By Michael Holzman

January 18, 2017

During the first part of  Dropout Nation's study of the value of high school diplomas, we looked at graduation rates and eighth grade readi ng proficiency for Chicago, New York and Philadelphia. We will now look at five more districts: Cleveland, Detroit and Milwaukee, in the north, and Charlotte, North Carolina, and Duval County (Jacksonville), Florida, in the south.  

Black student graduation rates are reported by these districts to the U.S. Department of Education as 64 percent in Cleveland, 77 percent in Detroit and 55 percent in Milwaukee; 87 percent in Charlotte and 71 percent in Duval County...while White students are reported as graduating at a rate of 82 percent in Cleveland, 62 percent in Detroit and 68 percent in Milwaukee; 94 percent in Charlotte and 81 percent in Duval County.

The difference between White graduation rates, on the one hand, and Black rates, on the other, is rather small, as these things go nationally, varying from about 20 points for Cleveland to about 10 points for the others, except for Detroit, where the difference is inverted-higher Black than White graduation rates. Charlotte's graduation rate for Black students is higher than that for White students in the other districts.  Detroit's graduation rate for White students is lower than that for Black students in all the other districts except Milwaukee.  All of these districts graduate most of their Black and White students.  Charlotte's success in this matter is quite notable.

We can now assess the degree to which those districts are successful in actually educating those students, providing them with the skills and knowledge necessary for college and career preparation. Here, again, the National Assessment of Educational Progress' assessment of eighth-grade reading proficiency will be the yardstick.

At eighth grade, 19 percent of Cleveland's White students read at or above grade level ("Proficient" and "Advanced"), as compared just 8 percent of the district's Black students. Too few of Detroit's White students to measure tested at or above grade level, but a quite astonishing 5 percent of the district's Black students did so.  Charlotte's results were 18 percent for Black, and 59 percent for White students scoring "Proficient" or above on eighth grade reading.  In Duval County, the district's schools also taught just 18 percent of Black students to read proficiently by eighth grade, as compared to 41 percent of their White students.  Milwaukee did not report data for the most recent year.  In 2013 the district reported 7 percent of Black students and 29 percent of White students reading proficiently at eighth grade.

Comparing NAEP Eighth grade Reading Proficiency for the Charlotte groups, we found the following: NAEP Eighth grade Reading percent at or above grade level: 18 percent for Black students; 59 percent for White students. And these for high school graduation rates: 87 percent for Black students; 94 percent for White students. Dividing the high school graduation rates by the NAEP reading percentages, we find these ratios:  4.8 for Black students; 1.6 for White students.

For Detroit, we found the following for which we have NAEP Eighth grade Reading percentages at or above grade level:  Five percent for Black students. The high school graduation rates:  Seventy-seven percent for Black students. Dividing the high school graduation rates by the NAEP reading percentages, we get these ratios: For Black students, it's 15.4.

In Charlotte, Cleveland, Detroit, Duval County and Milwaukee, as in Chicago, New York and Philadelphia, the vast majority of Black students are either not graduating or are being handed diplomas that mean little. Those diplomas falsely represent preparation for adult life, for further education and training. They are false promises.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Black Star Project extracted references to Latino students in this article for the sake of space.  Please read full article here in Dropout Nation to see references to and data on Latino students, and the complete analysis of this issue.