Today, 15.5 million children in America live in poverty. Nearly one in four children under the age of five are poor; and over 40 percent of these children are Black. At nine months of age, poor Black children are already behind their higher-income peers in cognitive development; the gap is even wider at 24 months. By kindergarten, poor Black children have to beat the odds to catch up—and as various tests reveal, many never do.

Identifying Opportunities for Success

This year’s Addressing Achievement Gaps Symposium “A Strong Start: Positioning Young Black Boys for Educational Success” is devoted to the issues facing Black boys in their early years. CDF is partnering with ETS to explore the challenges facing this vulnerable population and the opportunities to position young Black boys for educational success.

The symposium will explore:

• Connections between early brain development and later academic achievement in young Black boys
• Advantages of a well-designed PreK–3rd grade educational continuum
• Promising policy initiatives to address the holistic needs of Black boys in their early years

When: Tuesday, June 14, 2011
           8 to 8:45 a.m. (Registration and Breakfast)
           9 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. (Symposium)

Where: National Press Club
            529 14th Street Northwest
            Washington, D.C. 20045

For more information about the symposium, click here.

If you have questions, please call Lili Pollock at ETS by phone at 1-609-734-5504 or email lpollock@ets.org.