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2006 - Racial Segregation and the Black-White Test Score Gap

Attribution: Card, David, & Rothstein, Jesse
Researchers: David CardJesse Rothstein
University Affiliation: University of California Berkeley, Princeton University
Email: card@econ.berkeley.edu; jrothst@princeton.edu
Research Question:
Relate the achievement gap between Black and White students in a city to differences in their exposure to black peers in neighborhoods and schools.
Published: 1
Journal Name or Institutional Affiliation: NBER -National Bureau of Economics
Journal Entry: NBER WorkingPaper #12078
Year: 2006
Findings:
  • Black-White achievement gap in a city will vary with the relative segregation of schools and neighborhoods in the city.
  • Concerns over the racial isolation of Black youth may be overstated.
  • Neighborhoods appear to matter for student achievement.
  • Race per se may not be the primary source of these effects; rather, it seems to be exposure to more economically successful neighbors.
  • Holding constant neighborhood characteristics, the racial composition of schools seems to have little effect on Black relative achievement.
  • Socioeconomic status of neighbors, rather than their race, may be the primary source of effects.
Keywords: Achievement GapNeighborhoodPeer EffectsRacial CompositionSegregationRegions: NationalMethodologies: QuantitativeResearch Designs: SurveyAnalysis Methods: Regression Sampling Frame:National
Sampling Types: RandomAnalysis Units: StudentData Types: Quantitative-Cross Sectional
Data Description:
  • The model controls for student-level covariates and for selective participation in the SAT.
  • Primary source of student achievement data is a sample of SAT records for 25% of White test takers and 100% of Black test-takers in the 1998-2001 SAT test cohorts.
  • Data on school racial composition from the Common Core of Data and the Private School Survey.
  • Data Census tract composition from the 2000 Census.
  • Assign students to Metropolitan Statistical areas (MSAs) based on year-2000 definitions.
  • IV: Exposure to Black peers, racial isolation
  • DV: Gap in SAT scores between Black and White students in the same MSA
Theoretical Framework:
Relevance:
Archives: K-12 Integration, Desegregation, and Segregation Abstracts
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