A deep and persistent minority achievement gap is one of the most urgent problems facing Boston Public Schools, as the city welcomes a school superintendent who oversaw Minnesota schools plagued by chronic poor academic performance.
In Boston, only 24% of black and 26% of Hispanic students in grades 3 though 8 scored above grade-level proficiency in MCAS reading last year, compared to 63% of white and 62% of Asian students — disparities that top school and city officials have declined to discuss.
“Black and Hispanic students have not been making enough progress,” said Chad Aldeman, senior associate partner at Bellwether Education Partners, a nonprofit that recently studied achievement in Boston Public Schools. “It’s a troubling sign.”
The gap is also glaring for Boston high school sophomores. Ninety-three percent of Asian and 85% of white sophomores last year scored “proficient” or “advanced” in math, compared to 57% of black and 58% of Hispanic sophomores.
More than 40% of both black and Hispanic sophomores are in the “needs improvement” and “failing” categories for math, compared to 15% of white and 7% of Asian sophomores.