The School-community Demographic Study

A Demographic study allows us to study the nature in which our population changes, understand social and economic problems and identify potential solutions. This Demographic study gathers information about certain school called Fulton Leadership Academy (FLA). The demographics of the school include, ethnicities, gender, language and socioeconomic status and it furthers examines the actual neighborhood where the school is located. All the characteristics that make up the demographics was analyzed and compared to get a better understanding of how and why the schools function as it does. This study also examines how students and families can be better served.

Fulton Leadership Academy (FLA) was established in the Dekalb County School district and it serves young men in grades 6 -12 to become productive civic leaders. FLA is committed to a rigorous academic environment with focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The mission and vision of the school is empowering young men to soar to greater heights in their academic studies and equip them with necessary tools to compete in a global society. The Leadership Academy’s motto is “Where Young Men Soar to Great Heights.” The ethnicity of the students is diverse with the largest population being African American. Demographic data report, demographic data analysis, and implications are the three main parts of this demographic study. The areas analyzed included race and ethnicity, ages, gender and income and socioeconomic status, religion, education attainment and unemployment rate.

Demographic Data Report

Table I. Fulton Leadership Academy Demographic Data

Race/Ethnicity Variable Population

African Americans - 301

White - 25

Hispanic - 48

Asian - 12

Language

English - 330

Spanish - 50

Other - 6

Ages

11 years old to 18 years old - 386

Income/Socioeconomic status N/A - Variable Population

Religion

Baptist - 315

Catholic - 55

Protestant - 11

Others - 5

Educational attainment N/A

Unemployment rate N/A

Total - 386

Note. The date shown represents an internal demographic study from the school. The total school enrollments reflect data from May 15, 2017.

Table II. East Point Park Demographic Data by Age

Age - Population

Under 20 years - 4,838

20 to 24 years - 1,548

25 to 34 years - 2,969

34 to 44 years - 2,758

55 to 64 years - 2,969

65 and older - 1,049

Total - 16,131

Note. The information presented was obtained from The United States Census Bureau. The demographic totals represent data collected for 2017.

Table III. East Point Park Demographic Data by Gender

Gender - Population

Males - 8,130

Females - 8,001

Total - 16,131

Note. The gender information presented was obtained from The United States Census Bureau. The female demographic totals represent data collected for 2017.

Table IV. Races in East Point Park

Race - % - Population

African Americans - 70.7 - 11,405

Hispanics - 18.6 - 3,001

Whites - 7.1 - 1,145

Asians - 3.4 - 549

Other - 0.2 - 31

Note. The ethnic information presented was obtained from The United States Census Bureau. The demographic totals represent data collected for 2017.

Table V. East Point Park Educational Attainment for People Over 20 Years

Level - Total - %

No high School - 22,827 - 21.9

High School Graduate - 36,899 - 35.4

Some college, no degree - 14,384 - 13.8

Associate degree - 4,795 - 4.6

Bachelor’s degree - 15,843 15.2

Graduate/professional degree - 9,484 - 9.1

Total - 104,232 100

Note. The ethnic information presented was obtained from the local government agency; the city of East Point. The educational attainment totals represent data collected for 2017.

Table VI. Languages Spoken in East Point Park

Language - Population - %

English - 11,808 - 73.2

Spanish - 2710 - 16.8

French - 1371 - 8.5

Chinese - 177 - 1.1

Other Languages - 65 - 0.4

Total population - 16,131 - 100

Note. The information presented regarding languages spoken at East Point Park was obtained from the United States Census Bureau. The data shown corresponds to the total population currently living in East Point Park during 2017.

Table VII. Annual Household Income and Unemployment Rate in East Point Park

Variable - Population - %

Under 25,000 - 5,081 - 31.5

25,00 – 49, 999 - 3613 - 22.4

50,000 – 74,999 - 2791 - 17.3

75,000 – 129,000 - 3162 - 19.6

Over 150,00 - 581 - 3.6

Unemployment rate - 903 - 5.6

Table VIII. Religion in East Point Park

Variable - Population

Religion

Baptist - 13,067

Catholic - 2,419

Protestant - 484

Others - 161

Demographic Data Analysis

This data analysis provides information from Fulton Leadership Academy in the East Point Park District. This is a private charter school that teaches all boys grades 6 through 11 and the data collected is from the 2016-2017 school year. In Table I, there are a total of 386 males that attend FLA in which most are predominately African American. African American makes up 78% percent of the population followed by the Hispanic that make up 12 % of the population. There were other population that make up the demographic such Asians, Whites, and others at very low percentage. In relation to the population being mostly African American the language spoken mostly was English. English was the language that 85% of the population spoke, Spanish was 13 % and other language was 2%. There was a total of 25 students that spoke both languages Spanish and English and other student spoke languages such as French and Chinese. Being an all-male school, the gender demographics revealed those statistics. The predominant religion was Baptist with a total of 82% of the student’s population. The other religions were Catholic with

15 % of the student’s population followed by Protestant with 1% of the student’s population and other religions represented 0.2% of the student’s population. The community data was also analyzed. The school is in the East Point Park neighborhood where the race is predominantly African Americans with close to 71% of the population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2017). In comparison to other neighborhoods in the area, East Point Park has a very high percentage of African Americans with a low percentage of Hispanics at 18.6, Whites at 7.1%, Asians at 3.4% and others following at 0.2%. The language spoke in this community is mostly English by about 73% of the population. People in the community also spoke other languages at very low percentages such as Spanish at 16.8%, French at 8.5%, Chinese at 1.1% and others at 0.4%. The area is looked upon as a low-income neighborhood with 32% of its population earning less than 25,000 annually. Having an unemployment rate of 5.6% can contribute to the percentage of low income households. Most of the residents in the community have no college degrees, there are just mostly young high school graduates. The males make up most of the population in the East Point Park community. There is a total of approximately 16,131 people in the population of East Point Park with 51% being male and the remaining 49% is females. As far as average household income from 2013 to 2017, the median earning from this region is $41,637. In comparison to the U.S. National household income statistics from 2017, East Point Park is average house hold income is ranked 47 (U.S. Census Bureau. 2017). The religion choice of most people in this community is Baptist. The second choice was Catholic followed by Protestant with a very low percentage. The other 161 people made up other religion preferences such as Orthodox, Muslims and non- affiliation (U.S. Religion Census, 2017). Overall, the study showed that most student come from economically disadvantaged households. The community data reflects that most residents only complete high school which hinders them from obtaining careers that pay higher incomes. Finally, the school and community are similar in their demographics.

Implications

There are several conclusions that can be made from the data collected. There is a direct correlation between the demographics such as language, ethnic and social economic status.

Apparently, parents with low academic attainment have demonstrated constraints to provide cognitively stimulating environments. The largest academic attainment group at East Point Park is those individuals with only a high school diploma. Given that information, most parents will not be able to give their kids academic guidance on some of their school assignments. One of the major factors that influence academic achievement is family income. Researchers have linked a correlation between family financial constraints and academic achievement.

Language skills is another barrier that is vital to determine a school success. Even though only a small portion of students at FLA are non-English speakers, this will still have a negative impact on their learning and if the household can spoke the English then the student will be given the support he or she needs to be successful therefore it eventually leads to low achievement. For culturally diverse community, leaders must manage how conflicts are resolve especially involving race or ethnics. School leadership influence student’s expectation, discipline issues and overall school performance therefore an environment that is culturally diverse including teaching staff would be conducive to learning. Principals whose environments are culturally diverse must be able to manage their school’s climate and establish credibility and trust as the foundation to lead. When addressing cultural conflicts, leaders must create a responsive environment the upholds trust and open communication therefore leaders will need to have an unbiased attitude that will foster equality and fairness.

The school selected and the community surrounding it are diverse with a predominant African Americans population. Schools and communities should use statistics as stepping stones to create new opportunities with more resources that will better serve the student. The purpose of schools and communities is to prepare students with the right tools to be productive citizens and life-long learners.