Posted on 11/09/2010 10:24:07 AM PST by lbryce
An achievement gap separating black from white students has long been documented a social divide extremely vexing to policy makers and the target of one blast of school reform after another.
But a new report focusing on black males suggests that the picture is even bleaker than generally known.
Only 12 percent of black fourth-grade boys are proficient in reading, compared with 38 percent of white boys, and only 12 percent of black eighth-grade boys are proficient in math, compared with 44 percent of white boys.
Poverty alone does not seem to explain the differences: poor white boys do just as well as African-American boys who do not live in poverty, measured by whether they qualify for subsidized school lunches.
The data was distilled from highly respected national math and reading tests, known as the National Assessment for Educational Progress, which are given to students in fourth and eighth grades, most recently in 2009. The report, A Call for Change, is to be released Tuesday by the Council of the Great City Schools, an advocacy group for urban public schools.
Although the outlines of the problem and many specifics have been previously reported, the group hopes that including so much of what it calls jaw-dropping data in one place will spark a new sense of national urgency.
What this clearly shows is that black males who are not eligible for free and reduced-price lunch are doing no better than white males who are poor, said Michael Casserly, executive director of the council.
The report shows that black boys on average fall behind from their earliest years.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
“I think its more a cultural thing. The performance of West-Indies born blacks versus US born blacks the West-Indies born blacks do very well.”
This is an important point; this is not a question of race or genes, but a question of culture. Many West Africans also do very well in comparison to “African-Americans” (because BOTH of their parents will beat their asses if they don’t...just like white parents).
“You cannot lower test scores on hiring and then expect these same people to pass a promotional exam which hasnt had its score lowered.”
You can’t even expect them to do the job for which they’ve been hired, never mind promoting them.
44% proficient is a failure too.
“The result is phony test scores, constant lying, failure when anyone tells the truth, and restless, sullen, angry young men in the millions.”
As they grow up they realize they’ve been lied to; they hear co-workers (including foreign ones) using English words they can’t understand, and they get depressed...
Something has changed, and it is not a sudden appearance of low IQ's. But it does coincide with the sudden appearance of teachers unions.
I believe that it is the lack of discipline and and a lack of performance required of both students and teachers that gives us only 38% of white four-grade boys being proficient at grade level.
If that level of performance sounds good to you fine.
I believe it is unacceptable.
“In other words, the sexual revolution is no danger to the uber-responsible Vassar student who always takes her birth control pills. It’s a sentence of poverty to the irresponsible South Central LA girl.”
I don’t think you understand how many of these pregnancies are planned; as that girl nears high school graduation, what does she have to look forward to? What would she be doing, if not trying to sucker some loser into involuntary fatherhood so she could get some bling?
I’m shocked they even allow “The Maury Show” to be broadcast; if anyone else showed blacks (with some whites, but a LOT of blacks) in that state they’d be off the air in a heartbeat...
“Ignore and hide the decline by dumbing the tests down so the ignorant appear to be improving.”
...to justify MORE public school teachers earning $80K+...
“It never seems to be the people themselves however. At some point maybe that is something that ought to be considered.”
I thought Justice Ginsburg recently said as much (and was given a pass on it).
Yes; truly inspired. It is a shame he stopped making shows...some skits were dopey, many were hysterical, all were inspired.
They don't get depressed.
They get angry.
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There's a book out called *Disrupting Class* The sixth chapter has a fascinating discussion of what it takes to raise the intelligence of your child, which is possible by any parent no matter what the education level.
The single best thing that anyone can do is interact with the child on a one on one level, talking with them a lot on adult terms (not baby talk) as if they were adults and understood. Sesame Street and Baby Einstein just don't cut it.
There is something about doing that a lot in that manner, even though they don't completely understand, that stimulates brain cell growth and maturity. Their just trying to understand makes a difference.
I did that just as a matter of course with my kids and they are all very bright and very successful in school.
My son could speak fluently in full, grammatically correct sentences at 18 months of age. You could actually carry on a conversation with him and we have video tapes of him at that age speaking like that. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself.
Anyway, the thing that amazed me the most is the comprehension and understanding of the world around them that a child of that age can have. Most people don't know that because the kids have trouble communicating, but EVERYTHING is going in and being processed. Since he could talk, I got real insight to what a 18 month mind is capable of and it is VERY impressive.
People should not presume that a child that age doesn't understand. Treat them as if they do and you'll be surprised.
And get a copy of that book and read the sixth chapter, especially if you know of anyone with babies.
“Proficiency of Black Students Is Found to Be Far Lower Than Expected”
Perhaps they didn’t ax the right questions in order to learn the troof?
I guess they’re a bit of both; they’re angry because they’ve been used, and they’re depressed because they will never catch up...
JTG is a an American treasure. That book is a paradigm shifter.
Ha - sprayed the monitor screen
Yeah, I crack myself up sometimes!
“72% of black babies are born to single mothers, most into generational poverty. Its not the poverty thats the problem, its that no one in the succeeding generations made the attempt to walk away from the welfare plantation. Theres a problem when people prefer slavery to freedom.”
Yet they get the same vote each of us does.
Aint dat sumpin ??
I think the opposite might be true - that too many black kids can't intellectually compete - and the rationalization becomes 'don't want to act white'... That said, lots of highly intelligent black people.
To find the truth - and solutions - the problem needs to be looked at without PC glasses or rationalizations...
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