Working Paper: NBER ID: w12651
Authors: Eric A. Hanushek; Steven G. Rivkin
Abstract: Substantial uncertainty exists about the impact of school quality on the black-white achievement gap. Our results, based on both Texas Schools Project (TSP) administrative data and the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey (ECLS), differ noticeably from other recent analyses of the black-white achievement gap by providing strong evidence that schools have a substantial effect on the differential. The majority of the expansion of the achievement gap with age occurs between rather than within schools, and specific school and peer factors exert a significant effect on the growth in the achievement gap. Unequal distributions of inexperienced teachers and of racial concentrations in schools can explain all of the increased achievement gap between grades 3 and 8. Moreover, non-random sample attrition for school changers and much higher rates of special education classification and grade retention for blacks appears to lead to a significant understatement of the increase in the achievement gap with age within the ECLS and other data sets.
Keywords: school quality; black-white achievement gap
JEL Codes: H4; H7; I2; J15; J7; I1
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| School Quality (I21) | Black-White Achievement Gap (I24) |
| Proportion of Inexperienced Teachers (A21) | Black-White Achievement Gap (I24) |
| Racial Composition of Schools (I24) | Black-White Achievement Gap (I24) |
| Nonrandom Sample Attrition (C83) | Understatement of Achievement Gap Increase (I24) |
| Higher Rates of Special Education Classification (I24) | Understatement of Achievement Gap Increase (I24) |
| Grade Retention for Black Students (I24) | Understatement of Achievement Gap Increase (I24) |