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Minority Students

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Minority students—those who do not belong to a region's or nation's majority racial or ethnic group—may be subject to discrimination, whether sanctioned or passive, that can affect their educational achievement. RAND has examined minority student test scores, English fluency among U.S. minorities, and the mental health of minority students and its effects on academic success.

Tool
How Does Racial Bias Compound Over Time?
Even small amounts of racial bias in education, income, and wealth can compound over time to create significant differences in outcomes. A new tool illustrates how varying degrees of bias can add up to large inequities over lifetimes and generations.
Jul 27, 2022
Report
Anti-Bias Education in U.S. Public Schools
Teaching students explicitly about issues of identity, diversity, equity, and bias can lead to positive outcomes. Nearly three in four K–12 teachers reported that they provide such anti-bias instruction, but more than half said that their school's or district's curriculum materials did not adequately address anti-bias topics.
Feb 22, 2022

Explore Minority Students

Journal Article
The Thin Blue Line in Schools: New Evidence on School-Based Policing Across the U.S.
We find that school resource officers reduce some forms of violence, but do not prevent gun-related incidents. We also find that SROs intensify the use of suspension, expulsion, police referral, and arrest of students.
Sep 11, 2023
Journal Article
Assessment of Exposure to High-Performing Schools and Risk of Adolescent Substance Use: A Natural Experiment
We analyzed a natural experiment of 1270 students who applied to charter school lotteries in low-income communities in Los Angeles. Results provide evidence that school environments can improve risky behaviors for low-income minority adolescents.
Jul 25, 2023
Report
Teaching and Leading: An Evaluation of the Impacts and Professional Trajectories of Teach For America Participants in Indianapolis
The authors quantify the impacts of Teach For America Indianapolis (TFA Indy) on student and school outcomes in the Indianapolis area, by evaluating the effectiveness and retention of TFA Indy teachers in comparison with other teachers.
Jul 20, 2023
Journal Article
The Unintended Consequences of Test-Based Remediation
In this study, we show that test-based remediation programs in middle school could have unintended tracking consequences, especially among Black students.
Jul 13, 2023
Research Brief
How Community Colleges Can Support Student Mental Health Needs
This report is a descriptive study of eight community colleges at the forefront of implementing multilevel approaches to support student mental health, as well as key facilitators for and barriers to their success.
Apr 5, 2023
Report
Supporting the Mental Health Needs of Community College Students
This report is a descriptive study of eight community colleges at the forefront of implementing multilevel approaches to support student mental health and key facilitators for and barriers to their success.
Apr 5, 2023
Journal Article
Biliteracy Seals in a Large Urban District in New Mexico: Who Earns Them and How Do They Impact College Outcomes?
This study examined the college readiness of students who earned different types of seals, the number of students who met some requirements for a seal but did not earn one, and the effect of earning a seal on college outcomes.
Feb 7, 2023
Dissertation
The Impact of a Summer Program on the Development of Historically Underrepresented Minorities in STEM
Studies ways post-secondary institutions can better the diversity in their STEM disciplines by focusing on pre-college preparation and retention of historically underrepresented high school students by considering the case of a summer bridge program.
Jan 12, 2023
Tool
How the Effects of Racial Bias Compound
Researchers illustrate the ways in which small effects of racial bias can compound over lifetimes. Users of this tool can adjust the amount of racial bias to see its effects on educational achievement, income growth, and wealth accumulation.
Jul 27, 2022
Multimedia
A Snapshot of Anti-Bias Education in U.S. K–12 Schools
In this webinar, RAND researchers share data from a national teacher survey administered in spring 2021 concerning the extent to which public school teachers report addressing anti-bias education in their K-12 classrooms. Discussants from organizations that support high-quality teaching and learning reflect on the findings and their implications for helping all students in public schools succeed.
Apr 18, 2022
Report
Designing the Health System–Community Pathways Program for African American Children and Young Adults
Low representation of African American/Black individuals in the health care workforce can be traced to a history of exclusionary practices that leave them less likely to pursue health careers. A pathway program aims to increase representation of African American/Black communities in the health care workforce and improve the quality of their educational and work experiences.
Apr 14, 2022
Commentary
Finding Teachers and Bus Drivers Is a Big Problem, but a Different Staffing Challenge Is Looming in School Districts
The majority of school districts report they don't have enough staff to hire, particularly substitutes, bus drivers, and special education teachers. A recent survey also revealed a major challenge for the superintendency. Only half of superintendents said they were likely to stay in their jobs for the long term.
Feb 17, 2022
Report
Challenges That May Be Getting in the Way of Student Learning
As of November 2021, school district leaders' top three concerns were the mental health of students, teachers, and principals. And 74 percent of them said that political polarization about COVID-19 safety or vaccines was interfering with their ability to educate students.
Feb 7, 2022
Report
Changes in School Composition During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for School-Average Interim Test Score Use
The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has exacerbated concerns about using school-aggregate test scores to monitor school performance. In this report, researchers investigate how changes to school composition may contaminate aggregate scores.
Jan 19, 2022
Commentary
Establishing Feeder-Designation Relationships with Colleges and Universities to Increase Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Air Force Officer Accessions
This Perspective presents conceptual design considerations for implementing a feeder system as an enhanced marketing and outreach program to assist the U.S. Air Force with increasing racial and ethnic diversity in officer accessions.
Dec 30, 2021
Report
Expanding Charter School Capacity: The Case of Propel Montour
Researchers examine the expansion of Propel Schools, a small, regional charter school network in southwestern Pennsylvania, to describe the academic and behavioral experiences of continuing and expansion students from fall 2017 to spring 2020.
Sep 29, 2021
Report
Has COVID-19 Led to Divergent and Inequitable Pathways in Education?
Remote schooling is associated with fewer instructional opportunities and potentially poorer student outcomes compared with in-person schooling. Nevertheless, many schools will continue to offer a remote option after the pandemic has passed.
May 27, 2021
Periodical
RAND Review: May-June 2021
The cover story highlights the value of invention, analyzing the economic and social impacts of winners of the Lemelson-MIT Prize. A second feature focuses on human rights abuses against ethnic Uyghurs in China and what we know from satellite images.
May 6, 2021
Multimedia
COVID-19 and the Digital Divide: Inequities in Online Learning
RAND senior policy researcher Julia Kaufman explains how the digital divide impacted teaching and learning when schools closed last spring in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Oct 16, 2020

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RAND Topic:
Minority Students

Topic Synonyms:
Students of Color

Research conducted by

RAND Education and Labor