African Americans make up just over half of the Shaker Heights student population but account for 82 percent of those who fail at least one portion of the state's ninth-grade proficiency test and 84 percent of those who earn D's or F's in at least one major subject after fifth grade. In four recent high school graduating classes, blacks made up just 7 percent of the students in the top fifth of their class, while they constituted 90 percent of those in the bottom fifth. The 5,600-student Shaker Heights school system might seem a strange place to find such racial disparities in student achievement. Far from the urban blight commonly associated with underachieving black students, this suburban school system has a reputation for being one of the best in America. The vast majority of students, black and white, are at least from middle-class families.
Advanced courses are open to any student who chooses to enroll.
High-achieving black students mentor struggling younger ones. And after-school, weekend and summer academies are available to bolster student achievement. Still, Shaker Heights officials acknowledge that they are as baffled as their colleagues elsewhere by the persistent achievement gap between black and white students. It is a problem that cuts across American education, from impoverished school districts to the most wealthy, and it is evident in a range of educational measures. Nationwide, African American preschoolers score much lower than whites in vocabulary tests.