Proficiency of black students is lower than expected

A new report titled A Call for Change, which has been released by the Council of the Great City Schools (an advocacy group for urban public schools), discusses the achievement gap between black and white male students. The report included findings such as the fact that 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.

Another key finding is that poverty alone does not explain the differences. It is shown that poor white males do just as well as African-American males who do not live in poverty. Although this problem has been reported before, the group is hoping that publishing this date in one place will create a new sense of national urgency. Read the full article by Trip Gabriel at The New York Times online, and read the full report at the Council of the Great City Schools website.