Government schools across the country are fretting over the persistent academic achievement gap between black and white students. On average, blacks score lower than whites on standardized tests and receive lower grades. By the time they graduate from high school, black students are four grades behind their white peers.

The easiest and least controversial approaches to dealing with the gap include throwing more money into the public school pot and blaming white racism. Black parents in Pinellas County, Fla., are going so far as suing the school district over the achievement gap, claiming that the district failed to adequately educate black kids, who need programs uniquely tailored to them.

When asked what teaching methods and curriculum do plaintiffs contend would close the gap, the school board’s attorney James Robinson said that to his knowledge, they have not identified such methods and added, “Our position is that the teaching methods and programs we have in place for underachieving students are effective and benefit students of all races and ethnicities who take advantage of the opportunity to benefit by them.”

Bureaucrats are slowly but inevitably facing a difficult and more controversial approach to addressing the gap: encouraging parental involvement and family stability. No amount of money or guilt-tripping will compensate for noninvolvement and instability. Incidentally, religion is also a factor.

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According to a recent study published in the American Sociological Review, summer vacation increases the achievement gap between lower- and higher-income students because higher-income households tend to be “resource rich.” They have more books and magazines, and the parents are more inclined to read to their children. Ironically, parents don’t need to be affluent to have books and magazines around or to read to kids. Parental involvement pays.

Family stability and religion appear to close the achievement gap. William Jeynes, a researcher and education professor at California State University at Long Beach, analyzed data from the National Education Longitudinal Study and concluded that when black and Hispanic students from intact families (both biological parents present in the home) who attended church regularly and considered themselves “highly religious” were compared to white students, the academic achievement gap vanished when controlling for socioeconomic status.

Jeynes also found that, even when not controlling for socioeconomic status, the achievement gap was small. Black and Hispanic students in religious schools outperformed their counterparts in public schools.

“Our nation should encourage these sources of personal strength rather than discourage them. Presently, our school leaders do little to encourage religious faith in youth of color and as President Clinton observed in a 1995 speech, our public schools often communicate to children that they are to leave their faith at the front door of the school entrance,” said Jeynes, who’ll present his findings today at the National Press Club in Washington.

Given the importance of two-parent families to a child’s education, black students are at a distinct disadvantage. In 2005, only 35 percent of black children were living with two parents, compared with 84 percent of Asian children, 76 percent of white children and 65 percent of Hispanic children. Fatherlessness is correlated with low academic achievement.

Unless politicians and bureaucrats rid themselves of hand-wringing guilt over “blaming the victim” and face facts, disparities between black and white students will continue to loom large. And unless blacks reverse the pervasive trend of family instability and become more involved in their children’s education, their children will continue to come in last place.

La Shawn Barber is a member of The Examiner’s Blog Board of Contributors and blogs at www.lashawnbarber.com.