Report: Positive role models needed to close achievement gap

Black boys need positive role models from within their own communities to tackle underachievement, according to a report issued in Great Britain. The panel of experts, from fields including education and business, says too often role models for young black men include rappers who glamorize guns. The report, commissioned by the Department for Communities and Local Government, says this could cost the United Kingdom £24 billion over the next 50 years through taxes and criminal justice costs. The report also calls for stronger relationships between schools and the parents of black boys and urges the school inspection body Ofsted to make sure all schools strive to close the academic gap between black and white pupils. Read the article at BBC News.