Statistics

To get an idea of the overall percentages of ethnicity (within schools) in the Baltimore city area:

• This District contains 89% black students, 8% white students, 2% Hispanic students, and less than 1% Asian students. The state average is 38% black students, 48% white students, 8% Hispanic students, and 5% Asian students. (from greatschools.net)

Schooldigger.com identifed 84,515 students and 200 schools in the Baltimore City district. 16% of those students have disabilties while 2% are english learners. Baltimore City Public Schools has a 90% attendence rate while the state average is 94%.

Schoolmatters.com explores each elementary school and its many statistics. We took a good look at the schoolwide reading proficiency, the schoolwide math proficiency, the enrollment, the percentage of the students who come from families who are "economically disadvantaged," and the school's ethnicity divisions.

Three out of four of these schools (all elementary) are within Baltimore city. Wood Acres Elementary is in Montgomery county.

• Gilmor elementary school has 43.3% in reading proficiency, 46.2% in math proficiency, 544 are enrolled, 52% are economicall disadvantaged, and 100% of their students are black.
• North Forestville elementary school holds 46.2% in reading proficiency, 66.3% in math proficiency, 389 are enrolled, 59.4% are economically disadvantaged, 1.3% are white students, 95.1% are black students, and 3.6% are Hispanic students.
• Commodore John Rogers elementary school holds 39.8% in reading proficiency, 43.7% in math proficiency, 237 are enrolled, a drastic 92.4% are economically disadvantaged, 3% are white students, 84.4% are black students, 8.4% are Hispanic students, and 4.2% are Asian students.
• Wood Acres elementary school has 94.5% in reading proficiency, 94.6% in math proficiency, 607 are enrolled, 1.5% are economically disadvantaged, 85.2% are white students, 2% are black students, 5.9% are Hispanic students, and 6.9% are Asian students.

We also looked at several statistics concering the households from these students attending the elementary schools. The following shows a comparison of the percentage of people (age 25+) with a college degree, the median household income, and the median age of the housing structure:

• 17% of people in Gilmor's zip code (age 25+) have a college degree, the median household income is $20,637, and the median age of the housing structure is 69 years old.
• 19% of people in North Forestville's zip code (age 25+) have a college degree, the median household income is $33,415, and the median age of the housing structure is 57 years old.
• 34% of people in Commodore John Rogers' zip code (age 25+) have a college degree, the median household income is $30,121, and the median age of the housing structure is 69 years old.
• 82% of people in Wood Acres' zip code (age 25+) have a college degree, the median household income is $118,631, and the median age of the housing structure is 52 years old.

In addition, we have compared these numbers with the Maryland state average:

• 32% of people (age 25+) have a college degree, the median household income is $51,114, and the median age of the housing structure is 42 years old. (from publicschoolreview.com)

Here are some questions to consider:

1. Why do you think it is that percentages and numbers in Wood Acres are much more favorable to its students (than the other schools)? Is this is a big problem?
2. If you could, what is the one thing you would do to shift the opportunity to students living in Baltimore city?
3. Do these numbers/statistics surprise you? Why or why not?
4. What do the "people with a college degree (age 25+)" percentages tell us? Is there something we can do to change this?