests local reform as an intermediate step - a stance that reflects recommendations made by the mayor's School Diversity Advisory Group in February. When asked if this particular data suggests that representation doesn't always achieve diversity, Berg of New York Appleseed noted that racial composition is only a superficial indicator of who students are.
An independent review of the advocacy group's dataset revealed that 41.3 percent of non-charter schools don't reflect their local district's student body, compared to 40.4 percent of charter schools. Prospect Schools has been leading school integration for a decade, working hard to create attractive school options that don't make families choose between strong academics and a diverse community. As New York City's school integration efforts become increasingly localized, a nonprofit organization has released a new data analysis that illustrates the extent to which the student composition of individual schools may differ from that of their districts as a whole. The DOE is committed to creating and supporting learning environments that reflect the diversity of New York City; however, specialized high schools as a whole remain unrepresentative of New York City's total student population. The committees also heard a package of legislation designed to gather more information about school diversity and address segregation at all levels of the New York City school system. According to the data, most New York City schools are segregated: 71% of public schools are intensely segregated and only 23% are diverse (see map above).
The second round of recommendations from the Advisory Group on School Diversity, released in August, called for a moratorium on all new high schools undergoing screening and the elimination of screens in middle schools. Specialized high schools have been an important part of the conversation about school diversity and integration in New York City. School integration is an important issue for many cities across America today. In Brooklyn, New York specifically, it is essential to recognize that 32.1% of its population is comprised of diverse backgrounds. This year alone more than 100 NYC public schools and programs are participating in Diversity in Admissions which gives priority to certain groups such as those whose families meet federal income eligibility requirements or those whose families are affected by incarceration.
Research has shown that students from diverse schools perform better on aptitude tests than those from segregated ones; this was seen in Brooklyn School District 13 where 47.4% achieved ELA proficiency compared to only 9.3%. The remaining 7% represent different levels of segregation which have led to growing pressure for integration across NYC's public school system; however, specialized high schools remain unrepresentative with only 28% considered diverse (defined as no group exceeding 50 or 80%). To address this issue local reform has been suggested by the mayor's School Diversity Advisory Group which includes gathering more information about school diversity and eliminating screens in middle and high schools. Integrating NYC's public school system is an important step towards creating an equitable education system for all students regardless of their background or family income level. It is essential for cities across America to recognize the importance of diversifying their school systems so that all students can benefit from an equal education opportunity.
