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Test Score Measurement and the Black-White Test Score Gap

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  • Jeffrey Penney

    (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana)

Abstract

Research as to the size of the black-white test score gap often comes to contradictory conclusions. Recent literature has affirmed that the source of these contradictions and other controversies in education economics may be due to the fact that test scores contain only ordinal information. In this paper, I propose a normalization of test scores that is invariant to monotonic transformations. Under fairly weak assumptions, this metric has interval properties and thus solves the ordinality problem. The measure can serve as a valuable robustness check to ensure that any results are not simply statistical artifacts from the choice of scale.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeffrey Penney, 2017. "Test Score Measurement and the Black-White Test Score Gap," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 99(4), pages 652-656, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:99:y:2017:i:4:p:652-656
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    Cited by:

    1. Christa Deneault & Evan Riehl & Jian Zou, 2026. "Disparate Impacts of Teacher Certification Exams," NBER Working Papers 34860, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Tymon Sloczynski, 2018. "Average Gaps and Oaxaca–Blinder Decompositions: A Cautionary Tale about Regression Estimates of Racial Differences in Labor Market Outcomes," Working Papers 127, Brandeis University, Department of Economics and International Business School.
    3. Hull, Marie & Norris, Jonathan, 2020. "The skill development of children of immigrants," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    4. Nirav Mehta, 2019. "Measuring quality for use in incentive schemes: The case of “shrinkage” estimators," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 10(4), pages 1537-1577, November.
    5. Tymon Słoczyński, 2020. "Average Gaps and Oaxaca–Blinder Decompositions: A Cautionary Tale about Regression Estimates of Racial Differences in Labor Market Outcomes," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 73(3), pages 705-729, May.
    6. Byrne, Kieran & Plekhanov, Alexander, 2021. "Education reforms and adult skills: Evidence from Estonia," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    7. Maggie Jones & Michael Barber, 2019. "Inequalities in Test Scores between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Youth in Canada," Department Discussion Papers 1904, Department of Economics, University of Victoria.
    8. Barber, Michael & Jones, Maggie E.C., 2021. "Inequalities in test scores between Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth in Canada," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    9. Carsten Schroeder & Shlomo Yitzhaki, 2020. "Exploring the robustness of country rankings by educational attainment," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 129(3), pages 271-296, April.
    10. Borgonovi, Francesca & Choi, Alvaro & Paccagnella, Marco, 2021. "The evolution of gender gaps in numeracy and literacy between childhood and young adulthood," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).

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