In September 1996, the Missouri Commissioner of Education appointed a statewide task force on the Achievement of African-American Students. The findings of the state-level task force, the views of Missouri students, and the experience of successful educators all support the conclusion that the single most important nontangible element required to fuel increases in African-American achievement in school is high expectations for students. The key to identifying the issues and fashioning resolutions is a common and public understanding of data related to student success. Following are 11 concrete recommendations focused on the curriculum of the school, the curriculum of the home, and the curriculum of the community: (1) extend learning for all students who are not on track to be proficient in any subject or grade level; (2) minimize absenteeism and create policies for stability; (3) maintain a stable, competent staff at each attendance center; (4) raise the capacity of the staff to effectively teach diverse learners; (5) recruit, employ, and retain a competent faculty that generally reflects the diversity of the student population; (6) increase African-American participation in Missouri's Parents as Teachers Program; (7) engage African-American parents and community leaders in the life of the school community at all grade levels; (8) guarantee that African-American students are involved in high-quality preschool programs for 3- and 4-year-olds; (9) invite successful role models into the school; (10) establish support systems that include individual mentors for African-American students; and (11) initiate and support programs for children and young adults to enrich nonschool activities. The performance scores of African-American students as a class should not be identifiable when compared with scores of nonAfrican-American students. Missouri still has far to go to reach such parity in performance. Six appendixes contain tables of student performance results. (SLD)