In an effort to better understand the outcomes for Black males at the local level, the Schott Foundation analyzed 2011-12 four-year graduation estimate data primarily for districts that enroll 10,000 or more Black male students.
Most Black males in the U.S. are enrolled in large urban districts. Tables 7 and 8 highlight districts’ Black male graduation rate for Black and White male students, sorted by highest and lowest Black male graduation rates. Among the large urban districts, Montgomery County, MD (69%) has the largest 2011-12 estimated Black male graduation rate in the country, followed by Baltimore County, MD (67%, ), Fort Bend, TX (64%), Cumberland County, NC (61%), and Guilford County, NC (57%). Inversely, among the large urban districts, Detroit, MI (23%) has the lowest Black male graduation rate in the country (in Detroit only 13% of White males graduate from high school within a four year period), followed by Philadelphia, PA (26%), Clark County, NV (27%), Pinellas County, FL (28%), Cleveland, OH (28%), New York, NY (28%), Chatham County, GA (28%), Richmond County, GA (29%), Duvall County, FL (29%), and Norfolk, VA (31%).
With a 21 percentage point or more gap, the following large urban districts have some of the largest gaps between the White male graduation rate and the Black male graduation rate: Atlanta, GA; Charleston County, SC; Charlotte-Mecklenburg, NC; Chicago, IL; Cobb County, GA; Dekalb County, GA; District of Columbia; Fulton County, GA; Guilford County, NC; Hillsborough County, FL; Houston, TX; Los Angeles, CA; Miami-Dade, FL; New York City, NY; Orange County, CA; Palm Beach, FL; Pittsburgh, PA; Wake County, NC.
