Tag Archive for 'black male graduation rate'

Basketball? How About Academics?

Published by Robert Pondiscio on March 19, 2009 in Higher Education and accountability. 3 Comments

Teams in the NCAA basketball tournament kicking off tonight put very different numbers on the board when it comes to graduation rates. A study by the University of Central Florida shows among the four No. 1 seeds, North Carolina has the highest graduation rate for its players (86%), while Connecticut is the laggard (33%). Louisville graduates 42% of its athletes; Pitt 69%.

“The study also found that fewer tournament teams have failing Academic Progress Rates than last year,” the AP reports. “Twenty-one of the 65 tournament teams have APR scores under 925, the cutoff below which the NCAA can penalize schools. Last year, 35 teams had APR scores below 925.” Forty of the 65 teams in the tourney have graduation rates of at least 50 percent, based on the number of freshmen who entered school between the 1998-99 and 2001-02 school years earned diplomas within six years.

Seven teams had a 100 percent graduation rate: Binghamton, Florida State, Marquette, Robert Morris, Utah State, Wake Forest and Western Kentucky.

On the women’s side, the picture is much different – and brighter. Fourteen women’s basketball teams in the NCAA tournament have perfect graduation rates, including top-seeded Connecticut. The other schools with 100 percent graduation rates are DePaul, Evansville, Florida, Lehigh, Marist, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Sacred Heart, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Vanderbilt and Villanova.

The Boston Globe says the graduation rates for somee schools are so bad — especially for black athletes — that they shouldn’t be in the tournament at all.

On paper, the top 16 seeds have an average graduation rate of 53 percent for black players. But eight of those 16 are so bad, their average graduation rate for black players is 32 percent. Those teams include five of the top eight seeds: UConn, Louisville, Oklahoma, Michigan State, and Memphis.

“We will know the world is truly changing,” the paper notes ”when politicians write letters and make statements that embarrassing graduation rates for their flagship university basketball team are unacceptable.”

Whitmire’s Swan Song

Published by Robert Pondiscio on January 6, 2009 in Education News, Parents and Students. 2 Comments

One of the real good guys education journalism is saying farewell, for now at least, from ink-stained wretchdom.  Richard Whitmire, USA Today editorial writer and Why Boys Fail edublogger, has taken a buyout and bows out with a piece in today’s paper “How to turn Obama’s success into gains for black boys.”

There’s no question Obama was elected by Americans of all races and ethnicities to be president of all America. But many hope that his presidency will have a profound impact on one group most in need, African-American boys.

Whitmire notes that the American Dream “remains a more distant hope for black boys than it does for any other group.”  And while there’s potency in the symbolic value of an Obama presidency, that’s not enough. 

What matters today is determining how to leverage Obama’s historic achievement into a fresh beginning for black boys. Confidence is important, but it’s not sufficient. As Obama often says, success begins with parents willing to take responsibility, set limits and turn off the TV. But successful education reforms have shown that the right academic atmosphere can help overcome dysfunctional family situations.

He specifically touts a focus on literacy, modeling the practices of successful schools like Washington’s Key Academy, and creating college mentoring programs for young black males.  ”These are all reforms worthy of support,” Whitmire concludes.  “Obama’s symbolism is undeniably powerful, but it will take more than symbolism to go beyond yes-we-can sloganeering.”

Quo vadis, Whitmire?

Detroit Closes Achievement Gap!

Published by Robert Pondiscio on July 29, 2008 in Research and Reports. 1 Comment

Michigan has the nation’s lowest graduation rate for black male students, while Detroit has the second-lowest rate for big-city school districts, according to a report from the Schott Foundation for Public Education.  Other findings:

  • The state of New York has 3 of the 10 districts (NYC, Rochester and Buffalo) with the lowest graduation rates for Black males.
  • Indianapolis ranks dead last, graduating only 19% of its black male students.
  • The one million black male students enrolled in the New York, Florida, and Georgia public schools are twice as likely not to graduate with their class.
  • Illinois and Wisconsin have nearly 40-point gaps between “how effectively they educate their Black and White non-Hispanic male students.”

While Detroit graduates a mere 20% of its black male students, that’s actually higher than the 17% of white male students who graduate.