Factors Contributing to the Outcomes of Black Males in Urban Schools

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A Call for Change: The Social and Educational Factors Contributing to the Outcomes of Black Males in Urban Schools

The nation’s young Black males are in a state of crisis. They do not have the same opportunities as their male or female counterparts across the country. Their infant mortality rates are higher, and their access to health care is more limited. They are more likely to live in single-parent homes and less likely to participate in early childcare programs. They are less likely to be raised in a household with a fully employed adult, and they are more likely to live in poverty. As adults, Black males are less likely than their peers to be employed. At almost every juncture, the odds are stacked against these young men in ways that result in too much unfulfilled potential and too many fractured lives.

Much of this story has been told before. Still, there has been little work focusing specifically on the academic attainment of Black males in our schools and how it is contributing to the destructive pattern we see. This report tackles the issues head on by conducting a first-time analysis of data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) on how Black males are performing academically. We look at ourselves—the large central cities—most critically, because it is in our urban schools that nearly 30 percent of all Black males in the nation are educated.

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Rethinking New York State's response to chronic absence

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National statistics on chronic absenteeism show that the problem peaks in adolescence, yet most existing responses are contrary to what adolescent development and school engagement research tell us and generally have little effect in getting teens to return to school. This policy brief looks at New York State’s practices responding to chronically absent teenagers, particularly reporting and investigating a teen’s parent or guardian to the child protective system for allegations of educational neglect. Vera proposes that New York rethink this response to teens missing too much school and develop more effective alternatives.

Getting teenagers back to school: rethinking New York State's response to chronic absence

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New report on nation’s high school dropout crisis reveals signs of hope

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A new report reveals that progress has been made in schools, districts, communities and states across the country. Building a Grad Nation: Progress and Challenge in Ending the High School Dropout Epidemic shows that when resources and determination are applied, progress is possible—even in lower-income areas, urban schools and rural districts that many previously deemed hopeless.

Earlier this year, President Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced a national goal for 90 percent of U.S. students to graduate from high school and complete at least one year of post-secondary education or training by 2020. The U.S. graduation rate has already increased nationwide from 72 percent in 2002 to 75 percent in 2008. The report also reveals that the number of “dropout factory” high schools fell by 13 percent—from 2,007 in 2002 to 1,746 in 2008. While these schools represent a small fraction of all public high schools in America, they account for about half of all high school dropouts each year. Experts say targeting these high schools for improvement is a critical part of turning around the nation’s dropout rate.
Other key findings of the report include the following:

• More than more than half of all states – 29 in total – increased their statewide graduation rate from 2002 to 2008.
• The state of Tennessee and New York City led the nation by boosting graduation rates 15 percent and 10 percent, respectively.
• Schools that see just 60 percent or fewer students graduate – known as “dropout factories” – fell by 13 percent, from 2,007 in 2002 to 1,746 in 2008.
• Most of the decline in dropout factories – 216 of the 261 – occurred in the South.

To continue rebuilding America’s broken education system, the Alliance is launching a Civic Marshall Plan to Build a Grad Nation. The plan outlines the benchmarks necessary to meet the goals of increasing the national graduation rate by an average of 1.5 percentage points per year during the next decade in order to meet the President’s goal of 90 percent graduation rates by 2020. It calls on policymakers, educators, business leaders, community allies, parents and student to mobilize and focus on the dropout factory high schools and play their role in increasing graduation rates and improving college- and workforce-readiness.

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