High School Graduation Rates Broken Down By State & Ethnicity

Below are the high school graduation rates for individual states broken down by ethnicity. All numbers represent a percentage of the total population (ex. 54 = 54% of African Americans in AL graduate from high school).

State	African American	Asian	Hispanic	White
AK	66.3	71.4	58.3	66.3
AL	54	66.3	43.8	65.8
AR	62.7	76.8	N/A	74.4
AZ	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
CA	55.3	82	57	75.7
CO	49	72.6	47.6	75.2
CT	60.7	73.7	50.1	81.9
D.C.	60.4	N/A	56.1	N/A
DE	53.4	N/A	42.2	69.7
FL	41	79.9	52.2	57.9
GA	43.7	79.8	43.2	62.4
HI	60.7	66.8	59.9	64.7
IA	48	66.2	40.5	79.3
ID	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
IL	47.8	88.8	57.8	82.9
IN	52.9	N/A	50.4	74.9
KS	52.1	48	47.6	78.9
KY	47.5	63.3	62.8	68.5
LA	57.7	74.2	74.2	68
MA	49.4	60.5	36.1	73.7
MD	64.8	92.9	71.2	79.9
ME	N/A	35.2	N/A	72.3
MI	N/A	N/A	36.3	76.6
MN	51	66.3	N/A	81.4
MO	52.3	73.4	N/A	76.1
MS	52.6	45.6	N/A	63.3
MT	71.4	N/A	56.8	79.3
NC	53.6	68.3	58.4	69.2
ND	72.1	30.6	N/A	84.1
NE	45.2	N/A	46.9	81.7
NH	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
NJ	62.3	83.3	N/A	86.4
NM	55.9	64.2	54.7	67.8
NY	35.1	61.2	31.9	75.3
OH	39.6	N/A	43.2	75.9
OK	52.8	N/A	56.2	72.1
OR	58	78.4	56.2	71.4
PA	45.9	63.5	40.9	81.3
RI	84.1	53.8	67.7	73.8
SC	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
SD	N/A	61.2	N/A	83.4
TN	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
TX	55.3	85.3	55.9	73.5
UT	N/A	69.3	N/A	83.7
VA	62.8	80.4	65.2	76.1
VT	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
WA	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
WI	41.1	73.2	54.4	82.4
WV	58	N/A	N/A	71.3
WY	67.7	N/A	57.1	73.3

Historical Figures: Shirley Chisholm

Shirley Chisholm (November 30, 1924 - January 1, 2005)

Shirley Chisholm was born Shirley Anita St. Hill on November 30, 1924 in Brooklyn, New York to immigrant parents. Her father, Charles Christopher St. Hill, was born in British Guiana while her mother, Ruby Seale, was born in Barbados. An alumna of Girls High School in Brooklyn, Chisholm graduated with a B.A. from Brooklyn College in 1946 and an M.A. in elementary education from Columbia University in 1952. She was first elected to the New York State Legislature in 1964. In 1968, Chisholm ran for the House of Representatives as the Democratic candidate for New York's 12th District. She was elected and became the first black woman elected to Congress. Chisholm later joined the Congressional Black Caucus as one of its founding members. 

In 1972, Chisholm made a bid for the Democratic party's presidential nomination. During the campaign, she survived 3 assassination attempts. Despite winning 28 delegate votes, George McGovern won the Democratic primary in a contested set of primary elections. Her support base was ethnically diverse and included the National Organization for Women (NOW), Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan. 

From 1977 to 1981, Chisholm was elected to a position in the House Democratic leadership as Secretary of the House Democratic Caucus. Throughout her tenure in Congress, she worked to improve opportunities for inner-city residents. She was a vocal opponent of the draft and supported increased spending for education, health care, and decreased military spending. After many years in Congress, Chisholm retired in 1982. After retiring, she taught politics and women's studies and was named the Purington Chair at Mount Holyoke College from 1983 to 1987. In 1993, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. Chisholm retired to Florida and passed away on January 1, 2005. 

"When I die, I want to be remembered as a woman who lived in the twentieth century and who dared to be a catalyst for change. I don't want be remembered as the first black woman who went to Congress, and I don't even want to be remembered as the first woman who happen to be black to make a bid for the presidency. I want to be remembered as a woman who fought for change in the twentieth century. That's what I want."

-Shirley Chisholm

Autobiographical Writings

Unbought and Unbossed (1970)

The Good Fight (1973)

This Day in History...

-The Indian Removal Act is passed by Congress; Andrew Jackson signs it into law 2 days later, 1830

-Russia and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Gandamak establishing an Afghan state, 1879

-The novel Dracula is published, 1897

-Miles Davis, American jazz trumpeter and composer, born, 1926

-British Guiana gains its independence becoming Guyana, 1966

-Terry Nichols is convicted of 161 state murder charges in connection with the Oklahoma City Bombing, 2004

-Holiday: National Sorry Day (Australia)

The Power of Low Expectations

An interesting psychological study published by Wood, Kaplan and McLoyd (2007) raised an interesting point about the power of expectations as it relates to academic achievement. Research has indicated that for African Americans, parental education-related expectations predict their children's own expectations even when controlling for academic achievement. The messages that African American parents convey to their children and the perception of these messages influence the child's future education orientation (Kerpelman,  Eryigit, & Stephens, 2008). Based in part on the idea that parental expectations are linked to youth expectations and that African Americans perceive more barriers for males than females, the researchers hypothesized that African American parents held lower expectations for the future attainment of sons compared to daughters. As a result of these lower expectations, Wood, Kaplan and McLoyd (2007) expected that African American males would hold lower expectations for their educational attainment than females. The study consisted of African American children ranging in age from 6 to 16 with a median age of 12.3 years. Parental expectations were based on the question "how far do you actually think your child will go in school?"

The results showed that African American parents did tend to hold lower expectations for the future educational attainment of their sons compared to their daughters. Parents expected 47% of males but 61% of females to complete college or beyond. As a result, males between the ages of 9 and 16 reported lower expectations for themselves than did females. Similarly, African American males were less sure that they would attend and complete college than females. The researchers found that the link between the youths' gender and self-expectations were fully mediated by parental expectations. Interestingly, they also found that the gender gap in expectation did not increase as a function of age; nine- and ten-year-old African American males already had lower expectations than females. Gender differences in expectations were most pronounced at the lowest income levels. These factors likely contribute to the finding that a significant number of African American males disidentify with education earlier and more often than their female counterparts. While teachers are indeed an important part of the educational process, parents seem to be the more important factor affecting academic achievement. It is imperative that parents become and remain involved in the education of their children (of both genders) in order to avoid the negative outcomes associated with poor achievement.

References:

Kerpelman, J. L., Eryigit, S., & Stephens, C. J. (2007). African American adolescents’ future education orientation: associations with self-efficacy, ethnic identity, and perceived parental support. Journal of Youth Adolescence, 37, 997-1008. 

Wood, D., Kaplan, R., & McLoyd, V. C. (2007). Gender differences in the educational expectations of urban, low-income African American Youth: The role of Parents and the School. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 36, 417-427.

Women Surpass Men in Advanced Degrees

According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, for the first time women have surpassed men in obtaining both bachelor's and advanced degrees. It was suggested that a combination of factors including women's increased enrollment in colleges in the 1980s and a steady decline in stay-at-home mothers has contributed to the current demographics of higher education. Specifically, among women 25 and older, 10.6 million women have a master's degree or higher compared to 10.5 million men. Women do still lag behind men in business, science and engineering degrees. In terms of undergraduate degrees however, 20.1 million women have a bachelor's degree compared to 18.7 million men; women first surpassed men in this area in 1996.

When one looks specifically at African Americans, the gap between men and women is much more striking. While 56% of African American females nationally graduate from high school, only 42% of their male counterparts graduate. In some states, only 29% of African American males receive a high school diploma. Due to this gender gap in high school graduation rates, women receive advanced degrees at high rates than men. African American women receive 63% of bachelor's degrees, 67% of master's and 60% of doctoral degrees received by African Americans. 

Other statistics:

-Hispanic women are 1.5 times more likely to receive an associate's, bachelor's and master's degree than a  Hispanic male.

-In 1977-78, Asian men were 1.1 times more likely to receive a bachelor's degree than an Asian female. By 1999-2000, Asian women were 1.2 times more likely to receive a bachelor's.

-In 1977-78, 101 white women received master's per 100 white men. By 1999-2000, 151  white women per 100 white men receive master's

-The number of African American women receiving associate's degrees has increased dramatically; Per 100 African American men, it was 142 women in the 1970s, 169 in the 1980s and 188 in the late 1990s

The gender gap in educational attainment has led to a number of books about a potential crisis facing males in schools. Some of these books include The Trouble with Boys... by Peg Tyre and Boys Adrift: The Five Factors Growing the Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men by Leonard Sax. While the 1960s and 1970s saw the rise of feminism and women's rights, the tide has turned to helping boys succeed given the current statistics. The current economic climate requires at least a high school degree, but more likely a college degree in to obtain a job so it is paramount that the reasons that males become disengaged with the academic environment are pinpointed and specifically targeted. 

Children without 'Forever' Homes

Currently, there are over 400,00 children in the United States foster care system. Each year more children become available for adoption than are adopted. For example, in 2009 over 69,000 children were up for adoption but only 57,000 were adopted. According to a November 2010 article at SFGate.com, children often wait 3 or more years to be adopted, move 3 or more times in foster care and are often separated from siblings. While the average age of a 'waiting' child is 8 years old, approximately 20,000 young people leave the foster care system each year without an adoptive family.

While in foster care, youth receive services such as food, housing, transportation and medical care. If not adopted by age 18, a young person in foster care "ages out" of the system and loses all of his or her foster care services. Many are left to fend for themselves without any support. Likely due in part to a lack of support, people who age out of the foster care system are more likely to experience negative outcomes.

• 84.8% do not have a high school diploma or GED
• 22% are homeless
• 33.2% are below the poverty line
• 25% are involved in crime
• 54.4% have behavioral/emotional issues, school problems and mental and physical health issues
• 50% experience early pregnancy
• Only 33 percent have health insurance
• Only 20% complete college

*Statistics take from:  http://cle.osu.edu/lwc-publications/youth-information-briefs/downloads/Youth-Aging-Out-of-Foster-Care.pdf

Because of the high rates of negative outcomes more needs to be done to ensure that young people who have been in the foster care system do not fall through the cracks. If this issue is ignored, the United States will continue to have a population of people with little opportunity for success. 

This Day in History: May 19

-Anne Boleyn is beheaded for adultery, treason and incest, 1536

-Mexico ratifies the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ending the Mexican American War and ceding California, Nevada, Utah and parts of 4 other modern day states to the United States for $15 million, 1848

-Mustafa Kemal Ataturk lands at Samsun on the Anatolian Black Sea initiating what is later termed the Turkish War of Independence and the Greek Genocide, 1919

-The U.S. Congress ratifies the Emergency Quota Act establishing national quotas on immigration, 1921

-Malcolm X born, 1925

-Mars 2 is launched by the Soviet Union, 1971

-Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis dies, 1994