An analysis of Michigan Merit Exam and ACT scores shows that black and low-income students are falling even further behind the state’s white students

While white student achievement has risen slightly over five years, scores for black and Hispanic students and students in poverty “remain grim,” according to the Education Trust-Midwest. African-American males are Michigan’s persistently lowest-achieving group. There is a deep and ever-widening gulf between African-American and white students, and between low-income and more affluent Michigan students. Over the last five years, MME results show that the black-white achievement gap has grown in math, reading, science, writing, improving only in social studies. Black 2012 proficiency rates are a shocking 35% lower than whites in reading, writing and social studies. Just 6% of black students scored proficient in math on the MME, only three points more than in 2008. Just 25% of high school juniors were proficient in science on the MME, but the rate for black students is 4%, 13% for Hispanic students and 12% for low-income students.