Low achievement imperils black students in L.A., report says
African American students in Los Angeles County demonstrate significant learning gaps by second grade, which widen with age and lead to the highest school dropout rate among all races, according to a new report released Monday.
Black students are far less likely to take the rigorous college preparatory classes required for admission to California universities and miss more school days because of suspensions than their white counterparts, according to the study by the Education Trust-West, an Oakland-based nonprofit advocacy group.
Only one of every 20 African American kindergartners will graduate from a four-year California university if current trends continue, according to the report, which compiled data on academic achievement, suspensions and the emotional conditions of African Americans in 82 school districts in L.A. County.
But the report also found that African American students are doing well in some school districts, particularly those with higher concentrations of other races. In the diverse Culver City Unified School District, more than two-