The achievement of California’s African-American students is improving across the state, but such students are still less likely than their white and Asian-American peers to post high scores in English and math, according to a May 21 report by EdSource, a Mountain View, Calif.-based organization that conducts research and policy analysis.
More African-American 8th graders are taking Algebra 1—up from 24 percent in 2003 to 46 percent in 2007—the report shows, but by the time they reach junior year, only 9 percent have taken Algebra 2.
Yet achievement levels vary tremendously from school to school. Statewide, black students earned an average score of 643 on the state’s Academic Performance Index, a figure ranging from 200 to 1,000 that is based on test results.
But at 45 elementary schools in the state, the API scores for black students ranged from 785 to 882.
