Education
Born in Detroit, Michigan, Beatty attended Northeastern High School (Detroit) and the Michigan State Normal College (which later became Eastern Michigan University).
Born in Detroit, Michigan, Beatty attended Northeastern High School (Detroit) and the Michigan State Normal College (which later became Eastern Michigan University).
During the 1927 season, Beatty tied a national interscholastic record for the 100-yard dash and established a new United States of America standard in the 220-yard low-hurdles. On separate occasions, during the 1931 and "32 season - while competing for Michigan State Normal College - Beatty clocked a world-leading time in the 400-meter hurdle event. Beatty was leading the 400 hurdles during the 1932 United States Olympic Trials when - at the final barrier - he tripped and fell.
In 1933, upon graduation from MSNC, Beatty entered the field of education.
In 1940, he became the first African-American school principal in Michigan, becoming the principal at Perry Elementary School in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Beatty would remain the principal there until 1967.
Beatty is perhaps best known for his role in pioneering the Head Start Program in the United States. As part of a program spearheaded by noted education specialist David Weikart, a committee was formed to study the high dropout rate among black children in a racially divided area of Ypsilanti, Michigan.
Among the project"s findings (preschoolers compared to the control group) was the correlation between attending a preschool program, and the measure of success in later life.
This project was the formation of HighScope. The former preschool students also experienced lower rates of delinquency and incidents of criminal behavior. Their rate of employment and college attendance was nearly double that of the control group.
Beatty was inducted to the Eastern Michigan University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1976 and the Michigan Education Hall of Fame, in 1985.
Beatty worked his entire career for the Ypsilanti school district, retiring in 1974. He died February 26, 1998 in Ypsilanti.