This issue of In-Depth for The A-Blast is about identity. Who are we? Why are we the way we are?

In order to supplement the information presented on the page (which you can check out in our archives) I have compiled some interesting statistics about the diversity inherent in our nation’s classrooms. The following data were developed by The New York Times:

• Nearly one-quarter of all students K-12 identify as Hispanic. The number of Hispanic students has increased by 7% (from 13% to 21%) in 13 years.
• The number of students who identify as African-American has not changed over the past thirteen years. It remains as 17% of our nation’s student population.
• Asian students have only increased their presence in classrooms across the country by merely 1%. In the course of 13 years, they have gone from representing 4% of our students to 5%.
• The largest shift in the student population by ethnic terms has been that of Caucasians. In 1993, 66% of our student population self-identified as Caucasian. Now, that number has dropped 10% to 56%.
• The “Diversity Index,” or the measure of the probability that two students chosen at random would identify themselves as belonging to different ethnicities has jumped 9% in 13 years. Now, the probability of choosing two ethnically different students is 61%.