Is school intergration easier for urban Black boys or girls?

July 29, 2014 9:52 AM

I seem to recall a MeFi post a while back, but cannot find it (perhaps it was from an NPR story) that referenced a study claiming that the achievement level for urban Black boys placed in suburban schools was much lower than their female counterparts.

I believe the author of the study opined that perhaps the difficulty for boys to integrate well was that they were treated differently, and seen as a threat by individuals in the new environment. Any help finding this study (or the OP) would be appreciated.

As a contrast, it's easy to find articles that say the exact opposite: claiming that integration for the boys are easier due to their perceived coolness. (I suspect that only holds true for boys with specific personality profiles)

Are there any other studies related to gender, achievement and school integration out there?

posted by Stu-Pendous to Education (3 answers total)

Best answer: You're thinking of a study that was conducted on HUD's Moving to Opportunity program, which found that girls did better than boys after moving out of poor neighborhoods. There were a bunch of media stories about it earlier this year.
posted by fancypants at 10:00 AM on July 29, 2014 [3 favorites]

Interestingly, an article in the Atlantic argued that African-American teen boys have an easier time socially (fitting into suburban schools) than do their female counterparts.
posted by leitmotif at 10:22 AM on July 29, 2014

Response by poster: Thanks fancypants! That was it. Particularly this Morning Edition piece.
posted by Stu-Pendous at 12:28 PM on July 29, 2014