(NAME-MCE) Black-white student achievement gap persists

[Anselmo Villanueva]

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Black-white student achievement gap persists

Report: Disparity between two groups narrowed only slightly since '90s

July 14, 2009

WASHINGTON - Despite unprecedented efforts to improve minority achievement
in the past decade, the gap between black and white students remains
frustratingly wide, according to an Education Department report released
Tuesday.

There is good news in the report: Reading and math scores are improving for
black students across the country. But because white students are also
improving, the disparity between blacks and whites has lessened only
slightly.

On average, the gap narrowed by about 7 points from 1992 to 2007, so that
black students scored about 28 points behind white students on a 500-point
scale.

The divide between minority and white students is considered one of the most
pressing challenges in public education. Experts say it stems from
entrenched factors that hinder learning.

More black children live in poverty, which is linked to an array of problems
— low birth weight, exposure to lead poisoning, hunger, too much TV
watching, too little talking and reading at home, less involvement by
parents and frequent school-changing.

The gap exists even before kids start school. But schools don't mitigate the
problem, said Kati Haycock, president of the Education Trust, a children's
advocacy group.

"African-American students are less likely than their white counterparts to
be taught by teachers who know their subject matter," Haycock said.

"They are less likely to be exposed to a rich and challenging curriculum,"
she said. "And the schools that educate them typically receive less state
and local funding than the ones serving mainly white students."

Color gap

Closing the achievement gap was a central element of the 2002 No Child Left
Behind law, which holds schools accountable for progress among every group
of kids — including minorities, those who have disabilities and those who
are learning English.

The gap between black and white students shrank by 2 points after 2003, when
accountability measures under No Child Left Behind took effect.

The implications of the disparity reach far beyond school walls. Minority
students are also much more likely to drop out of high school — half of
minorities drop out, compared to about 30 percent of students overall. The
future is bleak for dropouts; they are the only segment of the workforce
whose income levels shrank over the past 30 years, according to the
children's advocacy group America's Promise Alliance.