• Statewide
• Detroit

Inequities in Graduation Rates

Black male students in Michigan graduated at much lower rates in 2005/6 than the national average, declining from the rate in 2004/5. The rate for White male students was unchanged between the two school years, widening the gap, which is far above the national average. The graduation rate for Black male students is less than half the Benchmark.

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 Michigan are lower than those for the nation as a whole for both White, non-Hispanic and Black male students. Two-thirds 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 is similar, with nearly two-thirds of the state's Black male students reading at less than the Basic level and virtually none reaching the Advanced level.

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

More than half Michigan's Black male students score below the Basic level in Grade 4 Mathematics, almost five 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, nearly three-quarters of Michigan's Black male students score below the Basic level in Grade 8 Mathematics and virtually none 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 Michigan was equivalent to eighteen percent of Michigan's Black, non-Hispanic male student population. The number of out-of-school suspensions given to White male students in Michigan was equivalent to nine 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 twice as many Black male students in proportion to enrollment were expelled as were White male students.

Black male students were admitted to district Gifted and/or Talented programs at approximately two-thirds the rate of White male students, while more than two times as many were classified as Mentally Retarded. If Black male children had been admitted to Michigan's Gifted and/or Talented programs had been admitted at the same rate as White male children, at least 2,000 more would have been in those programs.

More than six times as many White male students were allowed to take Advanced Placement Mathematics classes and more than three times as many also were allowed to take Advanced Placement Science classes as Black male students, given their respective shares in the student population.