The Black Scholars Index

From Grade to Grad School: We're getting into the 'back to school' mindset!

Posted on 10. Aug, 2009 by Leshell Hatley in Scholarly Celebrations

Back To School!

The first day of school for Fall 2009 is soon approaching (if it hasn’t already hit in your household) and we, at The Black Scholars Index, hope that we have provided tons of inspiring information about some awesome Black Scholars this summer. The accomplishments shared thus far should prove to be a great source of encouragement and we will continue to bring you more as the school year progresses.

Education and scholarship is extremely important, especially within the African-American community. So, we’d like to use today’s feature to highlight a few statistics about the academic accomplishments (and challenges) within the African-American community from grade school (K-12) to graduate school. Please use this data to fuel your success this coming year.

Following the data, we will also provide some advice for studying and working towards doing your absolute best.

GRADE SCHOOL: NATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT GAP NARROWS

Of course, the staff of The Black Scholars Index believe that African-American children can achieve at their highest potential. However, we respectfully recognize studies by some organizations, such as the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, that indicate and have been following what’s called the ‘Academic Achievement Gap’. The Academic Achievement Gap is described as the gap in standardized test scores between Black students in the US and their White counterparts. Part of our mission is to help narrow this gap as much as possible, until we eliminate it totally and/or reverse it.

African-American male students

The good news is that earlier this summer, the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics reported that this narrowing has already begun. Here are some of their findings:

Based on a 500-point scale, African-American students scored on average 26 points less than white students on their reading and math tests, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics. The center based its findings on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a federal measure of student achievement in math, science and reading.

While the achievement gap narrowed in some states as African-American students academically improved more than their white counterparts, the gap still remained, the study found.

The report’s analysts used school registration forms that state a child’s race, said Arnold Goldstein, the director for design analysis and reporting at the National Center for Education Statistics. Students whose race was anything other than African-American or white were not included in the study, he said.

The national reading average for African-American fourth-graders was 203 points, compared to 230 points for white students. West Virginia had the smallest achievement gap, at 13 points, and Washington, D.C. the largest, at 67 points.

For eighth-graders, the national average was 244 points for African-American students and 270 points for white students. West Virginia and Nevada tied for the narrowest gap at 15 points, while Wisconsin had the widest gap with 38 points.
Students with Mrs. Obama

The national math average for African-American fourth-graders was 222 points, compared to 248 points for white students. The smallest achievement gap was in Hawaii and West Virginia, at 14 points. The highest gap was in Washington, D.C., at 54 points.

For eighth-graders, the national average was 259 points for African-Americans and 290 points for white students. Oregon had the narrowest gap at 16 points, while Nebraska had the widest gap, at 51 points.

ADVICE FOR THE COMING SEMESTER

FOR STUDENTS:
Select the same time each day to complete all homework.
Select the same (quiet) place in the house to complete all homework (make sure good lighting and all materials are readily available)
Students should use this time and location in the home even if they have no homework.
*This is a good time to study various school subjects OR read a book or two.
For those families that have access to the web, feel free to visit the International Children’s Digital Library for over 3,000 books in more than 14 languages from various cultures around the world.
FOR PARENTS:
Review your child(ren)’s homework each night – asking what they’ve learned, what they may have trouble understanding, etc. Feel free to share these discussions with teachers.
Parents should read a book with their child(ren) [not related to school assignments] and have regular discussions about what has been read.
Create ‘Parent Groups’ or ‘Parent Teams’ to travel to school activities, including Parent/Teacher Conferences.
Check-in with your child(ren)’s teacher on a regular basis. Asks questions about their academic performance, behavior, and suggestions to improve each.
Find out if their is a chapter of 100 Black Men in your neighborhood and sign-up your child(ren) for their Young Black Scholars program.

More ‘Back to School topics.

GRADUATE SCHOOL

Not only is it important for African-American students to do well in grades K-12, but once high school is over, it’s important for college and graduate students to continue their success. Below we share a few statistics about how many African-Americans received PhDs in 2005 and other interesting statistics:

Spelman Graduates

Number of Black PhD Grads in 1987: 787
Number of Black PhD Grads in 2004: 1869
Number of Black PhD Grads in 2005: 1688
Percentage of US Population that is Black: 13
Percentage of new PhD Grads that is Black: 6.4
Percentage of new PhD Grads in 1977 that were Black women: 38.7
Percentage of new PhD Grads in 2005 that were Black women: 64.9
Percentage of all new Black PhDs that are in Education: 39.2
Percentage of all new white PhDs that are in Education: 18.8
Percentage of all new Black PhDs that are in the Sciences: 5.0
Percentage of all new white PhDs that are in the Sciences: 12.0
Percentage of new Black PhDs that are in Engineering: 1.3
Number of PhDs awarded in Mathematics in 2005: 1231
Number of Black PhDs awarded in Mathematics in 2005: 16
Number of PhDs awarded in Astronomy in 2005: 72
Number of Black PhDs awarded in Astronomy in 2005: 0
Number of PhDs awarded in Physics in 2005: 1300+
Number of Black PhDs awarded in Physics in 2005: 10
Number of PhDs awarded in the Earth Sciences in 2005: 379
Number of Black PhDs awarded in the Earth Sciences in 2005: 2
Number of PhDs awarded in Ocean & Marine Sciences in 2005: 190
Number of Black PhDs awarded in Ocean & Marine Sciences in 2005: 1
Number of PhDs awarded in Biological Sciences in 2005: 6455
Number of Black PhDs awarded in Biological Sciences in 2005: 142
Number of PhDs awarded in 53 other scientific fields: 2275
Number of Black PhDs awarded in 53 other scientific fields: 0
The average age of a Black Ph.D. recipient in 2005: 36.7
The average age of a white Ph.D. recipient in 2005: 33.8

These numbers are a huge eye opener! They also contribute to the reason we created The Black Scholars Index in the first place. There are thousands of African-Americans working towards obtaining PhDs, and even more who have the ability. We hope to add to these numbers and support their efforts.

For this reason, we will feature current PhD students returning to the classroom. We are sure their stories will be just as inspiring as those we’ve shared thus far.

So, keep these statistics and suggestions handy as the students in your household face another school year. And look our for more of the same in the coming months.

If you are a PhD student and would like to be featured, please let us know at your earliest convenience – featured@blackscholarsindex.com