Were there any confirmations about previous assessment tools, research approaches or conclusions?
Coley: First, we confirmed the strength of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). We nailed down NAEP’s trajectory. It’s considered the gold standard. We’re pretty sure that the trends that have been reported are valid. Diverse: What followed the confirmation that things were getting worse for Black students? Coley: We were struck by the realization of our weakness in not being able to prove anything. Desegregation, class size—you name it—we haven’t been able to definitively link it to the alarming changes we found. It also happened with educational levels and not just test scores. Diverse: Some point to hip-hop’s influence on the decline of Black student achievement. Coley: We didn’t get near that topic. Former National Urban League President Hugh Price said we missed the hip-hop angle. We know that some lyrics are anti-education but, again, we couldn’t find a single smoking gun. Diverse: What other possibilities did you pursue? Coley: We also tracked a number of othe
