Racial Inequities in Educational Opportunity: Variation Across Socioeconomic Status

Abstract

Racial disparities in access to educational opportunity have been an enduring issue in the United States. In recent decades, neighborhood and school racial segregation have remained robust, while economic segregation has increased, reinforcing disparate access to educational opportunities and quality schooling. Using a nationally representative sample of White (52.2%), Black (13.3%), Latinx (25.0%), and Asian (4.1%) children entering kindergarten in 2010 (drawn from the ECLS-K 2011, N≈17,100) merged with national administrative data, we provide a rich descriptive portrait of racial, socioeconomic, and intersectional disparities in young children’s access to neighborhood educational opportunity, considering three measures of educational opportunity focused on key developmental stages. Unadjusted differences evidenced moderate to large racial and socioeconomic disparities in access to educational opportunity assessed through neighborhood-level early childhood education enrollment, primary school achievement, and secondary school attainment, with Asian and White children having greater access to neighborhood educational opportunity than their Black and Latinx peers. These patterns were largely replicated adjusting for child, family, and contextual covariates. Results further indicated that returns to family socioeconomic status were strongest among Asian and Latinx children versus their White and Black peers. The greater socioeconomic inequality in neighborhood educational opportunity among Asian and Latinx children may reflect the heightened heterogeneity in nationality, generational status, ethnicity, and culture among these diverse pan-ethnic groups. Results indicating that SES payoffs in neighborhood educational opportunity are not shared across all racial groups highlight the need for continuing efforts to increase equitable opportunities for all children.