Here is some additional information for the Minneapolis minority student achievement gap debate that has been raging on several threads on this list. In the August 19, 2003 edition of the WALL STREET JOURNAL an article entitled "Trying to Close the Stubborn Learning Gap," explains that African American children are months behind the national average in reading and math skills when they reach kindergarten and they never catch up. "By the time they reach 12th grade, blacks and Hispanics are reading at about the same level as white and Asian eighth graders . . . "
The article mentions a number of issues including the need for more early-childhood educational activity, parental involvement and assigning the best teachers to the worse performing schools. The article has the following graphic of early childhood activities which list the sources as: U.S. Department of Education and Valerie Lee, University of Michigan Parents read to them six times weekly Black 68% Hispanic 75% Asian 78% White 87% Attended preschool Black 33% Hispanic 34% Asian 47% White 49% Visit a public library Black 49% Hispanic 49% Asian 68% White 56% Watch TV weekly (average hours) Black 18 Hispanic 15 Asian 13 White 13 You may want to read the entire article. The WSJ is a paid subscription website. You may want to check the library or hit up a subscriber friend. Bill Dooley Kenny TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
