The African American Education Data Book. Volume III : The Transition from School to College and School to Work. Executive Summary / Michael T. Nettles and Laura W. Perna.

This executive summary completes the three-volume set depicting the educational experiences of African Americans from preschool through adulthood. Like Volumes I and II, Volume III records the African American educational progress that has previously existed only in a multitude of places, including research and Census databases, at testing companies, and inside schools, colleges, and universities. Bringing these data together makes it possible to plan research agendas and make policy decisions based on recent and accurate data. Volume II concentrates on the transition from school to college and the subsequent transition from college to work. The data also make some conclusions about African American education possible. African Americans continue to be under-represented among those taking undergraduate admissions tests relative to their representation in the traditional college-age populations. They score below their white counterparts on admissions tests, in part because high school curricular choices appear to limit their success. The majority of African American undergraduate admissions test takers are female, a precursor to the gender gap in postsecondary educational enrollments and degree completions. Educational aspirations increased between 1980 and 1990 for both African Americans and Whites, but on-time high school completions were substantially lower for African Americans. In fact, African Americans are much less likely than Whites to attain the levels of education to which they had once aspired. A number of other findings complete the picture of African American education. (Contains 14 figures.) (SLD)

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