Massachusetts often leads the nation when it comes to traditional metrics like college enrollment and SAT scores, but a new report by the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government released on Tuesday found that in the state’s capital, this success isn’t being felt by every student.
According to the report, black and Latino students in Boston with similar Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) scores as white and Asian students face strong barriers to entry to the city’s top exam schools: Boston Latin School, Boston Latin Academy, and the John D. O’Bryant School of Math and Science.
In particular, the report found that while black and Latino students make up 75 percent of the Boston Public School population, they are severely underrepresented in the city’s exam schools.
Speaking today on Boston Public Radio, former Massachusetts Secretary of Education Paul Reville said that while the report might be shocking to some, it displays an underlying problem in the state’s public educational system that has existed for over a decade. Reville pointed out that one of the obstacles facing black and Latino students is the fact that the MCAS might not properly align with what they are being in taught in Boston’s public schools.
Read the full article on the WGBH website.