African American education
Encyclopedia
The education of African Americans and some other minorities lags behind those of other U.S.
ethnic groups, such as Whites
and Asian Americans, as reflected by test scores, grades, urban high school graduation rates, rates of disciplinary action, and rates of conferral of undergraduate degrees. Indeed, high school graduation rates and college enrollment rates are comparable to those of whites 25 or 30 years ago. It should also be noted that the category of African immigrant population has one of highest educational attainment of any group in the United States, but they represent a small group within the larger African American population.
Although African Americans generally lag behind Asian Americans in test scores, so do Whites to a lesser degree. However, compared with children in areas of China and India where some children, especially girls end their education after the elementary level, education in the United States is compulsory to age 16 regardless of race or class. It is expected that over half of public education students will be required to pass standards-based assessments
which expect that all students to be at least exposed to algebra by high school and exit prepared for college. In many other nations, such as Germany and Japan, those with lower test scores may be tracked as skilled tradepersons or unskilled laborers.
Census 2000 Brief
Percent of Adults 25 and over in group
Ranked by advanced degree HS SC BA AD
Asian alone . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80.4 64.6 44.1 17.4
Men . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80.1 52.5 26.1 10.0
White alone, not Hispanic or Latino.. . . . 85.5 55.4 27.0 9.8
White alone... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83.6 54.1 26.1 9.5
Women. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80.7 51.1 22.8 7.8
Two or more races. . . . . . . . . . . . 73.3 48.1 19.6 7.0
Black or African American alone . . . . . 72.3 42.5 14.3 4.8
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 78.3 44.6 13.8 4.1
American Indian and Alaska Native alone . . 70.9 41.7 11.5 3.9
Hispanic or Latino (of any race).. . . . . 52.4 30.3 10.4 3.8
Some other race alone . . . . . . . . . . . 46.8 25.0 7.3 2.3
HS = high school completed SC = some college
BA = bachelor degree AD = advanced degree
African Americans lag behind whites in 2000 by nearly a factor of two. However it is less frequently observed that whites lag behind Asians by nearly as large a ratio. The group with the least education are not the African Americans, but the American Indians
, Hispanic
or Latino
or other races who have quite a different legacy of discrimination.
In 2008, over 3 millions degrees have been awarded throughout the United States. Half of all degrees earned were bachelor's degrees. Bachelor's degree is one of the most awarded degree for all ethnicities and race. Asians obtains a bachelor's degree more than any other race, followed by Whites. Asians obtains more first professional degree
than any other race. A high percentage of Hispanics and American Indians/Alaska Natives own a associates degree compared with other races. About 1 - 2 % doctorate degree are awarded to all races. The table below shows the amount of degrees awards for each race.
Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Groups (Source: United States Department of Education - 2008)
and Hispanics did not increase as much as Whites. Between 1980 and 2007, the college enrollment rate for Whites have increased from 50% to 72%. Between 1980 and 2007, the college enrollment rates for Blacks have increased from 44 % to 56 %. Between 1980 and 2007, the college enrollment rates for Hispanics have increased from 50 % to 62 %. There are no data for Asians or American Indians/Alaska Natives regarding enrollment rates from the 1980s to 2007.
In 2009, the enrollment rate increased tremendously. More than 70% of high schools students enrolled in college or university immediately after high school. Asian Americans have the highest enrollment rate (92.2%), followed by Whites (69.2%), Blacks (68.7%), and Hispanics (59.3%).
.
Illiteracy by Age And Race: 1947 to 1969
In thousands except percent
Civilian noninstitutional population 14 yrs and over
Source: US census
, and African American children often assigned to inferior schools, before people like Ruby Bridges
challenged these policies in the 1960s. However, scholars, such as Gary Orrfield of Harvard, observe that many African Americans continue to be effectively segregated from other races in low-scoring schools. Some desegregation
programs, such as that in Seattle, Washington
, have been opposed as stepping over the original goal of simply creating freedom to attend schools nearby their communities to making certain politically determined racial percentages a goal in itself.
Multiculturalism
has been introduced to be more inclusive of African American and other minority cultures and history. Most school districts have also adopted diversity policies to encourage the hiring of more minority teachers and staff. Many progressive education curriculum reform policies, such as reform mathematics
and inquiry-based science, were designed to be more inclusive of minority students and cultures and learning styles. As in the larger majority community, there remains a split between conservatives who believe that individuals should concentrate on a race-blind programs to master the same content as the most educated ethnic groups, and liberals who believe that the long historical legacy of discrimination and exclusion remains the largest impediment to equality in education. They emphasize race-conscious policies and the continued application of affirmative action
and desegregation principles.
created a low cost private school specifically for the purpose of teaching low income African American children whom the public school system had labeled as being "learning disabled." One article about Marva Collins' school stated, "Working with students having the worst of backgrounds, those who were working far below grade level, and even those who had been labeled as 'unteachable,' Marva was able to overcome the obstacles. News of third grade students reading at ninth grade level, four-year-olds learning to read in only a few months, outstanding test scores, disappearance of behavioral problems, second-graders studying Shakespeare, and other incredible reports, astounded the public."
During the 2006-2007 school year, Collins' school charged $5,500 for tuition, and parents said that the school did a much better job than the Chicago public school system. Meanwhile, during the 2007-2008 year, Chicago public school officials claimed that their budget of $11,300 per student was not enough.
Black African and Caribbean immigrant groups to the U.S report having higher level of education then any other group. Of all foreign-born U.S. residents, foreign born Africans (those who came from the African continent) had the highest level of educational attainment than any other group in the United States across race and ethnicity. They tend to be highly educated and be fluent in English. This trend was first reported in the 1990s' by the Journal of blacks in Higher Education and still continues today. According to the U.S census, "43.8 percent of African immigrants had achieved a college degree, compared with 42.5 of Asian-Americans, 28.9 percent for immigrants from Europe, Russia and Canada and 23.1 percent of the U.S. population as a whole." The educational attainment amount varies by group. According to the U.S. Census, out of the African populations, Nigerians reported to having the highest level of education in the U.S Nigerian immigrants have the highest levels of education in this city and the nation, surpassing whites and Asians..
US Census surveys showed that by 1998, 89 percent of African Americans age 25 to 29 had completed high school, lagging only slightly behind 93 percent for whites. For all over the age of 25, clear majorities of whites, Asian Americans and African Americans had graduated at 88 percent, 85 percent and 77 percent, respectively. 56 percent, or barely over half of Hispanics 25 and over, had completed high school.
white |black |Hispanic |Asian
income verbamath |v m |v m |v m
x$1,000 | | |
under 10 409 460| 320 315| 330 386| 343 482
10-20 418 459| 337 369| 349 403| 363 500
20-30 428 471| 352 382| 369 420| 397 518
30-40 433 478| 362 393| 384 431| 415 528
40-50 439 488| 375 405| 399 446| 432 537
50-60 446 498| 382 414| 409 456| 444 549
60-70 453 506| 385 415| 415 458| 453 558
over 70 475 533| 407 442| 430 478| 476 595
overall 448 498| 376 426| 356 388| 418 538
Source: 1995 College Board SAT Profiles
Conservative African American scholars such as Thomas Sowell
observe that while SAT scores are lower for students with less parental education and income. Asian Americans who took the SAT with incomes below $10,000 score 482 in math in 1995, comparable to whites earning $30–40,000 and higher and blacks over $70,0000. Test scores in middle-income black communities, such as Prince George County, are still not comparable to those in non-black suburbs.
test, and only half to one-quarter as likely to achieve a high score, even though these tests were designed to eliminate the negative effects of bias associated with standardized multiple choice tests. It is a top goal of education reform to eliminate the Education gap between all races, though skeptics question whether legislation such as No Child Left Behind truly closes the gap just by raising expectations. Others, such as Alfie Kohn
, observe it may merely penalize those who do not score as well as the most educated ethnic and income groups.
Scored Level 3 on WASL
Washington Assessment of Student Learning, Mathematics Grade 4 (1997)
Data: Office Washington State Superintendent of Instruction
US Religions Ranked by percentage with 4 or more years of college
From “Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream,” Pew Research Center, 2007
Due to rounding, rows may not add to 100.
ranked by college+ lesshs hsgrad somecol colgrad postg sample colgrad+
1 Hindu 4 12 10 26 48 253 74
2 JewishReform 1 17 17 31 35 315 66
3 Jewish 3 19 19 24 35 676 59
4 JewishConservative 4 18 21 23 35 218 58
5 Unitarian and Other Liberal Faiths 3 16 30 22 29 296 51
6 Buddhist 3 23 26 22 26 408 48
7 Orthodox 6 26 22 28 18 362 46
8 Greek Orthodox 2 33 21 25 18 168 43
9 Agnostic 5 22 29 23 20 825 43
10 Atheist 8 28 23 21 21 509 42
11 Other Christian 12 22 27 20 20 129 40
12 Other Faiths 7 25 28 18 21 448 39
13 Members of Mainline Protestant Churches 9 34 24 20 14 7,429 34
14 Secular Unaffiliated 10 35 24 17 13 1,995 30
15 Unaffiliated 13 34 24 16 13 5,009 29
16 Mormon 9 30 32 18 10 578 28
17 Total Population 14 36 23 16 11 35,298 27
18 Catholic 17 36 21 16 10 7,990 26
19 Total Protestants 14 38 24 15 9 18,825 24
20 Muslim* 21 32 23 14 10 1,031 24
21 New Age 13 38 25 13 11 118 24
22 Members of Evangelical Prot. Churches 16 40 24 13 7 9,411 20
23 Religious Unaffiliated 21 40 22 11 6 1,680 17
24 Members of Hist. Black Prot. Churches 19 40 25 11 5 1,985 16
25 Jehovah’s Witness 19 51 22 6 3 211 9
. However, broken down by race, US Asians scored comparably to Asian nations, white Americans scored comparably to the best European nations. Although some racial generally score lower than whites in the US, they scored as well as whites in other European nations. Hispanic Americans averaged 505, comparable to students Austria and Sweden, while African Americans at 482 were comparable to Norway, and Ukraine.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
ethnic groups, such as Whites
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
and Asian Americans, as reflected by test scores, grades, urban high school graduation rates, rates of disciplinary action, and rates of conferral of undergraduate degrees. Indeed, high school graduation rates and college enrollment rates are comparable to those of whites 25 or 30 years ago. It should also be noted that the category of African immigrant population has one of highest educational attainment of any group in the United States, but they represent a small group within the larger African American population.
Although African Americans generally lag behind Asian Americans in test scores, so do Whites to a lesser degree. However, compared with children in areas of China and India where some children, especially girls end their education after the elementary level, education in the United States is compulsory to age 16 regardless of race or class. It is expected that over half of public education students will be required to pass standards-based assessments
High school graduation examination
A high school graduation examination is a test that students must pass to receive a diploma and graduate from high school. These are usually criterion-referenced tests which were implemented as part of a comprehensive standards-based education reform program which sets into place new standards...
which expect that all students to be at least exposed to algebra by high school and exit prepared for college. In many other nations, such as Germany and Japan, those with lower test scores may be tracked as skilled tradepersons or unskilled laborers.
Education Attainment
(Issued August 2003) Educational Attainment by race and gender: 2000Census 2000 Brief
Percent of Adults 25 and over in group
Ranked by advanced degree HS SC BA AD
Asian alone . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80.4 64.6 44.1 17.4
Men . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80.1 52.5 26.1 10.0
White alone, not Hispanic or Latino.. . . . 85.5 55.4 27.0 9.8
White alone... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83.6 54.1 26.1 9.5
Women. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80.7 51.1 22.8 7.8
Two or more races. . . . . . . . . . . . 73.3 48.1 19.6 7.0
Black or African American alone . . . . . 72.3 42.5 14.3 4.8
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 78.3 44.6 13.8 4.1
American Indian and Alaska Native alone . . 70.9 41.7 11.5 3.9
Hispanic or Latino (of any race).. . . . . 52.4 30.3 10.4 3.8
Some other race alone . . . . . . . . . . . 46.8 25.0 7.3 2.3
HS = high school completed SC = some college
BA = bachelor degree AD = advanced degree
African Americans lag behind whites in 2000 by nearly a factor of two. However it is less frequently observed that whites lag behind Asians by nearly as large a ratio. The group with the least education are not the African Americans, but the American Indians
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
, Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
or Latino
Latino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
or other races who have quite a different legacy of discrimination.
In 2008, over 3 millions degrees have been awarded throughout the United States. Half of all degrees earned were bachelor's degrees. Bachelor's degree is one of the most awarded degree for all ethnicities and race. Asians obtains a bachelor's degree more than any other race, followed by Whites. Asians obtains more first professional degree
First professional degree
A professional degree prepares the holder for a particular profession by emphasizing competency skills along with theory and analysis. These professions are typically licensed or otherwise regulated by a governmental or government-approved body...
than any other race. A high percentage of Hispanics and American Indians/Alaska Natives own a associates degree compared with other races. About 1 - 2 % doctorate degree are awarded to all races. The table below shows the amount of degrees awards for each race.
Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Groups (Source: United States Department of Education - 2008)
| Race | Associates Degree | Bachelor's Degree | Master's Degree | First Professional Degree | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| > 9.3% | |||||
| > 8.9% | |||||
| > 6.1% | |||||
| > 6.9% | |||||
| > 8.4% | |||||
College and University enrollment
Between 1978 - 2008, college enrollment rates increased for all races. The college enrollment rate is determined by the percentage of high school students who enroll in 2 year or 4 year college and universities immediately after completing high school. In 2008, the college enrollment rate for all races was 69 %. Although the college rate increased for each racial and ethnic groups between 1980 and 2007, the enrollment rates for BlacksBlacks
Blacks may refer to:* All Blacks, New Zealand rugby union team* Black people* Blacks Leisure Group, owner of Blacks and Millets in the United Kingdom* The Blacks , a play by Jean Genet* Zamora, California, formerly called Blacks...
and Hispanics did not increase as much as Whites. Between 1980 and 2007, the college enrollment rate for Whites have increased from 50% to 72%. Between 1980 and 2007, the college enrollment rates for Blacks have increased from 44 % to 56 %. Between 1980 and 2007, the college enrollment rates for Hispanics have increased from 50 % to 62 %. There are no data for Asians or American Indians/Alaska Natives regarding enrollment rates from the 1980s to 2007.
In 2009, the enrollment rate increased tremendously. More than 70% of high schools students enrolled in college or university immediately after high school. Asian Americans have the highest enrollment rate (92.2%), followed by Whites (69.2%), Blacks (68.7%), and Hispanics (59.3%).
Parenting Influence
Parenting methods are different across cultures, thus can have dramatic influence on education outcomes. For instance, many Asian parents apply strict rules and parental authoritarianism to their children while American parents deem creativity and self-sufficiency to be more valuable. The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom by Yale Professor Amy Chua, had especially highlighted some of the very important aspects in Asian parenting method in comparison to the “American way”. Chua’s books has generate much interests and controversies in “Tiger Mom” parenting method and its role in determining the education outcome of the children.Illiteracy
African Americans were once denied equal educations. Even as late as 1947, about one third of African Americans over 65 were considered to lack the literacy to read and write their own names. However, by 1969, illiteracy as it had been traditionally defined, had been largely eradicated among African Americans—the number of among young adults was less than one percent, though African Americans still lag in more stringent definitions of document literacy. Inability to read, write or speak English in America today is largely an issue for immigrants, mostly from Asia and Latin AmericaLatin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
.
Illiteracy by Age And Race: 1947 to 1969
In thousands except percent
Civilian noninstitutional population 14 yrs and over
Source: US census
| Nov 1969 | 14 ovr | 14-24 | 25-44 | 45-64 | 65+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 3.5 |
| White | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 2.3 |
| Black | 3.6 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 5.5 | 16.7 |
| Mar 1959 | |||||
| Total | 2.2 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 2.6 | 6.5 |
| White | 1.6 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 5.1 |
| Black | 7.5 | 1.2 | 5.1 | 11.3 | 25.5 |
| Oct 1952 | |||||
| Total | 2.5 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 3.5 | 6.9 |
| White | 1.8 | 0.8 | 5.0 | ||
| Black | 10.2 | 3.9 | 33.3 | ||
| Oct 1947 | |||||
| Total | 2.7 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 4.0 | 6.7 |
| White | 1.8 | 0.6 | 4.9 | ||
| Black | 11.0 | 4.4 | 32.4 |
Governmental policies
Successive U.S. governments have implemented many policies aimed at improving African American education. Schools were once legally segregatedRacial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
, and African American children often assigned to inferior schools, before people like Ruby Bridges
Ruby Bridges
Ruby Nell Bridges Hall moved with her parents to New Orleans, Louisiana at the age of 4. In 1960, when she was 6 years old, her parents responded to a call from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and volunteered her to participate in the integration of the New Orleans...
challenged these policies in the 1960s. However, scholars, such as Gary Orrfield of Harvard, observe that many African Americans continue to be effectively segregated from other races in low-scoring schools. Some desegregation
Desegregation
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...
programs, such as that in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, have been opposed as stepping over the original goal of simply creating freedom to attend schools nearby their communities to making certain politically determined racial percentages a goal in itself.
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
has been introduced to be more inclusive of African American and other minority cultures and history. Most school districts have also adopted diversity policies to encourage the hiring of more minority teachers and staff. Many progressive education curriculum reform policies, such as reform mathematics
Reform mathematics
Reform mathematics is an approach to mathematics education, particularly in North America. It is based on principles explained in 1989 by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics . The NCTM document, Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics, attempted to set forth a vision...
and inquiry-based science, were designed to be more inclusive of minority students and cultures and learning styles. As in the larger majority community, there remains a split between conservatives who believe that individuals should concentrate on a race-blind programs to master the same content as the most educated ethnic groups, and liberals who believe that the long historical legacy of discrimination and exclusion remains the largest impediment to equality in education. They emphasize race-conscious policies and the continued application of affirmative action
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
and desegregation principles.
Private school education for African Americans
In Chicago, African American Marva CollinsMarva Collins
Marva Collins is an American educator who in 1975 started Westside Preparatory School in Garfield Park, an impoverished neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. She ran the school for more than 30 years until it closed in 2008 due to lack of sufficient enrollment and funding...
created a low cost private school specifically for the purpose of teaching low income African American children whom the public school system had labeled as being "learning disabled." One article about Marva Collins' school stated, "Working with students having the worst of backgrounds, those who were working far below grade level, and even those who had been labeled as 'unteachable,' Marva was able to overcome the obstacles. News of third grade students reading at ninth grade level, four-year-olds learning to read in only a few months, outstanding test scores, disappearance of behavioral problems, second-graders studying Shakespeare, and other incredible reports, astounded the public."
During the 2006-2007 school year, Collins' school charged $5,500 for tuition, and parents said that the school did a much better job than the Chicago public school system. Meanwhile, during the 2007-2008 year, Chicago public school officials claimed that their budget of $11,300 per student was not enough.
Immigrants & Foreign-born
Educational attainment rates change when it comes to comparing the same races against immigrants or foreign born students.Black African and Caribbean immigrant groups to the U.S report having higher level of education then any other group. Of all foreign-born U.S. residents, foreign born Africans (those who came from the African continent) had the highest level of educational attainment than any other group in the United States across race and ethnicity. They tend to be highly educated and be fluent in English. This trend was first reported in the 1990s' by the Journal of blacks in Higher Education and still continues today. According to the U.S census, "43.8 percent of African immigrants had achieved a college degree, compared with 42.5 of Asian-Americans, 28.9 percent for immigrants from Europe, Russia and Canada and 23.1 percent of the U.S. population as a whole." The educational attainment amount varies by group. According to the U.S. Census, out of the African populations, Nigerians reported to having the highest level of education in the U.S Nigerian immigrants have the highest levels of education in this city and the nation, surpassing whites and Asians..
High school graduation
Completed High School age 25-29 (1998)| White | Black | Hispanic | Asian | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25+ | 88% | 77% | 56% | 85% |
| 25-29 | 93% | 89% | ||
US Census surveys showed that by 1998, 89 percent of African Americans age 25 to 29 had completed high school, lagging only slightly behind 93 percent for whites. For all over the age of 25, clear majorities of whites, Asian Americans and African Americans had graduated at 88 percent, 85 percent and 77 percent, respectively. 56 percent, or barely over half of Hispanics 25 and over, had completed high school.
Testing
IQ tests have been largely banned for use in education in states such as California. But new graduation examinations have raised the standards for a diploma to a level necessary to succeed in admission to college, rather than passing for a minimal level of effort and learning.Income and class
SAT Test scores vs income and racewhite |black |Hispanic |Asian
income verbamath |v m |v m |v m
x$1,000 | | |
under 10 409 460| 320 315| 330 386| 343 482
10-20 418 459| 337 369| 349 403| 363 500
20-30 428 471| 352 382| 369 420| 397 518
30-40 433 478| 362 393| 384 431| 415 528
40-50 439 488| 375 405| 399 446| 432 537
50-60 446 498| 382 414| 409 456| 444 549
60-70 453 506| 385 415| 415 458| 453 558
over 70 475 533| 407 442| 430 478| 476 595
overall 448 498| 376 426| 356 388| 418 538
Source: 1995 College Board SAT Profiles
Conservative African American scholars such as Thomas Sowell
Thomas Sowell
Thomas Sowell is an American economist, social theorist, political philosopher, and author. A National Humanities Medal winner, he advocates laissez-faire economics and writes from a libertarian perspective...
observe that while SAT scores are lower for students with less parental education and income. Asian Americans who took the SAT with incomes below $10,000 score 482 in math in 1995, comparable to whites earning $30–40,000 and higher and blacks over $70,0000. Test scores in middle-income black communities, such as Prince George County, are still not comparable to those in non-black suburbs.
State standards
Most state tests showing African American failure rates anywhere from two to four times the rate of whites, such as Washington State's WASLWashington Assessment of Student Learning
The Washington Assessment of Student Learning was a standardized educational assessment system given as the primary assessment in the state of Washington from spring 1997 to summer 2009. The WASL was also used as a high school graduation examination beginning in the spring of 2006 and ending in 2009...
test, and only half to one-quarter as likely to achieve a high score, even though these tests were designed to eliminate the negative effects of bias associated with standardized multiple choice tests. It is a top goal of education reform to eliminate the Education gap between all races, though skeptics question whether legislation such as No Child Left Behind truly closes the gap just by raising expectations. Others, such as Alfie Kohn
Alfie Kohn
Alfie Kohn is an American author and lecturer who has explored a number of topics in education, parenting, and human behavior...
, observe it may merely penalize those who do not score as well as the most educated ethnic and income groups.
Scored Level 3 on WASL
Washington Assessment of Student Learning
The Washington Assessment of Student Learning was a standardized educational assessment system given as the primary assessment in the state of Washington from spring 1997 to summer 2009. The WASL was also used as a high school graduation examination beginning in the spring of 2006 and ending in 2009...
Washington Assessment of Student Learning, Mathematics Grade 4 (1997)
Data: Office Washington State Superintendent of Instruction
| White | Black | Hispanic | Asian | Native American |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17.1% | 4.0% | 4.3% | 15.6% | 1.6% |
Religion
The amount of education completed varies greatly between members of religions in the United States. Over 74% of Hindus, 59% of Jews and 51% of Unitarians have 4 or more years of college, compared with 27% of the total population. Members of evangelical churches, historically black Protestant churches and Jehovah’s Witness are just 20%, 16% and 9%, respectively.US Religions Ranked by percentage with 4 or more years of college
From “Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream,” Pew Research Center, 2007
Due to rounding, rows may not add to 100.
ranked by college+ lesshs hsgrad somecol colgrad postg sample colgrad+
1 Hindu 4 12 10 26 48 253 74
2 JewishReform 1 17 17 31 35 315 66
3 Jewish 3 19 19 24 35 676 59
4 JewishConservative 4 18 21 23 35 218 58
5 Unitarian and Other Liberal Faiths 3 16 30 22 29 296 51
6 Buddhist 3 23 26 22 26 408 48
7 Orthodox 6 26 22 28 18 362 46
8 Greek Orthodox 2 33 21 25 18 168 43
9 Agnostic 5 22 29 23 20 825 43
10 Atheist 8 28 23 21 21 509 42
11 Other Christian 12 22 27 20 20 129 40
12 Other Faiths 7 25 28 18 21 448 39
13 Members of Mainline Protestant Churches 9 34 24 20 14 7,429 34
14 Secular Unaffiliated 10 35 24 17 13 1,995 30
15 Unaffiliated 13 34 24 16 13 5,009 29
16 Mormon 9 30 32 18 10 578 28
17 Total Population 14 36 23 16 11 35,298 27
18 Catholic 17 36 21 16 10 7,990 26
19 Total Protestants 14 38 24 15 9 18,825 24
20 Muslim* 21 32 23 14 10 1,031 24
21 New Age 13 38 25 13 11 118 24
22 Members of Evangelical Prot. Churches 16 40 24 13 7 9,411 20
23 Religious Unaffiliated 21 40 22 11 6 1,680 17
24 Members of Hist. Black Prot. Churches 19 40 25 11 5 1,985 16
25 Jehovah’s Witness 19 51 22 6 3 211 9
International Comparison
As a whole, students in the United States lagged the best Asian and European nations in the TIMSS international math and science testTrends in international mathematics and science study
The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study is an international assessment of the mathematics and science knowledge of fourth- and eighth-grade students around the world...
. However, broken down by race, US Asians scored comparably to Asian nations, white Americans scored comparably to the best European nations. Although some racial generally score lower than whites in the US, they scored as well as whites in other European nations. Hispanic Americans averaged 505, comparable to students Austria and Sweden, while African Americans at 482 were comparable to Norway, and Ukraine.