Working Paper: NBER ID: w26764
Authors: Eric A. Hanushek; Jacob D. Light; Paul E. Peterson; Laura M. Talpey; Ludger Woessmann
Abstract: Rising inequality in the United States has raised concerns about potentially widening gaps in educational achievement by socio-economic status (SES). Using assessments from LTT-NAEP, Main-NAEP, TIMSS, and PISA that are psychometrically linked over time, we trace trends in SES gaps in achievement for U.S. student cohorts born between 1961 and 2001. Gaps in math, reading, and science achievement between the top and bottom quartiles of the SES distribution have closed by 0.05 standard deviations per decade over this period. The findings are consistent across alternative measures of SES and subsets of available tests and hold in more recent periods. At the current pace of closure, the achievement gap would not be eliminated until the second half of the 22nd Century.
Keywords: SES achievement gap; educational inequality; intergenerational mobility
JEL Codes: H52; I2; J62
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| SES achievement gap (I24) | educational outcomes (I26) |
| educational policies and programs (I28) | SES achievement gap (I24) |
| SES (I20) | SES achievement gap (I24) |
| family background (J12) | SES achievement gap (I24) |
| SES index (based on parental education and home possessions) (I24) | SES achievement gap (I24) |
| SES achievement gap (I24) | trends in achievement (I24) |