African American students in the Portland Public Schools consistently
perform lower on
Oregon State tests than white students.
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49.2% of African American and 80.3% of white 8th grade students met benchmark in reading
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44.1% of African American and 79% of white 8th grade met benchmark in math
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17.7% of African American and 56.3% of white 10th grade students met benchmark in math
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26.2% of African American and 65.3% of white 10th grade met benchmark in reading
(Oregon Department of Education 2006)
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Though African Americans make up approximately 10% of Multnomah County higher then 25.8% of youth are referred for delinquency
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African-American youth comprise a higher proportion of youth who are referred for violent offenses (35.0%). These findings are consistent with the results of previous years.
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The proportion of African American youth referred to the criminal justice system was more then three times greater then the proportion of African American youth living in Multnomah County.
(Department of Community Justice Multnomah County 2003)
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Nearly 84% of African American children in Oregon reside in Multnomah County. Statewide, only 3% of African American high school students are registered in Advanced Placement (AP) classes.
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15% earn a college degree in four years.
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99.9% of students in Oregon attend Title I schools.
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Only 197.5 teachers (as measured by FTE) are African-American out of a total 19,353.5
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Students who are not involved in any out-of-school activities are 6 times more likely to drop out of school by senior year, 3 times more likely to be suspended in sophomore or senior year and 2 times more likely to be arrested by senior year.
In a 2004 a poll conducted by the Chalkboard Project revealed Oregonians named lack of parental involvement as the number one barrier to improved student achievement. In numerous forums, Black parents have voiced feeling unwelcome in the schools, discomfort in school settings, as well as a greater need for education about how to engage with governmental systems. Black parents have also voiced their need for more information on how to help their children do better in school.
The Black Parent Initiative is a new approach, designed to take advantage of the influence Black churches have to encourage engagement in educational and civic government.
