According to a 2009 Department of Education study, ten percent of black students and 22 percent of Hispanic students did not graduate from high school on time, compared to only six percent of white students. A similar disparity in scores between white and minority students on national reading and math tests has remained largely the same since the mid-1990s.
Geoffrey Canada has thought a lot about the achievement gap. He is the president and CEO of The Harlem Children’s Zone, which offers educational and social services to more than 8,000 children in a 97 block neighborhood centered in Harlem. A Harvard study in 2009 called Canada's methods "enough to reverse the black-white achievement gap." But Valerie Purdie-Vaughns, assistant professor of psychology at Columbia University, says work still has to be done to eliminate the disparities in socio-economically diverse school systems across the country.
Today's Takeaway: Over 50 and Unemployed, Texting in Class, The Future of Yemen, and Why It's So Hard to End Poverty in America
Today's Takeaway: Dharun Ravi, NATO Summit, David McCullough, Chen Guangcheng and Unemployment for Older Americans
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Comments [1]
Although college graduation is certainly a worthwhile and lofty goal, I feel it is grossly unrealistic as a criteria for measuring educational success. I believe it is clear that a college education is not appropriate or even necessary for a large segment of the population. Those with an intellectual curiosity should certainly pursue college, but a good general education is sufficient for many as well. High schools should establish at least two if not three streams of curriculum geared toward the realistic aspirations and interests of their students. If they feel they courses they are taking are leading them toward their individual goals in life, they will stay in high school and graduate. It is high school that is failing our students with unrealistic expectations and misguided programs of study.
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