A new report from the U.S. Department of Education explores the racial gap in student achievement based on the demographic make-up of the schools the students attend. The report found that on average Whites attend schools where 9 percent of the students are Blacks. But Blacks attend schools where on average, 48 percent of all students are Black.
The study found that Whites students’ academic performance was similar in schools with a large percentage of Black students as in schools with a low percentage of Black students. But Black students, particularly Black males, did poorer academically in schools with a high percentage of Black students. The overall Black-White achievement gap was higher in schools with a large percentage of Black students. But this achievement gap existed due to the lower achievement of Black males. For female students there was no difference in the racial achievement gap between schools with a large percentage of Black students and a low percentage of Black students.
The full report, School Composition and the Black-White Achievement Gap, may be downloaded by clicking here.
The data looks suspicious. There are no error bars and the density graphs are questionable. When looking at research of this caliber it becomes a question of what schools and how was the data gathered. I don’t believe this is a representative data set for African American students. Please read this article with caution.