In “Race for Results,” an index released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, 12 educational, health and economic factors were utilized to rank how children in various racial and ethnic groups perform in regions across the U.S. What the index finds is startling, yet perhaps not surprising to those concerned about the education and life chances of youth of color:
“It is clear that children of color—especially African-Americans, American Indians, and Latinos—are in serious trouble in numerous issue areas and in nearly every region of the country,” the report says. “Our nation cannot afford to leave this talent behind in hopes that these problems will remedy themselves.”
According to management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, if the United States had closed the academic achievement gap between African-American and Latino students and their white peers by 1998, the country’s gross domestic product in 2008 would have been up to $525 billion higher, according to a 2009 estimate by management consulting. The chart below indicates the national index scores:
How can educational institutions adequately address such a huge and ongoing problem with educational outcome disparities? Our next installment in this series will address this question.
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