This document comprises a selected overview of important issues concerning black education in New York State, and recommends specific strategies for improvement. Chapter 1, "Black Student Enrollment, Distribution, and Performance in New York State: Presenting the Data," and chapter 2, "Dropouts in New York: Problems and Prevention Programs," report evidence of elementary and secondary education which is failing to produce satisfactory performance results for the majority of black students, especially those in the "Big Five" cities of New York, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Yonkers. Chapter 3, "Early Childhood Education: First Steps toward School Completion," and chapter 4, "Technology in the Schools: Serving All Students," discuss program approaches that have been effective in reaching and teaching black students how to make steady academic and social progress from elementary school through high school graduation. Chapter 5, "Education Reforms and the Effective Performance of Black Students: A Necessary Connection," describes the need to connect the policies and mandated activities of the "Regents Action Plan To Improve Elementary and Secondary Education Results in New York" (1984) to strategies that will improve the academic performance of black children. Chapter 6, "State Aid to Substantially Black School Districts," analyzes the flow of State financial aid and recommends more precise targeting of funds. Chapter 7, "The Status of Blacks in Higher Education in New York State," reviews the "1986 Progress Report on the Regents Statewide Plan for the Development of Postsecondary Education in New York State: 1984," and offers recommendations for making the "Plan" more effective in providing equal educational access and opportunity for blacks. A list of 117 references is appended. (FMW)