black male teens: moving to success in the high school years · 2016-05-09 · success in the high...

ETS’s Addressing Achievement Gaps Symposium

Black Male Teens: Moving to Success in the High School Years

A Statistical Profile

1

A Statistical Profile of African-American Young Men in High School

As African-American students begin 9th grade, 62 percent of them expect to attain at least a bachelor’s degree.1 However, only 18.5 percent of Black men between the ages of 25–29 reached that goal in 2012.2 Too many young Black men drop out of high school and never have the opportunity to attend college. Clearly, American high schools are not meeting their aspirations. This statistical profile seeks to explore the circumstances in which many young Black men find themselves, the inequities in schools that reinforce other structural inequalities rather than ameliorate them and the consequences for those students for whom the high school years are not a success.

At previous symposia, ETS and the Children’s Defense Fund have analyzed the obstacles and opportunities for young Black boys at birth, through their first years of school and into the middle school years. For young Black men at the high school level, we see the cumulative effects of years of unequal opportunity, expanding achievement gaps and unsupportive systems. High school, for many of them, represents their final chance at formal education. Among the young Black male students who do graduate, far too many are unprepared for the rigors of college work or the skills necessary for career opportunities.

We hope the alarming statistics presented in this profile will help motivate and empower policymakers, educators, communities, parents and young people to change both the circumstances and outcomes of young Black males. Our nation can ill afford to continuously lose talented students and our future leaders because we failed to act.



Co-convened by Children’s Defense Fund

June 24, 2013 • National Press Club • Washington, D.C.

1 U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS: 09), Base-Year.2 Source: U.S. Census, Educational Attainment in the U.S. 2012.

There are 1,752,867 young Black men, ages 15–19, living in the United States.

2

Context and Circumstances

Neighborhood PovertyOver the course of childhood, two out of three Black children (66 percent) born from 1985 through 2000 were raised in neighborhoods with at least a 20 percent poverty rate, compared to just 6 percent of White children.

Source: Sharkey, Patrick. Pew Charitable Trusts. 2009. “Neighborhoods and the Black-White Mobility Gap.”

DisabilitiesBlack students represent 21 percent of students with disabilities (served by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), but 44 percent of students with disabilities who are subject to mechanical restraint.

Source: U.S. Department of Education. (2012). “Office for Civil Rights: The Transformed Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC).”

Gifted and TalentedBlack children comprise 19 percent of the students attending schools offering gifted and talented programs, but only 10 percent of the students enrolled in those programs.


Residential InstabilityResearch conducted in Chicago indicates that 75 percent of highly mobile students (defined as four or more moves over a two-year period) were African American.

Source: Kerbow, D. (1996). Patterns of urban school mobility and local school reform. Journal of Education for Students Placed At Risk, 2, 147–169.

Suspensions In data representing 85 percent of students in public schools, Black students comprise 18 percent but represent 46 percent of those students suspended more than once and 39 percent of those expelled.

Source: United States Department of Education Office of Civil Rights Data Collection. (2011 March). Retrieved from http://ocrdata.ed.gov/Home.

Neighborhood Safety Black male high school students are twice as likely as their White peers (8 percent versus 4 percent) to report that they did not go to school because they felt unsafe at school or on their way to or from school on at least one day during the 30 days before the survey.

Source: Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System. 2011. CDC. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/ss/ss6104.pdf.

School Poverty 18 percent of Black secondary school students attend high-poverty schools, compared to 2 percent of White secondary school students.

Source: U.S. Department of Education. 2011. “The Condition of Education.”

Computer and Internet Access 89 percent of Black children ages 8–18 have access to a computer, 78 percent have Internet access and 55 percent have high-speed Internet access versus 94 percent, 88 percent and 61 percent for White children.

Source: Northwestern University School of Communication. (2011). “Children, Media, and Race: Media Use Among White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian American Children.”

Violence In 2010, there were over 3.5 more White males ages 15–19 than Black males of the same age. 114 White young men were killed in gun homicides, while 903 Black young men lost their lives in gun homicides.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, accessed via CDC Wonder Database.

Dropout Factories 25 percent of the nation’s African-American students attend dropout factories (high schools where 12th- grade enrollment is less than 60 percent of 9th-grade enrollment four years earlier), compared to only 5 percent of White students.

Source: The U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (1998–2011). Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Surveys. Cited in: Balfanz, R., Bridgeland, J., Bruce, M., & Fox, J. Hornig (2013). Building a Grad Nation: Progress and Challenge in Ending the High School Dropout Epidemic – 2013 Annual Update. Washington, D.C.: Civic Enterprises, the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University School of Education, America’s Promise Alliance and the Alliance for Excellent Education. Retrieved from http://www. civicenterprises.net/MediaLibrary/Docs/Building-A-Grad-Nation-Report-2013_Full_v1.pdf.

3

Inequities in School

Advanced Curricular Offerings Less than a third of high schools serving the most Hispanic and African-American students offer calculus and only 40 percent offer physics, compared with 55 percent and 66 percent of schools with the lowest Black and Hispanic enrollment.


Teacher Diversity Less than 2 percent of our nation’s teachers are African- American males.

U.S. Department of Education. (2012). U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Film Producer Spike Lee to Call on Morehouse Students to Pursue Teaching Careers [Press Release]. Retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/news.

Per Pupil Spending Schools with 90 percent or more students of color spend $733 less per student per year than schools with 90 percent or more White students.

Source: Center for American Progress. (2012). “Unequal Education: Federal Loophole Enables Lower Spending on Students of Color.”

Teacher Experience15 percent of teachers in K–12 schools with the highest Black and Hispanic student populations are in their first or second year of teaching, compared to 8 percent in schools with the lowest Black and Hispanic populations.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights. (2012). Office for Civil Rights: The Transformed Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC).

Teacher Certification

In high schools with a student population that is at least half Black, 25 percent of math teachers do not have a college degree in math and are not certified to teach math. For predominantly White schools, this figure is 8 percent.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics. (2010). Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Groups. (NCES Publication No. 20100015). Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2010015.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

■ Math teachers with Math degree

Predominately White HS

Predominately Black HS

■ Math teachers without Math degree

92%

75% 25%

8%

Graduation Rates

52 percent of Black males who entered 9th grade in the 2006–07 school year graduated in four years, compared with 78 percent of White, non-Latino males and 58 percent of Latino males.

Source: Schott Foundation for Public Education. 2012. The Urgency of Now: The Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males. Cambridge, MA: Michael Ho.

SAT® ScoresIn 2009, the average SAT® scores of Black males were lower than those of White males in critical reading, mathematics and writing. The gap between White and Black students taking the SAT test was 104 points in critical reading, 120 points in mathematics and 99 points in writing.

Source: The Council of the Great City Schools. “A Call For Change: The Social And Educational Factors Contributing To The Outcomes Of Black Males In Urban Schools.” October 2010.

ACT® Scores The average ACT® scores of Black students were lower than those for White students in English, mathematics and reading. In 2009, the gap between White and Black students was six points in English, five points in mathematics and six points in reading.

Source: The Council of the Great City Schools. “A Call For Change: The Social And Educational Factors Contributing To The Outcomes Of Black Males In Urban Schools.” October 2010.

ReadingIn 2009, the average National Assessment of Educational Progress score for young Black men in 12th-grade reading was 261 compared to 289 for young White men.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2009 Reading Assessment.

4

Educational Outcomes

College PreparationUpon graduation in 2004, 30 percent of Black males met the minimum college preparation curriculum. Only 1 percent of Black males met the criteria of finishing an advanced curriculum, while 40 percent of White males completed the minimum preparation curriculum and 5 percent met the advanced requirements.

Notes: Advanced Preparation Curriculum requirements include: (1) four credits in English; (2) four credits in mathematics; (3) four credits in science; (4) four credits in social sciences; (5) three credits in foreign language; and (6) one credit in AP® or IB® exams. Minimum Preparation Curriculum requirements include: (1) four credits in English; (2) three credits in mathematics; (3) three credits in science; (4) three credits in social sciences; and (5) two credits in foreign language.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Educational Longitudinal Survey, 2002 Base Year Survey, 2004 first follow-up survey and 2006 second follow-up survey.

Dropout and Achievement More than one third of all dropouts are lost in 9th grade. Secondary students at the lowest 25 percent of achievement are 20 times more likely to drop out of high school.

Source: Alliance for Excellent Education. ”High School Dropouts in America.” September 2010. Retrieved from http://www.all4ed.org/files/GraduationRates_FactSheet.pdf.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

■ Graduated in 4 years

White Males

Black Males 52%

58%

78%

Latino Males

This profile was written by staff from ETS’s Policy Evaluation & Research Center and the Children’s Defense Fund.

Copyright © 2013 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo and LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING. are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS). All other registered trademarks are property of their respective owners. 22741

Consequences of Dropping Out

Lost ProductivityOver the course of his or her lifetime, a single high school dropout costs the nation approximately $260,000 in lost earnings, taxes and productivity.

Source: Alliance for Excellent Education. “Dropouts, Diplomas, and Dollars: U.S. High Schools and the Nation’s Economy.” August 2008.

Lost Earnings

The average dropout can expect to earn an annual income of $20,242, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s $10,386 less than the typical high school graduate and $36,424 less than someone with a bachelor’s degree.

Source: Frontline. “By the Numbers: Dropping Out of High School.” September 2012. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/education/dropout-nation/by-thenumbers-dropping-out-of-high-school.

UnemploymentWhile the national unemployment rate stood at 8.1 percent in August 2012, joblessness among those without a high school degree measured 12 percent. Unemployment among Black men, ages 18–24, was 30 percent in January 2010.

Sources: Frontline. “By the Numbers: Dropping Out of High School.” September 2012. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/education/dropout-nation/by-the-numbers-dropping-out-of-high-school. Urban Institute. (2013). Unemployment and Recovery Project Brief #10.

IncarcerationIn 2009, researchers at the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University found that 9 percent of male high school dropouts, ages 16–24, are incarcerated or in detention. For young Black male dropouts of the same age, that number is 23 percent.

Source: Sum, A., Khatiwada, I., McLaughlin, J., Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University. (2009). Consequences of Dropping Out of High School: Joblessness and Jailing for High School Dropouts and the High Cost for Taxpayers. Retrieved from http://www.americaspromise.org/~/media/Files/Resources/Consequences_of_Dropping_Out_of_High_School.ashx.

LongevityCollege graduates can expect to live at least five years longer than individuals who have not finished high school.

Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “Education and Health.” April 2011. Retrieved from http://www.rwjf.org/content/dam/farm/reports/issue_briefs/2011/rwjf70447.



A Statistical Profile

$0 $10,000 $20,000 $30,000 $40,000 $50,000 $60,000

■ Annual Income

Bachelor’s Degree Holder

High School Dropout $20,242

$30,628

$56,666

High School Graduate

black male teens: moving to success in the high school years · 2016-05-09 · success in the high...

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