A Review of Los Angeles Unified Data Following the OCR Compliance Investigation

Abstract

In 2011, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) conducted a compliance review of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to examine the district’s provision of resources and opportunities to schools with predominantly African American students as compared with schools with predominantly White students. The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which LAUSD has responded to OCR findings. Research questions include the following: (a) How do LAUSD majority White and majority African American elementary schools compare on performance indicator variables? (b) What are the differences in teacher quality variables between majority African American and majority White schools? (c) How successful has the OCR review been to date in accomplishing the outcomes advocated for by the OCR? Findings indicate that majority African American schools continue to have significantly lower teacher and student attendance, student performance, and percentage of students identified as gifted and talented (GT). African American students also continue to experience higher rates of disciplinary incidents as compared with White students.