Percentage of 10th-graders in public schools who agreed and disagreed with selected statements about their school’s social environment, by race/ethnicity of students and level of minority enrollment at school: 2002

Contexts of Elementary and Secondary Education: Tables

Student Perceptions of Their School’s Social and Learning Environment

Table 29-2. Percentage of 10th-graders in public schools who agreed and disagreed with selected statements about their school’s social environment, by race/ethnicity of students and level of minority enrollment at school: 2002

			Race/ethnicity of students¹
	All students		Asian/Pacific Islander		Black		White		Hispanic		Other
Selected statements, all schools, and level of minority enrollment	Agree	Disagree	Agree	Disagree	Agree	Disagree	Agree	Disagree	Agree	Disagree	Agree	Disagree

Students make friends with students of other racial/ethnic groups
All schools	89.6	10.4	90.2	9.8	90.7	9.3	88.9	11.1	91.0	9.0	89.8	10.2
High-minority	89.9	10.1	90.2	9.8	89.4	10.6	87.3	12.7	91.7	8.3	89.2	10.8
Medium-minority	90.6	9.4	89.3	10.7	94.5	5.5	89.6	10.4	90.8	9.2	90.5	9.6
Low-minority	89.1	11.0	91.1	8.9	90.6	9.4	89.0	11.1	87.5	12.5	90.5	9.5
In class I often feel “put down” by other students
All schools	16.7	83.3	16.7	83.3	14.1	85.9	16.4	83.6	18.5	81.5	21.7	78.3
High-minority	18.2	81.8	19.0	81.0	15.4	84.6	18.5	81.5	19.7	80.3	22.4	77.6
Medium-minority	14.3	85.7	13.2	86.8	10.1	89.9	14.6	85.4	16.8	83.2	17.2	82.8
Low-minority	16.8	83.2	15.8	84.2	15.3	84.7	16.6	83.4	14.9	85.1	24.2	75.8
Fights often occur between different racial/ethnic groups
All schools	28.0	72.0	35.9	64.1	26.8	73.3	23.8	76.3	41.9	58.1	30.2	69.8
High-minority	34.9	65.1	40.7	59.3	24.1	75.9	37.6	62.4	42.2	57.9	32.6	67.4
Medium-minority	36.2	63.8	36.1	63.9	29.2	70.8	35.1	64.9	47.6	52.4	37.7	62.3
Low-minority	19.7	80.3	23.6	76.4	37.1	62.9	18.1	81.9	31.8	68.2	23.9	76.1
I don’t feel safe at this school
All schools	12.6	87.4	12.5	87.5	17.7	82.3	9.8	90.2	17.1	83.0	16.0	84.0
High-minority	18.5	81.5	14.9	85.1	21.2	78.8	14.4	85.6	19.1	80.9	18.0	82.0
Medium-minority	11.1	88.9	11.3	88.7	9.0	91.1	10.5	89.6	13.0	87.0	17.7	82.3
Low-minority	9.3	90.7	7.9	92.1	13.6	86.4	8.8	91.2	12.0	88.0	13.3	86.7

¹Black includes African American, Pacific Islander includes Native Hawaiian, Hispanic includes Latino, and Other includes American Indian (including Alaska Native) and persons of more than one race. Race categories exclude Hispanic origin unless specified.
NOTE: When asked to respond to statements about their school’s learning and social environment, students could respond in four ways. “Agree” includes responses “Strongly agree” and “Agree”; “Disagree” includes responses ”Disagree” and “Strongly disagree.” Schools classified as “Low-minority” had less than 25 percent minority enrollment; schools classified as “Medium-minority” had 25 percent to 49 percent minority enrollment; and schools classified as “High-minority” had 50 percent or more minority enrollment. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. See supplemental note 3 for more information about the Common Core of Data (CCD) and the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002).
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002), “Base Year, Student Questionnaire, 2002” and Common Core of Data (CCD), “Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey” 2001–02, previously unpublished tabulation (October 2004).

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