January 27, 2009

  • Today, I learned about how the U.S. Department of Education (ED) wants race and ethnicity reported for federal education eligibility and accountability reports by the 2010-11 school year. It is very different from how California has typically handled race and ethnicity data.

    Basically, the ED gave guidance that a two-part question should be asked when collecting race and ethnicity data on students or school staff:

    • The first part should consist of a question about the respondent’s ethnicity:
      • Hispanic or Latino
      • Not Hispanic or Latino
    • The second part asks respondents to select one or more races from the following categories:
      • American Indian or Alaska Native
      • Asian
      • Black or African American
      • Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
      • White

    In reporting race and ethnicity, a respondent must answer both parts of the question. The individual will be  reported as one of the following seven groups:

    • Hispanic/Latino of any race
    • American Indian or Alaska Native
    • Asian
    • Black or African American
    • Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
    • White
    • Two or more races

    The guidance does not direct groups to disaggregate any of the racial sub-populations. This is unlike in California, where California Government Code Section 8310.5 requires the detailed collection of Asian and Pacific Islander sub-populations.

    Basically, as people try to pigeonhole our heritage into seven convenient groups, we are unable to recognize the diversity within them.

    One can read more about this on the ED Final Guidance on Maintaining, Collectiong, and Reporting Racial and Ethnic Data to the ED Web page at http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/other/2007-4/101907c.html.