Pittsburg Post-Gazette: Reading's racial disparity

"When it comes to reading, race can matter.

A young black male has a better chance of getting teased for reading books instead of playing sports. Black children are less likely to have parents who read to them at an early age and expose them to books."

"By 12th grade, black students are scoring significantly lower in reading than white students, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the Nation's Report Card. Add to that the fact that 12th grade boys overall score lower than 12th grade girls. That puts the average black male high school senior at the bottom of all reading groups.

Much of the reading disparity stems from habits children learn from an early age, said Esther Bush, executive director of the Urban League of Pittsburgh, who has worked closely with schools over the years.

"The vocabulary of African-American children is so much [smaller] than children of other races even when they enter kindergarten. All of us as Americans ought to be teaching our kids good [behavior] such as reading books."

While the numbers in the Nation's Report Card show some racial differences, Luther Clegg, a retired professor at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth who did research on multicultural children's literature, said, based on his experience, reading success is more related to a child's socioeconomic background than race."

Full story: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07242/813343-298.stm