• Statewide
• Caddo Parish
• East Baton Rouge Parish
• Jefferson Parish
• New Orleans

Inequities in Graduation Rates

Black and White male students in Louisiana in 2005/6 graduated at lower rates than the national average, as they had in 2004/5. Both groups showed declines between the two school years; declines for Black male students was particularly severe, an effect of the disproportionate impact of Hurricaine Katrina on Black students.

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 Louisiana are much lower than those for the nation as a whole for both White, non-Hispanic and Black male students. Over two-thirds of Black male students in the state 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, in line with national results, twice the proportion of the state's Black male students read at less than the Basic level than is the case for the state's White male students, and virtually none reach the Advanced level. However, unusually, most male students, both Black and White, scored higher in Reading at Grade 8 than did students in those groups at Grade 4.

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

More than twice the share of Louisiana's Black male students score below the Basic level in Grade 4 Mathematics 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, over half of Louisiana's Black male students score below the Basic level in Grade 8 Mathematics and not 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 Louisiana was equivalent to nearly a quarter of Louisiana's Black, non-Hispanic male student population. The number of out-of-school suspensions given to White male students in Louisiana was equivalent to nearly ten 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. In proportion to enrollment, three times as many Black male students were expelled as were male White students.

Less than half the percentage of Black male students were admitted to Gifted and/or Talented programs as White male students, while over twice the percentage were classified as Mentally Retarded. If Black male children had been admitted to Louisiana's Gifted and/or Talented programs at the same rate as White male children, approximately 4,000 more would have been in those programs.

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