New Jersey · every school · 1998–2026
Pick any two years and the Demographic Shift Index shows how far each New Jersey
school's racial and ethnic composition moved between them — the share of students who would have to be a
different race to turn the earlier mix into the later one (½·Σ|Δ share|, 0–100). It measures
churn either way and ignores school size. Search a school or district, filter the field, or
click any school for its full year-by-year makeup.
How the Shift Index is calculated, with examples →
How this data works, and how the race & ethnicity categories changed since 1998 →
Reading this. The index is directionless — it says how much a school changed between the two chosen years, not which way; the dot's color marks the group that grew most and the figures at right give every group's change. Race uses as many groups as both years tracked: when both fall in 2006-07 or later, all seven — White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, and two or more races; when the range reaches earlier, it falls back to the five groups consistent across the whole period (Asian folded together with Pacific Islander, two or more set aside) so the two years compare on the same footing. Rank is each school's position by shift within the chosen level and minimum size, computed statewide; searching or picking a county narrows what's shown without renumbering. "Elementary" means a school that enrolls kindergarten (no grade 7+) in both chosen years, so the peer set stays stable. (Delia Bolden in South Orange-Maplewood, which paused kindergarten for a year of construction, is kept in as an exception.) The index does not separate gradual change (migration, a phased plan) from a one-time event (a rezoning, closure, or reconfiguration) — a sharp enrollment change between the years is often the tell. Small schools swing more on a few students; raise the minimum to steady the comparison. Figures are whole-school and cover only schools open in both chosen years.
One bar per school year. Share shows composition (each year fills the bar); student count scales the bar to enrollment, so its length tracks the school growing or shrinking. "Two or more races" began after 2006; the list's shift index sets that group aside for cross-year consistency, but this view shows the full makeup. Source: NJ DOE Fall Enrollment Reports.