Left Behind from the
Boston Globe.
The article looks at racial differences on standardised tests (NAEP). It shows that white and asian students perform considerably better than black and hispanic students at high-school. The gap is not small -- the average black or hispanic student is four years behind the average white or asian student. The disparities are evident across the spectrum of performance.
Non-racial factors (parental income, education, location) account for around a third of the gap -- the other two thirds seems directly attributable to race. There has been some improvement over the last 25 years, but the most recent trends indicate that the gaps has stablised or may be widening again.
These scores are important. They are highly reliable (a technical term, that basically means that if you repeat the test under the same conditions, you will get the same results) and highly valid in predicting subsequent economic success.
The article isn't very clear on
why this gap exists; but it does suggest one solution: improving the quality of teaching. It touches on restructuring both teacher education and school administration to improve the quality of teaching.