Convention highlights achievement gaps

There is an achievement gap between black and white students in North Carolina.

Black students in North Carolina have performed lower on test scores for end-of-grade and end-of-course tests for the last several years, said Keith Howard, who works for Advocates for Children's Services, a division of Legal Aid in Durham.

He presented a program Thursday on the moral implications of the public school system in North Carolina at NAACP's state convention. The convention is being held in Hickory and runs through Saturday.

"Hickory has poor results for black children for end-of-grade and end-of-course exams, but Hickory is not the only one," Howard said.

Statewide, blacks scored 53.2 percent on end-of-course exams for the 2008-09 school year. That same year, white students scored 81 percent.

He said one way black students could do better — and have a better shot at going to college — is to take more advanced-placement and honors classes. That also would help students prepare for the SAT. Currently, Howard said there are not very many black students in North Carolina's advanced classes.

Some high schools do not offer the classes, something Howard hopes will change.

"Goldsboro High says it doesn't offer them because it says it doesn't have the students that want to take them," he said, adding that the school is 99 percent black. "It's all about access. If a student applies to UNC and one student has a 3.85 GPA and has taken several honors classes, and another student applies and has a 4.0, but hasn't taken any, which student do you think UNC is going to pick?"

The Rev. Kojo Nantambu of Charlotte attended the conference and said the NAACP wants all students to have equal services.

"Kids and schools have been resegregated," he said. "Schools should push for equitable diversity and equitable distribution of the finances."

Howard said it's been scientifically proven that black and white children are no different. He said there is simply an opportunity gap between the two.

Some black students also don't perform as well because of the school environment, school discipline, student readiness, parent education and a student's poverty level. Howard said teacher expectations also can play a role.

"If teachers don't have high expectations, the students won't rise up," he said.

Parents and schools can help students improve by having high expectations, creating a culturally relevant curriculum, serving as positive role models for their students, making effective use of their resources, having more community involvement and reducing the number of suspensions.

Howard said it's the last point that's feeding the school-to-prison pipeline, something he's very concerned about.

"This is a nationwide system of policies and laws that pull students out of school and into the justice system," he said.

"In North Carolina, you can be charged as an adult at 16," Howard said. "When you apply for college, they ask if you've been charged with a felony."

He said the primary cause of the school-to-prison pipeline is having a zero-tolerance policy of any misbehavior or over-policing in the schools. There are 849 school resource officers in N.C. schools, Howard said.

"There is a serious problem from the school-to-prison pipeline that schools aren't addressing," he said. "We need to take the police officers out of schools and stop punishing kids for being kids."

Howard said this isn't just limited to black students — this applied to every child.

"It will take effort among the school district, parents and the community, otherwise it will fester and get worse," he said.

The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, president of the N.C. NAACP, said it doesn't mean the NAACP supports misbehavior.

"The NAACP is pro-discipline and pro-school," he said. "The problem is that it's applied with zero-tolerance. Students are disciplined and suspended at high rates."