You are exactly right.....I suggested Wiggs read the book Super Freakanomics, and I think you would like it too....it's a quick read, but the guy backs up with hard numbers exactly one of the things you bring up.....parent involvement....he also touched on schools that are free of dealers, and thugs hanging around near them, etc...you should check it out.
The parental involvement is overstated. My parents were marignally involved in my academics. I was independant never even crossed their mind to instill shit in me.
I learned because it was the world I lived in. The women would talk about being nurse " the plative care unit is moving to the west wing obstetrics are having afit etc" the men would talk about a job they did the size of tax forums etc. Me my brothers and cousins would be fucking around with toy gunpoweder rockets, taken apart rc cars, bill 6 foot towers out of lego's(dad taught us how to make strong structure) etc. I was born to be an engineer not because my parents even know what the fuck it's about but because it was the world I grew up in.
Point is this is the shit black kids don't have access to, a passive enviroment that advocates learning. My parents never forced shit on me nor did any of my cousins do that shit, we all just knew what we wanted to do. This is why you can't expect blacks to behave like whites.
Sure you can tell your black kid to work hard etcetera, but it's harder to force your will on someone and much easier to passively influence.
