Rural School Segregation in North Carolina, 1991–2011

• In Event: 33.078 - Roundtable Session 11
  In Roundtable Session: 33.078-6 - Reinvestment and Displacement: Gentrification and School Segregation

Abstract

Rural schools educate one-fourth of the nation’s students and the student enrollment of rural schools is becoming increasingly racially diverse. This study analyzes trends in rural school segregation in North Carolina over the last twenty years. Using data from the National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, we explore two measures of segregation—concentration and exposure—between 1991 and 2011 to identify trends in segregation by race, class, and language. Preliminary analyses indicate that the state's share of students attending rural schools increased and became more racially diverse between 1991 and 2011. Black and Latino students are less segregated in rural schools than in the state’s schools on average; however, white students in rural schools are more segregated.

Authors

• Jenn Ayscue, North Carolina State University

• Brian Woodward, University of California - Los Angeles