New York City - Schools with higher percentages of Black and Latino students received lower Progress Report grades, according to the analysis released by the Black and Latino Male Advocacy Coalition. Based in New York University's Metropolitan Center for Urban Education, the Advocacy Coalition monitors the educational progress of Black and Latino students in New York City's schools.

Under recent educational reforms, a Progress Report Grading System was implemented to measure the quality of New York City schools. The findings indicated that a higher proportion of Black and Latino students were concentrated in less selective high schools, which also tended to receive lower Progress Report Ratings.

"For both the 2006-07 and 2007-08 school years, districts that had higher enrollment of Black and Latino students also had higher percentages of schools with lower grades," said Pedro Noguera, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Metro Center and co-author of the research report. "This indicates that Black and Latino students have inequitable access to high quality schools."

Reviewing the Progress Report Grading System results, Metro Center found that while there was a substantial increase in the proportion of schools receiving A's and decrease in schools receiving C's in 2007-08, Black and Latino students were less likely to have access to higher-quality schools and more likely to live in communities with lower-quality schools.

According to the Metro Center analysis, large high schools and schools serving a high proportion of Black and Latino and special education students received comparatively lower grades in both the 2006-07 and 2007-08 school years. Additionally, there appeared to be marked differences in student composition between lower- and higher-graded schools.

"These findings strongly suggest that differences in high school quality according to the Progress Report grades are connected to the size, race/ethnicity, income level, and special education enrollment of a school," said Pedro Noguera, Executive Director of Metro Center.

Key findings from the Metro Center report:

• Approximately 34% of a high school's grading score could be explained by the proportion of racial/ethnic minority, free and reduced lunch, and special education students.
• Nearly 20% of the 247 schools with the highest proportion of Black and Latino students (between 98 and 100 percent) were either being penalized under the New York City accountability system (had received a D or F for two consecutive years) or were on the road to being penalized (had received a C in one year and a C, D, or F in the other year).
• None of the schools with the lowest proportion of Black and Latino students (between 6% and 39%) were being penalized under the system and only 5% were on the road to being penalized.

The Black and Latino Male Advocacy Coalition, funded by the Donor's Education Collaborative, represents a group of more than 10 organizations and individuals that meet regularly to coordinate research with advocacy activities throughout New York City. The goal of the Advocacy Coalition is to monitor the impact of New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) educational reforms on the academic performance of Black and Latino male students. The coalition is comprised of researchers, community-based organizations, educators, and advocates dedicated to improving the social and academic outcomes of Black and Latino males in NYC.

The Metropolitan Center for Urban Education is a comprehensive center that focuses on educational research, policy, and practice. The Metro Center acts as a partner and resource at the local and national levels in strengthening and improving access, opportunity, and the quality of education in our schools. Our mission is to target issues related to educational equity by providing leadership and support to students, teachers, parents, administrators, and policymakers.

To read the full report: click here