Black males: The “crisis” of the boy troubles…
The paucity of foundation research into boys lagging behind in school has always surprised me. After all, if the goal of so many foundations and advocacy groups is to boost flat college graduation rates, aren’t men the low hanging fruit? By 2015, 60% of the graduates of four-year colleges will be female.
One admirable exception is the Schott Foundation, which today releases a 50-state snapshot of how black males fare in K-12 schools. The picture isn’t pretty:
For Grade 8 Reading, the national percentage of White, non-Hispanic male students scoring at or above the Basic level was 78% in 2007. The percentage of Black, non-Hispanic male students scoring at or above the Basic level in Grade 8 was 46% in 2007.
The Benchmark for Grade 8 Reading is the state of Massachusetts, with 62% of Black male students scoring at or above Basic in 2007.
For Grade 8 Mathematics, the national percentage of White, non-Hispanic male students scoring at or above the Basic level was 82% in 2007. The percentage of Black, non-Hispanic male students scoring at or above the Basic level in Grade 8 was 46% in 2007.
The Benchmark for Grade 8 Mathematics is Texas, with 63% of Black male students scoring at or above Basic.
Although I’ve been accused of being a “boys crisis promoter” (most recently by Ed Sector blogger Kevin Carey) anyone who actually reads my writings knows I’ve tried to be careful in sorting out the varying degrees of problems. Yes, there are plenty of examples of schools serving upper income white students where boys are in trouble, but those troubles are minimal compared to what black boys are enduring. Check out the “minority” section of the library on the right.
My objection to the groups insisting that the only boy problems are among minorities (aside from being factually wrong) is that attitude precludes educators from looking at common threads affecting all boys, white and black, rich and poor. Solving the boy problems in wealthy Wilmette in the Chicago suburbs will help solve the far more serious problems in inner city Chicago. Denying that the Wilmette boys have problems denies a solution that can be applied elsewhere.
July 25th, 2008 at 9:29 am
[...] Lumo wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptThe paucity of foundation research into boys lagging behind in school has always surprised me. After all, if the goal of so many foundations and advocacy groups is to boost flat college graduation rates, aren’t men the low hanging fruit … Read the rest of this great post here [...]
July 26th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
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July 27th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Richard: Thanks for your informative blog. I teach freshmen Biology, and have anecdotes that support these findings too numerous to catalog. One change in education that you may not have considered is the rise in alternative diplomas. Programs in construction, auto repair and electrical wiring among others is beginning to attract boys during their early teen years. These programs have more boys than girls in them.
Also, the nature of 4 year degrees has changed in that less and less of them are manifesting as good entry level jobs.
August 1st, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Hi, what made you want to write on Black males: The “crisis” of the boy troubles…? I was wondering, because I have been thinking about this since last Friday.
August 23rd, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Good Day EXpert, I fell lucky that I located this post while browsing for alternative dating sites. I am with you on the topic of Black males: The “crisis” of the boy troubles…. Ironically, I was just putting a lot of thought into this last Saturday.