1992 - Race and School Quality Since Brown vs. Board of Education

Attribution: Boozer, Michael A., Krueger, Alan B., & Wolkon, Shari
Researchers: Alan B. KruegerMichael A. BoozerShari Wolkon
University Affiliation: Yale University
Email: michael.boozer@yale.edu
Research Question:
Analyzes racial disparities in school quality since the 1950s and the implications of differential school quality for labor market outcomes (wage gap)
Published: 1
Journal Name or Institutional Affiliation: National Bureau of Economic Research
Journal Entry: Working Paper No. 4109
Year: 1992
Findings:
  • Black and White students attend schools with roughly the same student-teacher ratio.
  • Hispanics attend schools with a ten percent higher student-teacher ratio than the average White student.
  • Black students are less likely to use computers in school than White students. This racial gap remains even when accounting for family income.
  • Hispanics are similarly disadvantaged with respect to computer usage in school.
  • Segregated education is increasing for Black and Hispanic students.
  • The analysis of HBSA data show that Blacks attending a school with a higher proportion of Black students is related to fewer years of schooling, a less integrated workplace, attending a less integrated college, and lower wages.
  • The October CPS data show that minority workers are less likely to use the computer at work. This racial gap exists across all education levels.
  • Boozer et. al. also find that lower computer use by Black workers may be responsible for as much as one third of the increase in the Black-White wage gap between 1976 and 1990.
  • The authors conclude that differences in education are not the primary cause for the increased wage gap.
  • Structural factors (decline in unionization, decline in real minimum wage, and industrial shifts) are more likely explanations.
Keywords: FundingLabor MarketLife CourseLong Term OutcomesRacial CompositionSchool QualityRegions: NationalMethodologies: QuantitativeResearch Designs: Secondary Survey DataAnalysis Methods: Two Stage Least Squares Sampling Frame:National
Sampling Types: RandomAnalysis Units: IndividualData Types: Quantitative-Longitudinal
Data Description:
  • The data are taken from several national studies.
  • The data are taken from several national studies.
  • Datasets analyzed in this study include: CCD (1989-1990); National Survey of Black Americans (NBSA, 1979-1980); 1984 & 1989 October Current Population Survey (CPS) School Enrollment Supplement files–data on computer usage of children age 6-18 in grades 1-12; HSB (High School and Beyond Study) –data on computer usage, teacher training, teacher pay, student-teacher ration, school racial composition, and other school characteristics; and NBSA (data includes four long-term variables: years of school completed, proportion Black in respondent’s college, hourly earnings, and proportion Black co-workers). NBSA data is Blacks ages 25-65 who have at least ten years of schooling.
  • The primary outcome measure in this study is wages.
  • Limit sample to individuals age 25-65 who have at least 10 years of schooling.
  • Analyze an additional sample of fraternal and identical twins.
  • DV: Examine the effect of school segregation on four long-term outcome variables for black students: years of schooling completed; the proportion of students who are black in the college in which the individual attends; hourly earnings; and the proportion of individuals’ co-workers who are black.
  • IV: Set of dummy varaibles indicating the state the individual grew up in, a quartic in age, a dummy indicating gender, and in some models 8 region of residence dummies. Key school quality measures are student-teacher ratio and computer access in school. Proportion Black.
Theoretical Framework:
Relevance:
Archives: K-12 Integration, Desegregation, and Segregation Abstracts