The State of Education for African American Students

1 THE State OF Education FOR. African American . Students . THE State OF Education FOR. African American Students . Over the past few decades, African American Students across the nation have made real gains in academic achievement. Yet, too many African American Students still are not getting the quality Education they need and deserve, and the performance of African American Students lags far behind that of white Students . These gaps in achievement are driven by gaps in opportunity African American Students receive fewer of the within-school resources and experiences that are known to contribute to academic achievement. In this brief, we've gathered the best available national data on African American student achievement and attainment in both K-12 and higher Education , as well as on the unequal opportunities that contribute to these outcomes.

2 We hope that these data will be used to spark conversation and more important, action about how to accelerate improvement and raise achievement for African American Students across the nation. 2 THE Education TRUST | THE State OF Education FOR African American Students . Where do African American Students attend school? African American Students make up a substantial proportion of enrollment nationwide. About 15 percent of all public school Students or about million Students are African American . And in some states, African American Students make up a far larger portion of public school enrollment: Half of Students in Mississippi and 45 percent in Louisiana are African American . About a third of Students in Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, and South Carolina are African American .

3 Opportunity and achievement for African American Students matter for all types of communities and schools. While many African American Students , 46 percent, attend urban schools, more than half, 54 percent, now attend schools in suburbs, towns, or rural areas. And while about half of African American Students attend schools where the majority of Students are African American , 26 percent attend schools where most Students are white. JUNE 2014 3. Is performance for African American Students improving in key academic subjects? In both fourth-grade reading and eighth-grade math, Between 2003 and 2013, scale scores on the National performance among African American Students has Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) rose faster risen dramatically in recent years, and gaps for African American Students than for white Students in between African American and white Students have both fourth-grade reading and eighth-grade math.

4 Narrowed. It's important, of course, to look at student performance across subjects and grades, but these two measures are especially critical. Research shows that 2003-2013 Improvement on NAEP. without solid reading skills honed in elementary school and a firm grasp of math by the end of middle school, it is difficult for Students to do well going forward. Fourth-Grade 4. Reading 8. Eighth-Grade 7. Math 11. 0 2 4 6 8 10 12. Scale Score Improvement, 2003-2013. White African American 4 THE Education TRUST | THE State OF Education FOR African American Students . And these gains reflect real improvement in skills and trouble locating information in a passage, identifying the knowledge. Over the past two decades, the percentage of main idea of a text, or interpreting what a word means.

5 African American eighth-graders who lacked even basic has fallen from 69 percent to 50 percent. math skills on NAEP has fallen from 81 percent to During the same time period, the percentage of African less than half. Students at that level struggle with American Students performing at a proficient or things like applying arithmetic operations (addition, advanced level more than doubled in fourth-grade subtraction, multiplication, and division) and with using reading and has increased sevenfold in eighth- diagrams, charts, and graphs to help solve problems. grade math. Far too few African American Students are In fourth-grade reading, the percentage of African American performing at these levels but the changes represent Students without even basic skills those who have marked improvement over past performance.

6 NAEP Performance: NAEP Performance: Percent of African American Percent of African American Students Below Basic Students Proficient or Advanced 100 50. 80 40. 81. 60 69 30. 40 50 49 20. 17. 20 10 14. 8 2. 0 0. Fourth-Grade Reading Eighth-Grade Math Fourth-Grade Reading Eighth-Grade Math 1992 2013 1992 2013. JUNE 2014 5. Are schools performing well enough for African American Students ? These improvements are encouraging. However, too few In both fourth-grade reading and eighth- African American Students demonstrate the knowledge grade math, African American Students and skills they need to be successful in school and in life. are about two and a half times as And despite gap-narrowing, African American Students likely as white Students to lack basic skills still lag far behind their white peers on NAEP.

7 And only about one-third as likely to be proficient or advanced. 2013 Performance: Fourth-Grade Reading 2013 Performance: Eighth-Grade Math 100 100. 17 14. 80. 80. 45 44. 32 38. 60 60. 40. 34 40. 39. 50 20. 49. 20. 21 17. 0 0. African American White African American White Below Basic Basic Proficient or Advanced Below Basic Basic Proficient or Advanced 6 THE Education TRUST | THE State OF Education FOR African American Students . Are schools preparing African American Students for college and careers? African American Students are increasingly taking the steps But despite these gains, there's still a long way to go. necessary for success after high school. Over the past African American Students remain underrepresented five years, the number of African American high school among AP test-takers: 15 percent of graduates in graduates taking the ACT rose by 22 percent, and the the class of 2013 were African American , but African number taking the SAT rose by 12 percent.

8 What's American Students made up only 9 percent of those more, the number of African American graduates taking at who took AP tests. And even fewer 5 percent . least one AP exam more than tripled between 2002 of those who passed an AP exam were African American . and 2012, outpacing the growth in the number of African American graduates. AP Participation and Success in the Class of 2013. 80. 60. 61. 58 56. Percent 40. 20. 15 5. 9. 0. African American White Percent of Graduates Percent of Graduates Percent of Graduates Taking AP Exams Passing AP Exams JUNE 2014 7. And just taking these types of assessments doesn't mean that Students are prepared. Few African American Are African American graduates who took the ACT met any of its college- Students graduating ready readiness benchmarks, which are intended to show whether Students have a good chance of succeeding for the next step?

9 In first- year college courses. Just 1 in 20 African Far too many African American Students leave high school American graduates met all four college-readiness without a diploma. Nationwide, just over 2 in 3 African benchmarks, compared with 1 in 3 white graduates American Students graduated from high school on time in who did so. 2012. That's compared with 86 percent of white Students . Percent of 2013 Graduates Meeting 2012 Adjusted Cohort College-Readiness Benchmarks graduation Rate 100. 80. 86. 75. 60 69. 54 53. 40 45. 34 33. 20. 16 14 10 5. 0. English Reading Math Science All Four African American White African American White 8 THE Education TRUST | THE State OF Education FOR African American Students .

10 And those who graduate are not necessarily ready for adult life. For example, only about 60 percent Do African American Students of young African American graduates who were have adequate opportunities interested in joining the Army met minimum academic standards. to learn? Gaps exist before children enter school, but inequitable Percent Meeting Minimum Armed Services and insufficient opportunities to learn exacerbate the Vocational Aptitude Battery Requirements gaps between African American Students and their white 100. peers and contribute to African American Students '. low performance. 80. 84. For example, only 35 percent of African American 60 Students who had high math performance in fifth grade 61 were enrolled in at least Algebra I in eighth grade, 40 compared with more than 60 percent of white fifth-graders with high math performance.