Census 2000 Race and Ethnicity Variables

Understanding Race and Ethnicity Variables

The 2000 census provided respondents with the opportunity to identify more than one race; therefore, race groups with the designation ‘alone’ identify persons who selected only a single race even though they could also designate being Hispanic or Latino. The 2000 Census School District Tabulation follows the design of the Census Bureau’s Summary File 3 (SF3) in its presentation of race and ethnic data. This standard design offers a small set of tables repeated by select race and ethnic groups. Those groups include:

Group 1:		White alone (includes Hispanic or Latino);
Group 2:		Black or African American alone; (includes Hispanic or Latino);
Group 3:		Asian alone (includes Hispanic or Latino);
Group 4:		American Indian and Alaska Native alone (includes Hispanic or Latino);
Group 5:		Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander alone (includes Hispanic or Latino);
Group 6:		Some other race alone (includes Hispanic or Latino);
Group 7:		Two or more races (includes Hispanic or Latino);
Group 8:		Hispanic or Latino (regardless of race);
Group 9:		White alone, Not Hispanic or Latino.

Notes:

Regarding possible over count—If Groups 1 through 7 are added to Group 8, there may be an over count. Groups 1-7 may include individuals who are Hispanic or Latino. Group 8 includes any individual who indicates he/she is Hispanic or Latino, regardless of Race designation. Thus individuals who indicated being Hispanic or Latino might be counted twice if they also indicated a race.

Regarding the difference between Group 1 and Group 9—While Group 1 includes any individual who indicates that he/she is white regardless of being Hispanic or Latino, Group 9 only includes individuals who indicated that they were White but did not indicate that they were Hispanic or Latino.

Special Race and Ethnicity File to be Released

Although SF3 provides data for select race and ethnic groups, it does not provide race data disaggregated by ethnicity—except in the case of White alone, Not Hispanic or Latino. STP2 follows this design. However, in order to provide a full complement of disaggregated race categories, the 2000 Census School District Tabulation includes a supplemental file (STP2-S) of the Children’s Own (CO) record type that provides select tables for each of the standard race and ethnic group combinations.

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The file will include the following race and ethnic combinations in addition to those presented in above 9 groups:

1. White alone, Hispanic or Latino;
2. Black alone, Hispanic or Latino;
3. American Indian/Alaska Native alone, Hispanic or Latino;
4. Asian alone, Hispanic or Latino;
5. Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander alone, Hispanic or Latino;
6. Some other race alone, Hispanic or Latino;
7. Two or more races, Hispanic or Latino;
8. White alone, Not Hispanic or Latino;
9. Black alone, Not Hispanic or Latino;
10. American Indian/Alaska Native alone, Not Hispanic or Latino;
11. Asian alone, Not Hispanic or Latino;
12. Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander alone, Not Hispanic or Latino;
13. Some other race alone, Not Hispanic or Latino; and
14. Two or more races, Not Hispanic or Latino.

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Note:

The addition of these 14 groups will allow users of these files to examine the data by the standard race and ethnicity categories used by NCES and other Education Department Principal Offices.

Warning - Disclosure Restrictions will Reduce Counts

Like STP2, the supplemental STP2-S file was subject to data disclosure restrictions imposed by the Census Bureau. Data for specific race and ethnic groups are only available for a geographic area if 50 or more un-weighted children of that race and ethnic group are present in the area. Consequently, disaggregated race data are not available for all groups in all of the STP2 geographic areas.