Johnson: Black 'achievement gap' needs attention

Education is a precondition to survival in America today." - Marian Wright Edelman

The above quote from Children's Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman begins the executive summary of the Council of the Great City Schools' recently released report titled "A Call For Change." The report examines the disturbing achievement gaps in reading and writing for fourth- and eighth-grade black boys attending urban schools, with data pulled from the National Assessment for Educational Progress.

One of the most alarming findings showed that just 12 percent of fourth-grade black boys are reading on their grade level, compared to 38 percent of white boys. The report also notes that only 12 percent of eighth-grade black boys are competent in math, compared to 44 percent of white boys. Other statistics listed in the report that researchers linked to the continued dismal academic performance of black boys in high school included higher dropout rates, lower ACT scores and lower SAT scores in critical reading, mathematics and writing. These numbers obviously don't bode well for college enrollment, and just three out of 10 black males attended a four-year institution in 2009.

At the end of its report, the council makes several recommendations, including a call for greater involvement of national and local organizations in mentoring black boys, increasing the number of black male counselors in urban schools, and collaborating with administrators and faculty in higher education to ensure academic success at the college level.

Reading the overall findings of "A Call For Change" was particularly disturbing for me, because it indicates a blatant disconnect in the classroom for black boys. If they continue to lag behind in reading and math, many of them will be destined for joblessness, chronic underemployment or crime. A lack of education and crime are inextricably linked for young black males, as the majority of them who don't earn their high school diplomas will end up serving time in prison by their mid-30s.

Because I work with a segment of the 3 percent of black males attending four-year schools as a college professor at Ohio's Central State University, an historically black institution, I ha

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