In Providence, Rhode Island, a port city with many different ethnic groups, rates of high-school entry in 1900 varied among differing ethnic groups. While only 18 percent of all eligible students actually enrolled in high school, some groups were much more likely to enroll than others. Native white children living with parents born in this country were the group most likely to enter high school; Italian immigrants were the least likely. Reasons for the differences between groups were complex, but, in brief, both a student's cultural background and the economic well-being of the student's family played important roles.

Table: Ethnic Differences in High-School Entry, Providence, Rhode Island, 1900

Source:

Joel Perlmann, Ethnic Differences: Schooling and...