Study Finds Harlem Children’s Zone Programs Eliminate Black-White Academic Achievement Gaps

The Harlem Children’s Zone is a community-based program seeking to provide education, social services, and healthcare to children and their families in a 97-block area of New York City. The program includes two charter schools that serve more than 1,200 students in grades K-12.

A new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research co-authored by Roland G. Fryer Jr., a professor of economics at Harvard University, finds that the black-white academic achievement gap has been virtually eliminated by children participating in the Harlem Children’s Zone schools. The study was unable to conclude whether the charter schools were the principal reason for the success of the students or if the organization’s other social programs were major factors in the students’ achievements.

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