Michigan has the worst graduation rate in the nation for black males, while Detroit Public Schools has one of the worst rates among all districts, according to a national report issued July 25.

The study shows Michigan graduates just 33 percent of black males compared with 74 percent of white males, according to the report "Given Half a Chance: The Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males."

Detroit Public Schools graduates 20 percent of black males. The district has a lower rate of graduating white males —17 percent — exemplifying that the low rates are more a matter of inequality in resources than a matter of race, said John H. Jackson, president and CEO of the Cambridge, Mass.-based Schott Foundation for Public Education.

To improve graduation rates, officials should ensure those students have equal access to necessary resources to achieve high outcomes, Jackson said.

When placed in schools where they have the proper resources, they can meet the benchmarks, he said. When white students are placed in schools that also lack resources, their level of performance is similarly low.

"The low numbers of black, Latino and Native-American males who graduate from high school is a major concern," said state Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan. "It's obvious that the way we've been trying to educate these students is not working, and we have to look at other ways to reach them. Governor Granholm's small high school initiative is an important strategy to build greater relevance and relationships with schools and students. We have confidence this, combined with a more challenging curriculum required by our new graduation requirements, will help make a difference."

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Source: Detroit News, 7.26.08