Racial/Ethnic Group and Gender Data Collection and Reporting

2003-04 and Beyond

A student's "racial/ethnic group" is the racial/ethnic group to which the student belongs or with which a given student most identifies.

CHANGES: Districts should continue to submit data in the existing five racial/ethnic groups listed below until fall of 2010 (i.e. data for the 2010-11 school year). Respondents choose one and only one of the five categories. The federal government published guidance on 10/19/07 that will significantly affect how racial and ethnic data are collected and reported beginning with data collected for the 2010-11 school year. More details about upcoming changes are available from DPI at Maintaining, Collecting, and Reporting Racial and Ethnic Data.

Racial Ethnic Group	Code	Description/Comments
Asian/Pacific Islander	A	A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands. This area includes, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam, Guam, the Philippine Islands, Samoa, and other Pacific Islands.
Black, Not Hispanic	B	A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.
Hispanic	H	A person who traces his or her origin or descent to Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central and South America, and other Spanish cultures, regardless of race.
American Indian/Alaska Native	I	A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintains cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community recognition.
White, Not Hispanic	W	Persons having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East.

A student's "gender" indicates the gender of the student

Gender	Code	Description/Comments
Female	F
Male	M

USES: Race/Ethnicity and Gender codes are used for a wide range of public reporting and accountability purposes. Gender codes are used in the WSLS automated matching process. Aggregate data about student outcomes by race/ethnicity are used in the annual review of school and district performance.

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ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ABOUT RACE/ETHNICITY OR GENDER

1. Educational institutions should allow students (or their parents) to self-identify race and ethnicity unless self-identification is not practicable or feasible. Otherwise, educational institutions should use observer identification. "Unknown" is not an option for federal elementary and secondary education data collection and reporting purposes .
2. Final Guidance from the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) on “Maintaining, Collecting, and Reporting Racial and Ethnic Data” was published on October 19, 2007. This guidance requires significant changes for school districts and the WI DPI. WI DPI is in the process of developing an implementation plan. Guidance must be implemented by the fall of 2010 for the 2010-11 school year. As DPI finalizes plans for implementation at the state level, we will post additional detail to this page.

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Last updated on 10/2/2009 8:42:35 AM