Polk County Public Schools
Inequities in Graduation Rates
Black male students in Polk County graduated at higher rates in 2005/6 than the national average, while White male students graduated at lower rates than the national average for their group. Because of this, the racial gap is much narrower in Polk County than the national average.
The Benchmark for graduation rates of Black male students for school districts enrolling more than 10,000 Black male students is 82% (Fort Bend, Texas).
|
Male Students |
Graduation Rate 2005/6 (est.) |
Graduation Rate 2004/5 |
||||||
|
Black Males |
Black |
White |
Gap |
Black |
White |
Black Change |
White Change |
|
|
USA |
4.3 mil. |
47% |
75% |
28% |
47% |
74% |
0% |
1% |
|
Florida |
326,757 |
38% |
60% |
22% |
35% |
56% |
3% |
4% |
|
Polk County |
10,148 |
51% |
58% |
7% |
- |
- |
- |
- |
The number of out-of-school suspensions given to Black male students in the Polk County public schools was equivalent to twenty-nine percent of Polk County’s Black, non-Hispanic male student population and the percentage of out-of-school suspensions given to the White male students in Polk County was equivalent to fifteen percent in the 2004/5 school year, as reported to the Office of Civil Rights of the U. S. Department of Education.
White, non-Hispanic male students were admitted to Polk County’s Gifted and/or Talented programs at more than twice the rate for Black, non-Hispanic male students, while Black, non-Hispanic male students were placed in Mental Retardation classifications at nearly three times the rate for White male students. If Black male students had been admitted to Gifted and/or Talented programs at the same rate as White male students, at least 180 more would be in those programs.
Black male students in the Polk County public schools in 2004/5 did not participate in Mathematics Advanced Placement courses and only five participated in Science Advanced Placement courses, compared to 50 and 55 White, non-Hispanic male students, respectively.