U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige recalls the day the U.S. Supreme Court handed down the Brown v. Board decision as clearly as he remembers the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.

		Additonal coverage How three Pittsburgh schools tried to beat the odds More photos: Images from schools fighting to close the achievement gap. Graphic: Racial Achievement Gap Graphic: Big gaps Graphic: Higher achievers From the Associated Press: Interactive presentation on Brown vs. Board of Education Day One: Many children still go to nearly all white or all black schools

It was 50 years ago today that the top court ruled that separate education facilities are "inherently unequal."

Paige knew about unequal facilities; he had never seen a microscope until he got to Jackson State University, a black college in Mississippi.

But over the years, Paige said he has learned that "segregation was not necessarily the real problem. The real problem was [that] racism was deeply embedded in American culture."

Its legacy is a persistent achievement gap between black and white students that Paige calls "the nation's most pressing social problem."

"The traditional goal for our African-Americans has been equal citizenship in the nation, equal opportunity, diminishing and getting away from racial discrimination," said Paige. "The achievement gap makes all of these goals more difficult."

The stark contrast between black and white achievement on international reading tests is just one example of the gap. In the Progress in International Literacy Reading Study (PIRLS), white American fourth-graders scored above students overall in Sweden -- the highest performing nation in the world -- but black American fourth-graders scored only near the international average.

Pennsylvania's black fourth-graders score in the bottom quarter of black fourth-graders nationwide, according to National Assessment of Educational Progress math and reading test results.

And ultimately, just 58 percent of black students, compared to 83 percent of white students, graduate from Pennsylvania high schools, according to The Education Trust.

The racial achievement gap has come under increased public scrutiny because of the results of the NAEP tests -- known as the "nation's report card" -- as well as state results under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

The federal act requires schools to show and be accountable for the achievement of minority groups or "subgroups," including those who are black and low-income.

"The No Child Left Behind Act has as its core purpose closing the achievement gap," said Paige.

Pittsburgh Superintendent John Thompson welcomes the attention to help fight the racial achievement gap, but he doesn't think the measures in the federal act -- which ultimately can lead to school closings -- are a solution.

"The No Child Left Behind did do a great thing and point out the subgroups, but that's a political thing, not an education bill," Thompson said.

A Post-Gazette analysis of state test results shows a gaping difference between black and white scores in the state and in the region.

While only about an average of 25 percent of Pennsylvania's black students scored proficient or better on math and reading combined, about 63 percent of white students did so.

Of 45 schools in Western Pennsylvania with at least enough white and black students to compare, only one -- Lafayette School in Uniontown Area -- has a gap of less than 10 percentage points on those combined average math and reading scores.

Dickson Intermediate School in Woodland Hills, which serves grades 4 through 6, had the largest gap, an average of about 50 percentage points.

Woodland Hills Superintendent Ronald Grimm said the district is working on improving achievement -- including offering summer school for grades 4, 5 and 6 and tutoring in the fall.

While the district plans to offer full-day kindergarten this fall to help improve achievement, Grimm said there's not enough money to expand the district's preschool program.

"Time and resources are always the two critical components," Grimm said.

Behind the gap

Esther Bush, president and chief executive of the Urban League of Pittsburgh, which operates a charter school that serves largely black and low-income students, said the socioeconomics behind the gap can't be ignored. Black families, on average, in America earn less than white families.

"This is the reality of where our society has black people....We cannot just say why can't Johnny read. We have to look at Johnny's family. That's very real. That's not an excuse."

A study last year by Educational Testing Service identified 14 factors -- some at school and some at home -- that are linked to the achievement gap.

At school, minority students were more likely to be short-changed on rigor of curriculum, teacher preparation, teacher experience and attendance, class size, technology-assisted instruction and school safety.

Outside of school, minority students were found to be at a disadvantage because of parent participation, student mobility, birth weight, lead poisoning, hunger and nutrition, reading to young children, television watching and parent availability.

"Achievement differences in school among subgroups of the population have deep roots. They arrive early and stay late -- beginning before the cradle and continuing through to graduation, if that happy outcome is obtained," according to the report.

The Post-Gazette's analysis of test scores shows that the gap exists in some of the city's highest-performing schools.

Linden Elementary School -- a German language magnet in Point Breeze -- was among the top schools for black students and for white students. Even so, it still has a racial achievement gap -- 27 percentage points, the 10th highest in the city.

But the gap is far wider at another elementary international studies magnet, East Hills, which offers French and is located in a housing project. White students there score high, but East Hills has some of the city's lowest-performing black students.

As a result, the racial achievement gap is about 82 percentage points, the largest in the city. On average, about 96 percent of its white students scored proficient or better while only 14.6 percent of its black students did.

Thompson, who was aware of the East Hills gap, considers it "shocking."

"We're trying to figure that out," he said. "...Somewhere somebody's not paying attention to the black kids. Somebody's not looking at the data."

Until recently, the city school district hadn't prepared a school-by-school racial achievement gap report, a practice it discontinued in 1998.

"The gap no longer mattered because all students were going to achieve. It became passe. We didn't pay attention to it," said Jack Garrow, city school district coordinator of report management, compliance and assessment.

"That was a big mistake. Over the years we weren't looking, it was getting bigger. I was astonished at the numbers."

Sealing the gaps

To those who say the gap can't be closed, Craig Jerold, principal partner of The Education Trust, said, "Let's be honest. As a nation, Pennsylvania as a state and schools in Pennsylvania have never really made a serious effort to close the achievement gap. Around the country, where we've seen places that have tried, we see them get tremendous results."

Homer Floyd, executive director of the state Human Relations Commission since 1970, worked for decades to desegregate schools. Today, his biggest disappointment is the continuing racial achievement gap.

"I'm not sure we really expect the same level of achievement for minority students as majority students," said Floyd. "In other words, there's a certain level of discrimination that we're willing to put up with in this society. We expect racial gaps, so, therefore, it's not offensive to us enough that we want to do something about it or correct it."

Karl Girton, chair of the state Board of Education, said, the board is committed to showing the gap can be closed.

Next month, the board will begin working with up to 20 schools that have measurable achievement gaps. Each school will have a team of educators and community members who will visit a similar school in another state that has closed the gap. Over the next three years, they will work to become state models for others to follow.

Closing that gap, said former Pittsburgh superintendent Richard Wallace, is "a difficult job, but it can be done. It takes an aggressive, hard-driving principal, teachers who are willing to work together with one another and work hard."

Most important, he said, are expectations. "It sounds very simple, but the level of expectations in my judgment and experience is probably the most significant variable in determining student achievement."

Other themes emerge at schools where black students perform well. Typically, they have:

A principal who effectively leads instruction;

Training that specifically shows teachers how meet students' needs;

Teachers who work together;

Quick intervention when a student falls behind;

Closer work with parents;

Extra instructional time, such as after-school and summer programs and tutoring.

Schools need to spend more time on children who are lagging, said Helen Faison, director of the Pittsburgh Teachers Institute at Chatham College and former interim superintendent of Pittsburgh's schools. That could include using the time in school better as well as after-school or summer programs.

"The other children who are all ready aren't going to stop learning and wait for them to catch up," Faison said.

Some educators see signs of progress. Diane Briars, senior program officer for math in city schools who tracks the math gap districtwide, said the city's black fifth-graders, for instance, are scoring higher on state math tests. She attributed that to a stronger effort -- more math resource specialists visiting schools and directives from the superintendent -- to see that the district's Everyday Math curriculum is fully implemented.

Despite the shortcomings in achievement five decades after the Brown decision, Ross Wiener, policy director of the Education Trust, said, "I think now even as unequal as things are, it's hard for people to appreciate just how stark and deplorable the living conditions for poor people were even as short as 40 to 50 years ago."

But, Wiener added, "Students of color have never gotten a fair shake in American public schools.

"That is the unfinished business of Brown v. Board."