Report Shows Wide Achievement Gap Between Black, White Males

The New York Times (11/9, Gabriel) reports though the "achievement gap separating black from white students has long been documented," a "new report focusing on black males suggests that the picture is even bleaker than generally known." Based on national test score data from 2009, the report says that in math and reading, "black boys lagged behind Hispanics of both sexes, and they fell behind white boys by at least 30 points, a gap sometimes interpreted as three academic grades." According to the Times, the Council of the Great City Schools report titled "A Call for Change" also finds that 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."