| Lindsay Page
Harvard University
Understanding trends in the achievement gap: A quantile decomposition of black-white differentials over time
FINAL REPORT
This study examines trends in the black-white achievement gap using NAEP-LTT data from 1971 to 2004, taking advantage of recent improvements in available data and recent methodological insights to conduct a detailed partition of gaps into within-school, between-school and family differences. The author finds that trends in parental education play important roles in explaining both the narrowing of the achievement gap in the 1970s and 1980s and the subsequent widening during the 1990s. Additionally, less of the 1970s-1980s decline can be attributed to a decline in within-school achievement differences than previously estimated, and between-school differences are more important than previously suggested in descriptive understandings of changes in gaps in achievement between black and white students. This work suggests that research efforts to further understand mechanisms underlying the past trends in the black-white achievement gap must consider both within- and between-school explanations. Moreover, in considering future policy aiming to diminish these gaps, purely within-school efforts can contribute to only a partial reduction, due to the extent of school segregation persistent today. Absent policies that effectively desegregate schools, efforts to eliminate the achievement gap must focus particularly on improving the quality on schools serving larger shares of black students.
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