75% of black California boys don’t meet state reading standards

[truth_seeker]

75% of black California boys don’t meet state reading standards

By Matt Levin, CALmatters | PUBLISHED: June 5, 2017 at 6:22 am

Across ethnicities and economic status, girls outperform boys on English in standardized tests

Three of four African-American boys in California classrooms failed to meet reading and writing standards on the most recent round of testing, according to data obtained from the state Department of Education and analyzed by CALmatters.

More than half of black boys scored in the lowest category on the English portion of the test, trailing their female counterparts. The disparity reflects a stubbornly persistent gender gap in reading and writing scores that stretches across ethnic groups.

The data provide a unique glimpse of how gender interacts with race and class in mastery of basic reading, writing and listening skills tested on state exams. While California publishes separate figures on the performance of various ethnic and economic groups, it does not make public a more detailed breakdown of how boys and girls are performing within those groups. State officials say they do not sort the data that way because of complexity, cost and time constraints.

Unlike in math, where girls have caught up to boys in California and elsewhere, female students in general maintain a sizable lead over their male classmates in the language arts. While initiatives to encourage girls to learn math and science have received considerable publicity, the gender reading gap is viewed less as a problem warranting action.

“I wouldn’t put this in the same category of severity or concern as other achievement gaps,” said Tom Loveless, an education researcher for the Brookings Institution, a public policy think tank in Washington, D.C. “But there needs to be greater awareness of this.”

The gap spans all grade levels. Boys in high school score better than those in grade school, but girls outperform them by consistent margins at every age. And a higher family income does not appear to even things out.

The gap is not unique to California. In states that administer the same standardized exam as California, girls outscore boys by similar margins. In international reading comprehension exams, girls best boys in nearly every country and at nearly every age.

The phenomenon is nevertheless worrisome because it may compound other educational disparities California has attempted to close for decades, without success.

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/06/05/75-of-black-california-boys-dont-meet-state-reading-standards/

[truth_seeker]

The headline is about blacks school boys. But the body deals almost entirely with differences between girls and boys; avoiding race.

[Oceander]

But the teachers unions are the best in the world. 

[rangerrebew]

When I was first stationed in Alameda, Ca. in the early 70s, I remember half the freshman class at Stanford had to take remedial reading.  A long California tradition of incompetence, I guess.

[truth_seeker]

When I was first stationed in Alameda, Ca. in the early 70s, I remember half the freshman class at Stanford had to take remedial reading.  A long California tradition of incompetence, I guess.

Don't know about Stanford, since it is private, but CSU schools and presumably UC schools require math and English proficiency tests, and remedial courses if necessary.

These used to be called "bonehead" classes, and earned no credits.

[240B]

And about the same amount cannot speak actual understandable English. I know illegal aliens who speak much better English than most Black people I meet in public.


In the most bizarre encounter I have ever had with this, I was on the phone with a Black person trying to speak English, and I absolutely could not understand a single word he was saying. This was more than an accent or 'speaking jive', he was uttering some totally different language. And he was getting pissed at me because I couldn't understand him. Ok then, ... Alrighty! thank you for calling. Ok, ok, bye now....ok bye.


I have no idea what it was he was trying to tell me, and I never will.

[andy58-in-nh]

But the teachers unions are the best in the world.

The best that government money can buy.

[Fishrrman]

This group will comprise America's new demographic:
That being, a class of people illiterate, anti-social, of a culture totally foreign to anything that resembles a traditional work ethic, and for all practical purposes unemployable for the rest of their lives.

Richard Herrnstein must be a-laughin' in his grave.