• Statewide
• Nashville
• Memphis

Inequities in Graduation Rates

Black and White male students in Tennessee graduated at slightly lower rates in 2005/6 than the national averages for their groups.[1]

The Benchmark for graduation rates of Black male students for states enrolling more than 10,000 Black male students is 74% (New Jersey).

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Evidence of Inequities

NAEP Grade 4 Reading results for Tennessee are below average for those for the nation as a whole for both Black and White, non-Hispanic male students. Three-quarters of the state’s Black male students read below the Basic level at Grade 4.

Percentages Of White and Black Non-Hispanic Male Students At Each Achievement Level, Reading, Grade 4, 2007

At Grade 8 the situation has improved slightly, although nearly two-thirds of the state’s Black male students read at less than the Basic level and virtually none reach the Advanced level.

Percentages Of White and Black Non-Hispanic Male Students At Each Achievement Level, Reading, Grade 8, 2007

More than half of Tennessee’s Black male students score below the Basic level in Grade 4 Mathematics, nearly four times as many as the state’s White, non-Hispanic male students.

Percentages Of White and Black Non-Hispanic Male Students At Each Achievement Level, Mathematics, Grade 4, 2007

By Grade 8, almost two-third of Tennessee’s Black male students score below the Basic level in Grade 8 Mathematics and one percent reach the Advanced level.

Percentages Of White and Black Non-Hispanic Male Students At Each Achievement Level, Mathematics, Grade 8, 2007

The Benchmark for Black male students in Grade 8 Reading is Massachusetts, with 62% of Black male students scoring at or above Basic.

The Benchmark for Grade 8 Mathematics is Texas, with 63% of Black male students scoring at or above Basic.

Discipline, Special Education, and Advanced Placement Inequities

The number of out-of-school suspensions given to Black male students in Tennessee was equivalent to twenty-two percent of Tennessee’s Black, non-Hispanic male student population. The number of out-of-school suspensions given to White male students in Tennessee was equivalent to eight percent of the state’s White, non-Hispanic male enrollment in the 2004/5 school year, as reported to the Office of Civil Rights of the U. S. Department of Education. More than five times as many Black male students in proportion to enrollment were expelled as were White male students.

Uniquely, Tennessee’s Black male students were admitted to district Gifted and/or Talented programs at higher rates than White male students. On the other hand, in proportion to enrollments, three times as many Black male children were classified by the State of Tennessee as Mentally Retarded as were White male children.

Given their respective shares in the student population, four times as many White male students were allowed to take Advanced Placement Mathematics and Advanced Placement Science classes as Black male students.