American Law and Economics Review Advance Access originally published online on July 25, 2006
American Law and Economics Review 2006 8(2):249-281; doi:10.1093/aler/ahl003
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The Black-White Test Score Gap Through Third Grade
Harvard University Society of Fellows and NBER
University of Chicago and ABF
Send correspondence to: Roland G. Fryer, Department of Economics, Harvard University, 1875 Cambridge Street, Cambridge MA, 02138; E-mail: rfryer{at}fas.harvard.edu
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.
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