The data is in, and it paints a stark picture. In 2025, the median ACT score for our students has fallen to an alarming 15.9. This isn’t just a number; it’s a warning bell echoing across our communities.
For context, national research consistently shows a strong correlation between standardized test scores and income: individuals with higher ACT scores tend to earn significantly more over their lifetimes, while those in the 15–16 range face income ceilings that can limit generational progress. This trend of academic decline is visible across the board, from secondary school to the highest levels of professional certification.
We see it in the low pass rates on critical standardized tests:
· AP Computer Science: Limiting entry into our digital future.
· Engineering Entrance Exams: Closing doors to fields of innovation.
· U.S. Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE): Hindering the growth of Black doctors who are desperately needed in our communities.
The conversation often turns to entrepreneurship as a viable path forward and rightfully so. Entrepreneurship is a powerful strategy for building wealth and driving change. But without strong competence in math and science, our capacity to innovate is severely limited. Market-dominant products and services are born from deep technical understanding and analytical ability skills rooted in rigorous STEM education.
Relying on entrepreneurship without addressing this foundational gap will only further limit the success and impact our community can achieve.
This academic decline is about more than test scores; it is directly tied to the social determinants of health and contributes to the persistent life expectancy gap between African Americans and other groups. The path to a longer, healthier life is paved with opportunity, and that opportunity begins with a world-class education, underpinned by measurable achievement.
The Need for a Paradigm Shift
History teaches us that significant change never happens by tinkering around the edges. It requires a fundamental shift in our approach, a new paradigm.
For too long, we have faced a systemic challenge: many of our children, from Pre-K through 12th grade, are being taught by educators who, through no fault of their own, lack the deep prerequisite skills in math and science needed to prepare students for a competitive world.
But another critical part of transformation is leadership. We can no longer afford to entrust our children’s futures to individuals or leaders who have not demonstrated a track record of successfully improving educational outcomes. Effective transformation demands proven leaders who understand how to drive real, measurable advancement, not just maintain the status quo.
It is time for real leaders, especially among African Americans, to take their heads out of the sand, recognize the urgency, and take decisive action to change this trajectory.
This isn’t about blame; it’s about acknowledging a structural weakness that we must address with urgency and new solutions. We cannot expect different results while maintaining the same system and elevating the same ineffective leadership.
Leading the Change: A New Model for Excellence
The change we need is radical, focused, and immediate. It’s the kind of change championed by organizations like t.Lab, Ecotek Labs, and the MKE Fellows. These are not traditional organizations or tutoring centers; they represent a new educational paradigm, providing rigorous, specialized training in STEM fields and building the critical thinking skills that create producers, innovators, and leaders.
This model is the catalyst we need. It bypasses systemic gaps and gives our youth direct access to the high-level instruction required to excel not just on the ACT, but in the college lecture halls and corporate boardrooms of tomorrow.
Reshaping Our Culture for a Sustainable Future
True transformation requires more than better programs it demands a cultural shift. We must elevate educational excellence to a core value within our families and communities. High academic performance cannot be the exception; it must become the expectation.
Sustaining our culture and ensuring our progress depends on this. We must build a community where intellectual achievement is celebrated, where difficult subjects are embraced, and where our children are equipped to lead in every field of human endeavor.
The time for incremental adjustments has passed. We must act decisively, empowering the right leaders and raising our standards to secure the future our children deserve.
Media Contact:
t.Lab Communications
Office 888-327-3387
tlab@tlab-global.com
www.tlab-global.org
