Speakers: Dennis M. Walcott, Deputy Mayor for Policy, The City of New York; Abigail Thernstrom, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute; David Brennan, Chairman, White Hat Management LLC; Carol F. Reich, Ph.D., Co-Founder, Beginning With Children Foundation

One of the most important problems facing America is the gap in academic performance between African-American and Latino children on the one hand and white and Asian-American students on the other.

In fact, on the National Assessment for Educational Progress (the nation’s most respected education test), the typical black or Hispanic student at age 17 scores less well than 80 percent of his or her white classmates. On average, non-Asian minority students are four years behind their white and Asian classmates in educational skill level. Statistics show that children who lag behind during K-12 education will most likely remain educationally and economically disadvantaged in later life.

What causes this gap and what can be done to close it?

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