Only 47 Percent Of Black Male Students Graduate High School Nationwide, Study Shows

GOOD:

A 50-state report from the Schott Foundation for Public Education has come to a dispiriting conclusion: public education is failing black male students. Nationwide, the graduation rate for this demographic of students is a paltry 47 percent. And in some major cities, it's perilously low--in New York City and Philadelphia, for example, only 28 percent of black males complete high school on time.

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Comments

[stevedave35]

02:49 PM on 09/29/2010

That number is very alarming. You would think in this day and age that our graduation rates regardless of skin color would be outstanding. When did this country stop investing in it's future only to mortgage it on meaningless bottom lines?

http://www.singledadfinancialhelp.com

[delonte]

03:06 PM on 09/25/2010

I live in detroit and I know people with HS diplomas who are scrambling for money.. I high school diploma dont hold value where im at. why do you think the dropout rate is so high.. IF you people really want to help front a niggah wit a month supply of bricks baking soda and scale and watch... last thing people thinking about is school here.. how can you go to class on a empty stomach and aint ate in three days with only a piece of cheese in the refrigerator. and you 13yrs old and mama havent been home in weeks and you making sure little brother get fed and alright sittin in the cold with no heat.. im 16 now and I feel like im the parent school havent done shit for me.. Im just getting it how I live..what would you do?? when hurricane katrina. and hurricane down in texas tore up everything. nobody wasnt thinkin about school they were thinkin about how they gone eat and get by day to day..well guess what thats how it is in detroit. We have that same mentality by any means necessary. walk in my shoes for a week..no 1 day and see what you do

[pbillings]

04:30 AM on 09/05/2010

I am surprised that people don't think a large majority of the issue comes from peers. Yes, nobody wants to be labeled stupid, but many want to be rebellious or accepted in that type of crowd. Also, I believe teachers are there to teach you science, math, economics... not how to act. That is fully the parents job. If a kid acts up in class, kick him out. Let the parents deal with it. Don't have a teacher waste half their class on it. So the bottom line is more parents need to stop blaming the system and take responsibility. If that happens, it will show ten fold. (less kids to cause problems)

[Cayita]

01:04 PM on 08/23/2010

It is a complex problem and every person involved blames some else.

Schools have some responsibility but ultimately it’s the parents' doing that determines their children’s educational outcome. A teacher can teach multiplication so many times but eventually she needs to move to divisions. If some children don’t master the subject you have two options: either keep repeating the lesson until everybody understands (which makes you avoid teaching other subjects and causes boredom for the rest of the class), or move on to the next lesson.

Parents are the ones you have to check their children homework, make sure they are behaving in class and learning. I know it's difficult but nobody said being parents was easy. You will hear lots of people complaining that they dont have time, that they have to work, etc. That is exactly the problem. Stop justifying why your kids (or our kids) are doing bad in school and start fixing the problem.

My grandparents went to college. My parents went to college. It was assumed that I would go to (and I did). My children (who are now 1 and 3) WILL go to college. They already have college funds.

Parents need to make education a priority. Finishing high school (or in my case getting a Master's) should be what its expected and it should be as normal as Christmas in December. Parents should say to their chidlren: WHEN you finish HS........, not IF you finish HS........

[Dokemion]

02:05 AM on 08/23/2010

No single mother can complain about having extra money to spend on their needs. Without the support of a spouse, even the most normal of expenses can seem so immense. Rightly so, because a single income can leave you wanting more as a single mother. This is why furthering your education can be the wisest decision you make not only for your own sake, but the sake of your children. It can give you the confidence you need in the household as a single mother and at your job. A better education spells out a higher salary for you, which in return means that all your children’s needs are fulfilled. Even if you might not currently like your current job, but feel obliged to continue working there, a better education can help you land a new and better job. The current economic conditions are so unforgiving but having that degree or certificate from a good academic institution can give you and your child/children some cushion space.

http://www.singlemomfinancialhelp.com/

[berserk]

08:19 PM on 08/22/2010

Also I notice how low the comments are. BROTHAS.....where are you?

[tnlcallen]

04:48 PM on 08/22/2010

That's a staggering statistic. It is probably just a symptom though of underlying problems.

[berserk]

01:37 PM on 08/21/2010

No fathers = No success.

[Beau2]

04:57 PM on 08/22/2010

Amen. How do you persuade people to realize that an intact family gives their child his or her best possible chance of future life sucess.

An unwed teenage mom is a great start to an up bringing in poverty and a less than 50/50 chance of even finishing high school. And, worse yet, a very high probability of repeating the process, with the next generation.

[LisaCACO]

09:57 AM on 08/20/2010

the problem is bigger than the schools. I would say,however, that we keep moving the bar at school. with "NCLB", the current trend toward cutting taxes and spending less in schools, etc, class sizes are bigger and each grade is becoming increasingly more academic earlier. imagine, kindergarten has no time for play these days, and seems more like first grade. if you start out "behind" and then attend kindergarten and feel like a "failure", imagine how you'd feel about school. it's a complex problem and needs a number of solutions. one place to start would be having everyone read how children learn through play, not testing and drill.

[tnlcallen]

04:51 PM on 08/22/2010

You are right. It is a complex problem. It is caused by poverty. It is caused by single parent homes. It is caused by racism, and its lingering effects. It is caused by schools that don't know how to deal with all of the other problems.

[DaMojo]

01:53 PM on 08/19/2010

So what are the stats? How many that didn't graduate are from single parent homes? How many are on welfare? How involved are the parents in their education? How educated are the parents?
What is the solution? I hate articles like this.

[tnlcallen]

04:53 PM on 08/22/2010

One thing I do know, when parents become involved in a childs education, that child does better in school.

[neverdeadned]

08:49 PM on 08/18/2010

Schools keep asking for more and more money every year and they still say they care about the students, if they actually cared they would do it for free (I know no one can do any job for free really just saying) but where is all this money going when they ask for more? Why is it not showing the students are doing better with the more money they are asking for? This isn't a republican or democrat problem it happens when both are president and have the house and senate and BOTH need to wake the hell up and reform the schools so they can actually get stuff done right and get kids to learn period

[ItHasToBeSaid]

05:37 PM on 08/18/2010

" . . . in some major cities, it's perilously low--in New York City and Philadelphia, for example, only 28 percent of black males complete high school on time."

Forget about completing "on time," how about graduating having received an ACTUAL education. How about requiring teachers to stop passing students along who don't know the curriculum well enough to perform proficiently in the next grade. When a 7th grade student is performing at only a 2nd or 3rd grade Reading Level, exactly how well do you expect him to do as he continues to be passed along from grade to grade?? It needs to stop. Now. Teachers are doing it to keep their jobs -- jobs that too many of them DON'T know how to do. Administrators are ALLOWING it in order to continue receiving school funding, and I would guess that a few parents and students are semi-okay with it because they want to move along with the rest of their peers.

So, in addition to low graduation rates, some of the few who are graduating haven't been properly prepared for the workforce or a first year of college. It's wrong, wrong, and wrong. And it's precisely what leads to many of the problems faced later on.

[lotus321]

05:22 PM on 08/18/2010

The expectations for black males are set very low and most achieve those expectations. We need to make a concerted effort to make education an important and expected goal from birth. Currently, we are shocked or marvel at the fact that black male complete high school or college. it ened to get to the point that we are shock and appalled when we meet a black male who has not finished high school or college....

[javajava]

11:48 AM on 08/20/2010

Your expectaions are low for black men.

[J Accuse]

03:18 PM on 08/20/2010

Not low enough it seems. LOL.

[supportamerica]

04:09 PM on 08/18/2010

To continue, Look at how many people are joining in with our conversation, no one, which shows me that education does not mean as much to others. I come from a family of educated people and learned the value of that education at a very early age. Then my Husband and I taught it to our children and now they are teaching to theirs. In the Black community I don't think there is that generational follow through as there are in others. By the way my Grandmother taught school in a one room school house in the early 1900's.

[DaMojo]

02:01 PM on 08/19/2010

I was just looking at the video of the homeless family. That guy was white and he was having trouble reading to his kids from a childrens book. No wonder he is unemployed.

[tnlcallen]

04:55 PM on 08/22/2010

I noticed that too. That's really sad. An education is very important.

[supportamerica]

01:35 PM on 08/18/2010

It seems to me peer pressure has a lot to do with whether Black Males graduate or not. The lower rates of graduation looks to be tied to urban centers with high amounts of Black males. It is not "cool" to be smart. Better to push for athletics, music, etc, rather than use the intelligence they know they have. Typically these children seem to be from broken homes, with a single parent working just to keep a roof over their heads and not being able to pay attention to what their child is doing and often times are not high school graduates themselves. It is not all of the Teacher's responsibility. Without the push from home and parents understanding how important an education is the child really is not going to do it on his own unless he is highly self motivated.

[GravitonX]

02:49 PM on 08/18/2010

True, it's not simply the teacher's responsibility. The problem is that the problem extends well into the home. If there are to be any effective solutions to deal with this crisis, the scope MUST the places where these children eat, sleep, and play. They MUST include or outright require parental participation or assent. They MUST stress scholarship, discipline (eventually to become self-discipline), and excellence. Everything must be done to establish new habits and patterns of behavior and erase old, failed, and self-defeating ones. It doesn't have to be oppressive; they can be exciting and engaging for all parties involved.

[supportamerica]

03:02 PM on 08/18/2010

So how do we accomplish this when the Black males they look up to are not leaning down and pushing for education? Shouldn't it then, in these urban centers, where the norm is, cannot single Mother's be required, if they are on public assistance, to engage in their child's education and be trained them selves on how to promote this in their children? If we really believe it starts at home, then that is where the education needs to start, with the parents or parent. Instead of allowing them to constantly listen to rap music or engage in sports why not push the parents /parent to push them to study.

[CollegeKidz]

05:22 PM on 08/20/2010

I dont think I've ever meet someone who figured it was "cool" to be stupid (or is that not the alternative to being smart).

From my own experience, kids dont fail school--schools fail students. Sadly, there is very little hope that this will change as long as we, as a society, choose to incarcerate rather than educate. Look at the states' budgets and compare prison spending to spending on education and you'll have the answer to the question why education is failing us all.

[supportamerica]

07:43 PM on 08/20/2010

You say "the school failed the students, kids don't fail school." I beg to differ with you on this point. I have been to inner city urban schools and have seen how the students act as compared to small town students. One group are very disrespectful, Loud, wearing the latest in sneakers of some basketball players and doing everything they can to get out of going to school. Another group are studious, more respectful, don't always have the latest greatest in style. Then there is the Catholic schools which are high in academics, well behaved, respectful. The only one that doesn't get government money I believe are the Catholic Schools. (Not sure about this) maybe we need to check into why they are successful as compared to public schools. I am not pushing Catholic or private schools, but there does seem to be a correlation. My children graduated with honors from a small town school system and own their businesses today. Then again their father and I insisted on discipline, paying attention to detail and studying. So maybe the correlation is not the Teacher's and the schools but the students and parents who use them as a drop off for their kids with out really putting in the time and effort to teach them at home also. It should be 50-50. Parents who are committed to their children rather than see school as a necessary evil.