Memphis
Inequities in Graduation Rates
Black and White male students graduated at lower rates in 2005/6 than the national averages for their groups.[1] The gap in graduation rates is wider 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 |
Black |
White |
Gap |
Black |
White |
Black Change |
White Change |
|
|
USA |
4.3mil. |
47% |
75% |
28% |
47% |
74% |
0% |
1% |
|
Tennessee |
122,081 |
44% |
71% |
26% |
47% |
69% |
-2% |
2% |
|
Memphis |
52,720 |
35% |
64% |
30% |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Discipline, Special Education, and Advanced Placement Inequities
The number of out-of-school suspensions given to Black male students in the Memphis public schools was equivalent to twenty-five percent of Memphis' Black, non-Hispanic male student population and the percentage of out-of-school suspensions given to White male students in Memphis was equivalent to twelve percent, in the 2004/5 school year, as reported to the Office of Civil Rights of the U. S. Department of Education. The extraordinary number of 1,410 male Black students (as compared to 50 male White students) were expelled.
Black, non-Hispanic male students were classified as Gifted/Talented less than a third as often as White, non-Hispanic male students in the Memphis public schools and classified as Mentally Retarded at more than three time the rate of their White classmates. If Black male students had been admitted to Gifted/Talented programs at a rate comparable to that of White male students, at least an additional 8,000 students would have been able to take advantage of those program resources.
Proportionate to enrollment, more than ten times as many White male students as Black male students in the Memphis public schools in 2004/5 were allowed to participate in Mathematics and Science Advanced Placement courses.