By the numbers on Hispanic students: a data bank on education trends for district leaders.

In 2000, Hispanic students accounted for 17% of the public school enrollment, up by 11 percentage points from 1972.

In 2003, 40% of 4th graders were
eligible for the national free or
reduced-price lunch program.

White students        23%
Black students        70%
Hispanic students     71%

EARLY LITERACY

Hispanic children, 3- to 5-
year-olds, are less likely than
their white peers to be read to
or to visit a library

                  White    Hispanic

Read to               89%     61%
Visited a library     39%     25%

MATH & READING

Hispanic students'
NAEP performance is
lower than whites

                 White     Hispanic

NAEP reading
score age 17      295        271

NAEP math
score age 17      315        293

Internet Access

Hispanic students are less likely than white students
to hae a computer at home.

                              White     Hispanic

Have computer at home          70%        28%

SAT Exam

Less Hispanics take the Scholastic Assessment Test than whites

                              White     Hispanic

Students who took the SAT      66%         9%

Family Characteristics

Selected family characteristics of 5- to 17-year olds in 2001

                                                  White     Hispanic

Parents completed high school or higher            96%        60%
Live in two-parent household                       76%        65%
Poverty status is poor                              8%        28%
Only language spoken in the home is English        96%        29%

Parents' Involvement

The rate of Hispanic participation in school-related activities
was lower than that of whites

                                                  White     Hispanic

Attended general meeting                           81%        73%
Attended scheduled meeting with teacher            74%        71%
Attended school event                              72%        51%
Acted as a volunteer or served on a committee      43%        25%

ABSENTEEISM

Hispanic 8th- and 12th-graders
have higher absenteeism than whites

                                              White     Hispanic

8the-grade students absent 3 or more days      19%        26%
12th-grade students absent 3 or more days      27%        34%

Dropout Rates

Percentage of 16- to 24-year-olds who
did not complete high school

         White     Black     Hispanic

1972      12%       21%        34%
1975      11%       23%        30%
1980      11%       19%        35%
1985      10%       15%        28%
1990       9%       13%        32%
1995       9%       12%        30%
2000       7%       13%        28%

Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Participation in
Education, 2003, and Status and Trends in the Education of Hispanics