Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu recently died at the age of 71. He was best known for his 1980s series Countering the Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys. Kunjufu identified a problem he labeled “fourth grade failure syndrome.”

Black boys appear to perform well in primary grades (1-3) but don’t transition well into the intermediate grades (4-5). Beginning in fourth grade, children go from learning to read to reading to learn. When black boys do not have a successful transition, they fall behind in reading comprehension. As a result, these students lose interest in their schoolwork and eventually disengage from academics entirely by the time they reach high school.

It was assumed that the decline in Black male achievement began in high school, when peer groups became the major influence. Kunjufu’s disco

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