Focus on African-American achievement gap
By Neil Gonzales
Monday, January 19th, 2009 at 6:26 pm in Achievement gap, Neil Gonzales.
The state Board of Education recently voted to create a panel to explore why African-American students lag far behind their peers in school.
The African American Advisory Committee will advise the board on strategies to improve test scores of black students.
The group will be made up of researchers, parents and others statewide who have insight into the achievement gap concerning black students.
According to the results of the state’s 2008 Standardized Testing and Reporting program, only 33 percent of black students scored at proficient and above in English-language arts while 28 percent reached at least proficiency in math.
“This board felt the need to create this committee because of these alarming statistics and the undeniable disparity that exists between African-American students and their respective counterparts,” state schools Trustee Greg Jones said in a news release. “We have an achievement gap that is not only unacceptable to the African-American students we serve in our schools today, but it is unacceptable for the state of California tomorrow.”
A committee focused on black youth is all well and good. But perhaps the state can also form committees for Latinos and Pacific Islanders, two other student groups performing well below their white and Asian counterparts.
These underperforming groups each deserve specific attention. Although they show common factors such as socioeconomics and school-funding disparities contributing to the achievement gap, their particular cultures, languages, family structures and other nuances play complicated roles in the matter.
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February 1st, 2009 at 12:46 am
Did you ever stop to think that, perhaps, blacks do not have the ability to achieve at the same level as their white and asian counterparts?
- Reelist
February 2nd, 2009 at 11:30 am
I agree Latinos and Pacific Islanders need Equal attention as those of African American students. However, for far to long African American students in California were relegated to the bottom of the priority list in favor of limited and non-English speaking Latino students. This among other factors has lead to the need for this special African American Advisory Committee. I welcome it!
February 4th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
This is to “Reelist”:
Is that why we have an amazing black president in the US, for instance?
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:49 am
Illiteracy remains the dominant factor or obstacle in eliminating the cumulativebdeficit, the Black/White acchievement gap. Our newly elected President, Barack Obama, believes in “change.” We must surge foward,utlizing scientifically proven methodology which works in effectively eliminating this educational plague which has infested our inner-city,K-12 public school system. Yes , when our Black, inner-city youth are reading at a ceiling of 4.9 grade level at 12th grade, then we truly have a “Plague” existing within our public school system!(”Between the Rhetoric and Reality” p-174) Gary and Fank Simpkins:Dorrance Publishing,9-20009.