This article describes basic facts regarding the Black-White test score gap over the first four years of school. Black children enter school substantially behind their White counterparts in reading and math, but including a small number of covariates erases the gap. Over the first four years of school, however, Blacks lose substantial ground relative to other races; averaging 0.10 standard deviations per school year. By the end of third grade, there is a large Black-White test score gap that cannot be explained by observable characteristics. Blacks are falling behind in virtually all categories of skills tested, except the most basic. None of the explanations we examine, including systematic differences in school quality across races, convincingly explain the divergent academic trajectory of Black students. Copyright 2006, Oxford University Press.
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Volume (Year): 8 (2006) Issue (Month): 2 () Pages: 249-281 Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML,
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Handle: RePEc:oup:amlawe:v:8:y:2006:i:2:p:249-281
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Eliana Garces & Duncan Thomas & Janet Currie, 2002.
"Longer-Term Effects of Head Start,"
American Economic Review,
American Economic Association, vol. 92(4), pages 999-1012, September.
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Carneiro, Pedro & Heckman, James J., 2003.
"Human Capital Policy,"
IZA Discussion Papers
821, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
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James Heckman & Pedro Carneiro, 2003.
"Human Capital Policy,"
NBER Working Papers
9495, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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