Anyone who walks into Achievement Prep for a tour (enthusiastically led by yours truly) will be immediately directed to the data and graphs board outside our main office, which shows that Achievement Prep has eliminated the achievement gap between African American children in DC and their white peers in math, and closed most of the gap in reading.
While only 41% and 42% of DC African Americans scored proficient or advanced on the 2011 DC CAS in Reading and Math, respectively, DC White students scored 88% proficient or advanced in both subjects. In 2011, Achievement Prep scholars scored 87% and 60% proficient or advanced in Reading and Math respectively. We still have a lot of work to do, especially in reading, but we've come a long way since we opened our doors in 2008, and we're doing a lot for this historically under served community in Ward 8.
What provoked me to share those surprising numbers above was something I read on the internet earlier today. I stumbled across an interesting Room for Debate segment from the NY Times which debates the merits of ending the War on Drugs that disproportionately affects young, black males in America, who comprise a large portion of marijuana-related arrests. Not to mention the fact that according to Michelle Alexander's new book, The New Jim Crow, nearly one-third of black men are likely to spend time in prison during their lifetimes. The Debate includes several short opinion pieces from a variety of authorities who all have different perspectives on the issue. Link here:
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/03/12/young-black-and-male-in-america
A lot of things that were said by the authors reflect realities of the community I work in. One of the writers makes a compelling case for valorizing the father and encouraging two parent family structure. She noted that 73% of black children in 2009 were born to unwed mothers, something that I frequently see among the mothers of Achievement Prep scholars.
However, I was specifically blown away by a statistic mentioned in Craig DeRoche's piece that stated the following (by low-level law breakers he means people who are arrested on drug charges):
Statistically, trolling for low-level law breakers has distracted the public from demanding justice where it is most needed. For example, Chicago solved only 30 percent of the murders committed in 2011 (down from 80 percent in 1991). Comparing this to a Brookings employment study for 2011, getting away with murder was easier than finding a job for the unemployed in Chicago.
That is INSANE!! I'd like to hear what my fellow fellow at the North Lawndale Employment Network, Michael Collins '11 has to say about this.
While only 41% and 42% of DC African Americans scored proficient or advanced on the 2011 DC CAS in Reading and Math, respectively, DC White students scored 88% proficient or advanced in both subjects. In 2011, Achievement Prep scholars scored 87% and 60% proficient or advanced in Reading and Math respectively. We still have a lot of work to do, especially in reading, but we've come a long way since we opened our doors in 2008, and we're doing a lot for this historically under served community in Ward 8.
What provoked me to share those surprising numbers above was something I read on the internet earlier today. I stumbled across an interesting Room for Debate segment from the NY Times which debates the merits of ending the War on Drugs that disproportionately affects young, black males in America, who comprise a large portion of marijuana-related arrests. Not to mention the fact that according to Michelle Alexander's new book, The New Jim Crow, nearly one-third of black men are likely to spend time in prison during their lifetimes. The Debate includes several short opinion pieces from a variety of authorities who all have different perspectives on the issue. Link here:
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/03/12/young-black-and-male-in-america
A lot of things that were said by the authors reflect realities of the community I work in. One of the writers makes a compelling case for valorizing the father and encouraging two parent family structure. She noted that 73% of black children in 2009 were born to unwed mothers, something that I frequently see among the mothers of Achievement Prep scholars.
However, I was specifically blown away by a statistic mentioned in Craig DeRoche's piece that stated the following (by low-level law breakers he means people who are arrested on drug charges):
Statistically, trolling for low-level law breakers has distracted the public from demanding justice where it is most needed. For example, Chicago solved only 30 percent of the murders committed in 2011 (down from 80 percent in 1991). Comparing this to a Brookings employment study for 2011, getting away with murder was easier than finding a job for the unemployed in Chicago.
That is INSANE!! I'd like to hear what my fellow fellow at the North Lawndale Employment Network, Michael Collins '11 has to say about this.
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