FAIRFAX, Va.

A new report from The College Fund/UNCF says that African American students begin school eagerly and score about as well as white students on tests of verbal memory and social and developmental skills. But for many, the fourth grade marks the beginning of a downward academic spiral.

The findings, released early this month, are compiled in a new, 370-page reference book devoted to pre-school, primary, and secondary education of African American students. It is the second volume of a three-part portrait of African Americans and education. According to College Fund president and CEO, William H. Gray III, volume II of The African American Education Data Book is less encouraging than the first volume, devoted to higher and adult education. Volume III, which will focus on school-to-work and college trends, is expected to be released in August, said Dr. Michael T. Nettles, executive director of the Frederick Patterson Research Institute, the research arm of The College Fund/UNCF.

Volume II of the Data Book series explores the attitudes and social behavior of African American students in relation to their educational advancement. Parental involvement, school safety, teacher preparation, television viewing, and economic disadvantage are among a number of factors identified as key to the educational experience of African Americans.

"When measured against high standards, as on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, far too many Black children fall short," said Nettles.

According to Gray, volume I, which was released in March, had more good news. Among other things, it documented the growth in college graduation rates among African Americans, particularly women.

"This study," Gray said, "has more negatives. Our next task is to find out why."

While the second volume compiles decades of data from forty national databases and archives, it does not analyze the findings.

Analysis and solutions are urgently needed, according to Gray, "in light of the current debate in higher education and in graduate and professional schools surrounding affirmative action and standardized testing."

Some of the findings in the new study, which includes data gathered through 1994, include:

* On average, African American students watch more television and participate in fewer extra-curricular activities than their white counterparts.

* Although African Americans make up 12.5 percent of the nation's population, they represent more than 16.5 percent of all elementary and secondary public school students.

* African American high school seniors are using marijuana, smoking cigarettes, and consuming alcohol at dramatically lower rates than their white peers.

* Young African American children participate in preschool programs at a higher rate than white students (53 percent versus 44 percent).

* Fewer than one-third of the nation's African American students attend schools in large cities, but more than one-half of African American public school teachers and public school principals work in urban schools.

Although African American preschoolers score almost as high as white students in other measures, the fact that many African American 'students score lower in vocabulary "may well be a precursor to problems in reading later on," said Nettles, a professor of education on leave from the University of Michigan. "And it may be something that preschools and the early elementary grades can deal with directly by using materials that have rich vocabulary and engage children's great curiosity and imagination."

Said Gray: "If this gap [in vocabulary skills] is not addressed, then you permanently doom the majority of African American students to failure in gaining access to higher education."

What's needed, Gray said, "is a call to action," as well as a revamping of the preschool curriculum for Black students to include an academic curriculum that fosters reading and vocabulary skills and is less focused on providing "baby-sitting service."

Some scholars hope the hefty volume of information will also positively influence national education policy affecting African American students.

"Prevailing policies and practice directed at improving the school success of African American students have often been guided by good intentions, conventional wisdom, and limited and sparse data sources that focus on single explanations of school achievement," said Dr. Jacqueline Jordan Irvine of Emory University.

Linda Darling-Hammond of Columbia University agrees, calling The College Fund's research series "invaluable." She suggests that "anecdotes and hunches" and not research - have been used to "tackle the root causes of inequality in this country," and to understand the "conditions of education for African American students."

Says Nettles: "Some of the information in this data book is positive. Some of it is pretty discouraging. But to know is to act."