Skip to main content
				  About Us
Contact Us
FAQs
					Language Assistance
						English
							español
							中文: 繁體版
							Việt-ngữ
							한국어
							Tagalog
							Русский


U.S. Department of Education
Search for: Toggle navigation
		  U.S. Department of Education
	  Student Loans
Grants
Laws
Data U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights Releases New Civil Rights Data on Students’ Access to Educational Opportunities During the Pandemic
                                                          U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights Releases New Civil Rights Data on Students’ Access to Educational Opportunities During the Pandemic
Data on an improved website from the 2020–21 school year show stark inequities in students’ educational access across civil rights indicators, including regarding courses & programs, school staff, and student discipline
November 15, 2023
**Contact:** Press office, (202) 401-1576, press@ed.gov
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.
   **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%).**Eighty-seven       percent of schools reported allowing students to take home school-issued       devices.**The Department’s data reports and snapshots are available here and listed below.
*A First Look:       Students’ Access to Educational Opportunities in the Nation’s Public       Schools* highlights data from the 2020–21 CRDC on student       enrollment, access to preschool programs, access to mathematics, science       and computer science courses and other programs, Internet and devices,       teachers and school support staff, and school climate factors.
  *Student Discipline       and School Climate in U.S. Public Schools* highlights data from       the 2020–21 CRDC on student discipline, such as suspensions, expulsion,       referrals to law enforcement, school-related arrests, and corporal       punishment; student harassment or bullying; and incidents of offenses.
  *Student Enrollment       and School Characteristics in U.S. Public Schools* highlights data from the 2020–21 CRDC on student enrollment and       demographics and school characteristics.
  *Referrals to Law       Enforcement and School-related Arrests in U.S. Public Schools*  highlights data on referrals to law enforcement and school-related       arrests.
  *Sexual Violence and       Sex-based Harassment or Bullying in U.S. Public Schools* provides an overview of data on sexual violence, including sexual assault       and rape or attempted rape, and sexual harassment or bullying.
  *An Overview of the       U.S. Department of Education’s 2020–21 Civil Rights Data Collection**,* provides an       overview of OCR’s administration of the 2020–21 CRDC.
  *Civil Rights Data       Quality from Start to Finish*explains       why data quality matters and presents steps that OCR took to improve data       quality for the 2020–21 CRDC.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.
Tags:    DataCivil RightsPress Releases
		How Do I Find...?
    
  
  Student loans, forgiveness
Higher Education Rulemaking
College accreditation
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
FERPA
FAFSA
1098, tax forms
More...
Information About...
    
  
  Elevating Teaching
Early Learning
Engage Every Student
Unlocking Career Success
Cybersecurity
Search press releases
  
			  Search for:
Find By Month
    
  
  February 2024
      January 2024
      December 2023
      November 2023
      October 2023
      September 2023
      August 2023
      July 2023
      June 2023
      May 2023
      April 2023
      March 2023
  
  
  
  
      All Press Releases




*Our mission* is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.
		Student Loans
Repaying Loans
Defaulted Loans
Loan Forgiveness
Loan ServicersGrants & Programs
Apply for Pell Grants
Grants Forecast
Apply for a Grant
		
		Laws & Guidance
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
FERPA
Civil Rights
IDEA WebsiteData & Research
Education Statistics
Postsecondary Education Data
ED Data Express
Nation's Report Card
What Works Clearinghouse
Open Data Platform
COVID Relief Data
		About Us
Contact Us
ED Offices
Jobs
Press Releases
FAQs
Recursos en español
Budget, Performance
Privacy Program
Homeroom Blog
	Notices
FOIA
Privacy Policy
Accessibility
Security
Information Quality
Inspector General
Whitehouse.gov
USA.gov
Benefits.gov
Regulations.gov