While significant progress has been made bridging the gap between blacks and whites in education during the last third of the 20th century, the gap stopped closing in the late 1980's and has been widening since. Results of a new study by the National Assessment of Educational Progress show that on average scores of 17-year-old black students are on par with 13-year-old whites. Many factors weigh into this issue, including ensuring that black and white students have the same access to high quality teachers and curriculums.

"Many would argue there are residual elements of racism that are difficult to avoid no matter what class you're in," said Acting Dean Edmund Gordon. "Minority kids too often experience their education as a constraint, rather than liberating force … they resist engagement in the educational experience because they feel that to fully engage will leave them to be perceived as 'acting white.'"

The article, entitled "At schools, race gap widens again" appeared on the 8/25/00 on WNYC Radio AM.

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