Bad news: A new report from the Department of Education shows a persistent and growing gap between blacks and whites in high school grade point averages. The report, entitled The High School Transcript Study: A Decade of Change in Curricular and Achievement, 1990-2000, documents that in 1990 the mean high school grade point average for black high school graduates was 2.43. But over the next decade the mean grade point average for black high school graduates had improved to 2.63.

For white high school graduates in 1990, the mean grade point average was 2.73, or 0.30 higher than the GPA of blacks who had earned their high school diplomas. By 2000 the mean white GPA was 3.01. This is 0.38 points higher than the mean GPA for blacks.

"We come then to the question presented: Does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other "tangible" factors may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities? We believe that it does...We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have been brought are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.

Black children start elementary school with less preschool experience than white children, and a gap in preschool enrollment rates has developed.

Gaps in the academic performance of black and white students appear as early as age 9 and persist through age 17.

At age 17, NAEP scores again indicate a large black-white achievement gap, although test scores for blacks have improved relative to those of whites in reading, mathematics, and science since the early 1970s. In 1971, average reading proficiency among 17-year-old blacks was well below that of 17-year-old whites and even well below that of 13-year-old whites; in 1992, the proficiency of 17-year-old blacks was about the same as that of 13-year-old whites.Â* The black-white achievement gap has closed somewhat over time, persisting, although not widening, with age. The blackwhite differences in mathematics at ages 9, 13, and 17 are remarkably similar.

Four family background factors that are commonly used to measure risks to children's future academic and socioeconomic outcomes are: having a mother who has less than a high school education (see Indicator 5.2), living in a family on welfare or receiving food stamps, living in a single-parent family, and having parents whose primary language is a language other than English.27 The early reading and mathematics skills of children with at least one of these risk factors tend to be lower than those of children with no risk factors, and children with 2 risk factors fare less well than children with one risk factor.Â* These risk factors are considerably more common among kindergartners from racial/ethnic minorities than among kindergartners from White families.

In 1998, 71 percent of entering kindergartners from Black or Hispanic families had one or more risk factors, compared to 29 percent of those from White families and 61 percent from Asian families. The percentage of first-time kindergartners with two or more risk factors was four times greater for Blacks (27 percent) and five times greater for Hispanics (33 percent) than for their White peers (6 percent). Seventeen percent of Asian first-time kindergartners had two or more risk factors.

Black students are more likely than Whites, Hispanics, or Asians/Pacific Islanders to receive special education services. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) helps children with disabilities receive special education.15 In the 1999-2000 school year, 13 percent of all children 3 to 21 years old received services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education A ct (IDEA). The proportions of Black and American Indian students served (15 and 14 percent, respectively) are higher than the proportions of White, Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific Islander students served by IDEA. Similar percentages of White and Hispanic students received special education services (11 percent), while 6 percent of all Asian/Pacific Islander students received these services.

Despite these improvements, the benefits of special education have not been equitably distributed. Minority children with disabilities all too often experience inadequate services, low-quality curriculum and instruction, and unnecessary isolation from their nondisabled peers. Moreover, inappropriate practices in both general and special education classrooms have resulted in overrepresentation, misclassification, and hardship for minority students, particularly black children.

A flood of concerns expressed by community leaders about minority children being misplaced in special education prompted The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University to commission the research for this book. Since the early 1970s, national surveys by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Education have revealed persistent overrepresentation of minority children in certain disability categories. The most pronounced disparities then were black children who, while only 16 percent of the total school enrollment, represented 38 percent of the students in classes for the educationally mentally retarded.Â* After more than twenty years, black children constitute 17 percent of the total school enrollment and 33 percent of those labeled mentally retarded-only a marginal improvement. During this same period, however, disproportionality in the area of emotional disturbance (ED) and the rate of identification for both ED and specific learning disabilities (SLD) grew significantly for blacks.

With the development of the IQ test by Alfred Binet in 1905, it became possible to quantify intellectual shortcomings. The test dramatically altered methods of diagnosis and classification, and soon became the principal tool for diagnosing mental retardation. By mid-century two of the three criteria for defining mental retardation, cognitive deficiency and age of onset, could be accurately determined, but the assessment of adaptive behavior relied largely on subjective evaluation. Today, the assessment of adaptive behavior still remains fuzzy enough for the diversicrat to work his miracles.

In 1959, AAMD set the IQ threshold for mental retardation at < 85. The civil rights movement of the next decade forced psychologists to rethink this boundary, because half the African American population fell below it. In 1973, responding to this concern, AAMD (by then AAMR) changed the threshold for retardation from IQ < 85 to IQ < 70. The boundary moved south by one standard deviation! The proportion of blacks below the threshold instantly dropped from about 50 percent to 12 percent. Subsequent refinements made it still more difficult to meet the criteria for retardation.

When Binet in 1905 produced the first IQ test, it promised to revolutionize the diagnosis and treatment of mental retardation. A half century later it came under attack for reasons Binet could not have imagined. Could any of the pioneer psychometricians have foreseen Larry P. v. Riles (1979), a California class-action suit that focused on IQ testing of young black children? The court held that IQ tests were not valid for African Americans. It banned California from using the tests for placing black students in classes for the "educable mentally retarded" or equivalent categories on the grounds that the tests were biased. After a series of appeals, the district court ruled that no special education related purposes exist for which IQ tests could be administered to black pupils. Though only a California ruling, the case began a political assault on st andardized testing that has spread beyond the IQ test to college entrance exams, promotional exams and more.

A Case History of Government Intervention. In 1996, The Office for Civil Rights placed 16 school districts nationwide under review for potential discrimination. The districts were charged with violating the civil rights of minorities, especially African Americans, because blacks were found to be overrepresented in special education programs, especially those for the mentally retarded. Five of the 16 districts were in Maryland. Ironically, Maryland is a very liberal state very much in tune with the goals of the Civil Rights Office. Maryland is also almost 30 percent black. The offending districts included Baltimore, Howard, Harford, Montgomery and Prince Georges counties.

From Table 2 we note that the ratio of black to white retarded children is in the expected range for two of the five cited counties, Baltimore and Howard. In two others, Harford and Montgomery, the ratio is only slightly out of bounds. In Prince Georges County the B/W ratio is lower, but still not egregiously so. We safely conclude that the five Maryland school districts did not discriminate against blacks, and that administrators and staff mostly did their jobs conscientiously.

In the 12-year period between 1976 and 1988, the black-white scoring gap on the Scholastic Assessment Test closed significantly. The improvement in black scores was so strong that some educators predicted that within a generation the black-white gap would disappear altogether.

Unfortunately, this was not to be. In fact, since 1988 the racial gap in SAT scores has become wider and there is no compelling evidence that any improvement is in the offing.

Not only are African-American scores on the SAT far below the scores of whites and Asian Americans, but they also trail the scores of every other major ethnic group in the United States including Puerto Ricans and Mexican Americans. In fact, American-Indian and Alaskan native students on average score more than 100 points higher than black students.

There are a number of reasons explaining the continuing and growing black-white SAT scoring gap. A major factor in the SAT racial scoring gap is family income. There is a direct correlation between family income and SAT scores. For both blacks and whites, as income goes up, so do test scores. Some 28 percent of all black SAT test takers came from families with annual incomes below $20,000. Only 5 percent of white test takers came from low-income families. At the other extreme, 5 percent of all black test takers came from families with incomes of more than $100,000. The comparable figure for white test takers is 24 percent. But income alone does not explain the racial scoring gap. Consider these facts:

Whites from families with incomes of less than $10,000 had a mean SAT score of 980. This is 123 points higher than the national mean for all blacks.

Whites from families with incomes below $10,000 had a mean SAT test score that was 46 points higher than blacks whose families had incomes of between $80,000 and $100,000.

Blacks from families with incomes of more than $100,000 had a mean SAT score that was 142 points below the mean score for whites from families at the same income level.

The nation's highest-ranked colleges and universities seek students who score 28 or above on their ACT test. Nationwide, only 1,180 black students scored 28 or above on the ACT test. They made up slightly less than 1 percent of all black ACT test takers. In contrast, 86,831 white students scored 28 or above on the ACT test this year. They made up 11.2 percent of all white ACT test takers. Thus whites were 11 times more likely than blacks to score at a level equal to the mean score of students admitted to the nation's most prestigious colleges and universities. This data tends to show that if colleges and universities were unable to take race into account during the college admissions process - such as is the case today for state-chartered institutions in California, Florida, Georgia, Texas, and Washington - blacks would be placed at a huge disadvantage for winning any places at the nation's leading institutions.

If we examine ACT scores at the highest scoring levels, we find an even larger disparity. Of the 120,311 blacks who took the ACT test this year, not one scored a perfect score of 36. On the other hand, there were 96 white students who received the highest score of 36.

In many cases black schoolchildren are taught by white teachers who have low opinions of the abilities of black kids from the moment they enter the classroom. These teachers immediately write off black students as academic inferiors and do not challenge them sufficiently to achieve the skills necessary to perform well on standardized tests.

Black students who study hard are often the subject of peer ridicule. They are accused of "acting white" by other blacks. This so-called "ghetto chic" in the form of peer pressure to shun academic pursuits undoubtedly has a dragging effect on average black SAT scores.

Black students may be subject to what Stanford psychology professor Claude Steele calls "stereotype vulnerability." Steele contends that black students are aware of the fact that society expects them to perform poorly on standardized tests. This added pressure put upon black students to perform well in order to rebut the racial stereotype in fact makes it more difficult for them to perform well on these tests.

Black students in some urban schools may be taught an Afrocentric curriculum that may serve to increase black pride and foster an awareness of black culture, but this form of education pays little attention to the subject matters that are covered on the SAT.

Even middle-class blacks tend to be brought up in basically segregated surroundings. They are not taught the pathways and modes of thinking that are embedded in white culture and reflected in standardized tests. Black families that urge their children to go to college are often first-generation college graduates who grew up in households without the systems that support first-rate academic achievement.

School administrators and guidance counselors often believe that black students are less capable and less able to learn. They routinely track black students at an early age into vocational training or into a curriculum that is not college preparatory. Black students are rarely recommended for inclusion in gifted education, honors, or advanced placement programs. Once placed on the slow academic track, most black kids can never escape. By the time black students are juniors and seniors in high school, they are typically so far behind their white counterparts in the critical subject areas necessary to perform well on standardized tests that they have little hope of ever matching the scores of whites on the SAT.

Most faculties are overwhelmingly white, despite efforts by many school districts over the past ten years to actively attract minority teachers, according to the National Education Association (NEA). So the association is offering school districts some tips on how they might close the gap between increasing numbers of minority students and declining numbers of minority teachers.

Terry Jackson, a math teacher in Upper St. Clair School District, believes he's making a difference in the lives of his students far beyond helping them solve word problems.

That's because he's one of just five black teachers in a district where 94 percent of the students are white.

"They need to see black role models. They need to see some black professionals," said Jackson, 27, a teacher at Fort Couch Middle School. "They need to get rid of stereotypes of minorities as being in gangs or m ainly playing sports.

"Some kids asked me once, 'Can you dunk, Mr. Jackson?' I told them, 'No, all I can do is dunk doughnuts.' I want to break some of the stereotypes."

To see 17-year-old Chandra Robinson's eyes light up, ask her why she wants to become a teacher.

”That's easy: I love the kids,” she said, a broad smile on her face. ”I love spending time with them and teaching them, helping them grow and learn and become their own person. It's really good to know that they're just starting out and that you can help them find their future.” Robinson, a junior at Flint Northern High School, is one of 60 students to participate in the Future Minority Teachers Initiative (FMTI), a Flint-based program designed to encourage minority youth to consider teaching as a career and to guide them into college-level education programs.

FMTI, established in 2000 with the support of a three-year, $215,121 grant from the Mott Foundation, is coordinated by the Center for Service Learning and School Partnerships at the University of Michigan-Flint.

An increasingly serious shortage of teachers - especially minority, special- education, science and substitute teachers - has forced Hamilton County school administrators to use some unusual recruiting tactics.

'We're going to a lot more universities to recruit,' said Dave Baker, assistant superintendent for personnel in the Princeton School District. 'We used to go to five or six within 100 miles of Cincinnati. Now we're going to 10 universities in several states and we're sending one administrator into Alabama and Mississippi to recruit African-American teachers.'

PGCPS has mounted a concerted and imaginative program to recruit African-American teachers. The program has resulted in a steady growth in the percentage of African-American teachers in the teaching force, even at a time when the absolute number of teachers has been increasing. It represents an outstanding effort given that African-Americans constitute only 9.6 percent of teachers nationally and a much smaller percentage of those currently completing teacher certification programs each year. More rapid progress faces the further limitation imposed by the rate of teacher turnover in the system.

"At all the job fairs, minority teachers are in high demand," said Bill Bremer, director of personnel at Southwest Licking Local Schools.

Bremer attended four job fairs last year and did not have one minority candidate sign up for an interview, he said.

"They had been scooped up by city schools," he said.

Many districts heavily recruit minority candidates more than two years before the students graduate, said Cara Riddel, who hires teachers for Newark schools.

STANFORD-"The results are troubling," says Thomas S. Dee, assistant professor of economics at Swarthmore College. "Black students learn more from black teachers and white students from white teachers, suggesting that the racial dynamics within classrooms may contribute to the persistent racial gap in student performance, at least in Tennessee.

In the forthcoming issue of Education Next (Spring, 2004), Dee reports that, after one year, African American students scored about 3 percentile points higher on the mathematics portion of the Stanford Achievement Test, if they had a teacher of the same racial background. Reading scores were raised by about half this much. Both differences represent about one third of the black-white test score gap among students in Tennessee.

Similar gains were observed for white students, if they share their teachers' racial background.

Even larger gains were observed when students had teachers of the same racial background in consecutive years.

Dee's results are consistent with frequent recommendations that school districts with large minority enrollments should aggressively recruit minority teachers. However, he recommends additional research to examine why white teachers are not as effective with black students as black teachers appear to be. "We don't really know why the racial interactions in classrooms matter. If we did, it might suggest changes in teacher training and practices that make teacher effectiveness race-neutral."

Dee points out that only 8 percent of public-school teachers nationwide are African American, while 17 percent of public-school students are. As a result, African American students have a lower chance of having a teacher who shares their race.

Dee's results are especially significant because they are based on data gathered from a randomized field trial of the effects of class size on student performance conducted in Tennessee. Because teachers and students were randomly assigned to classrooms, the data allow for experimental estimates of the effects of a teacher's race on student performance.

I once severely shocked the pseudo-philanthropists by suggesting that if the South is ever to rid herself of the negro rape-fiend she must take a day off and kill every member of the accursed race that declines to leave the country. I am not wedded to my plan; but, like the Populists, I do insist that those who object to it are in duty bound to offer something better.

--William Cowper Brann