National Academies Press: OpenBook

America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I (2001)

Chapter: 12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards

« Previous: 11. Affirmative Action: Legislative History, Jhudicial Interpretations, Public Consensus
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

12
Test-Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards

Ronald F.Ferguson

Between me and the other world, there is ever an unasked question: unasked by some through feelings of delicacy; by others through the difficulty of rightly framing it. All, nevertheless, flutter round it. They approach me in a half-hesitant sort of way, eye me curiously or compassionately, and then, instead of saying directly, How does it feel to be a problem? they say, I know an excellent colored man in my town; or, I fought at Mechanicsville; or, Do not the Southern outrages make your blood boil? At these, I smile…. To the real question, How does it feel to be a problem? I answer seldom a word.

So ends the first paragraph of W.E.B.Du Bois’s classic masterpiece, The Souls of Black Folk (1903:3). Today, more than 90 years later, Black folk are still considered by some to be a problem. People approach furtively, with the same unasked question. A major reason is that Blacks, Hispanics, American Indians, and some sub-groups among Asians have lower test scores than Whites. This complicates efforts to achieve racial and ethnic balance in selective institutions. If test scores were equal, on average, among the races, there would be little need for current debates about affirmative action in college admissions. There would be no need for race norming on entry examinations for professions such as police and firefighters. Certification testing for new teachers would not so dramatically affect the racial composition of the nation’s teacher work-force. The hourly earnings gap among racial groups would be only a fraction of what it is currently. Whether we like it or not, test scores, and the skills they measure, matter.

In an act of substantial wisdom, the U.S. Congress in the late 1960s directed the U.S. Department of Education to create a nationally representative data series with which to make academic proficiency comparisons across age, gender, race/ethnicity, and time. The result was the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), administered by the Educa-

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

tional Testing Service (ETS) under contract with the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Before NAEP, no nationally representative data existed for making test-score comparisons across time for school-aged children. Relying heavily on data from NAEP, this chapter summarizes and offers tentative explanations for trends in reading and math scores among Black, Hispanic, and White children from the early 1970s through 1996. Neither American Indians and Alaska Natives nor Asians and Pacific Islanders was separately identified in NAEP during the period examined here and, therefore, neither of these groups is addressed.

Black-White and Hispanic-White achievement test-score gaps of 30 years ago were neither genetically preordained nor otherwise immutable. The headline is that progress has occurred. Average scores for all groups are higher. Racial disparity is lower. NAEP data show that the Black-White reading-score gap for 17-year-olds narrowed 45 percent since 1971. The Hispanic-White gap narrowed 27 percent since 1975—the first year Hispanics were distinguished separately. The mean gap in math scores has fallen by 33 percent for Blacks and 35 percent for Hispanics, compared with Whites. These and other numbers show that Black and Hispanic children have made important progress since the early 1970s, both absolutely and relative to Whites.1 For Blacks especially, however, progress has been variable—at times rapid, but at other times halted or even reversed. The reasons for this variability are not clear. Changes in such areas as parenting, curriculum, teacher skill, and class size occur unevenly over time and might well be part of the story. Popular culture might be important as well

The chapter begins with a review of test-score trends for Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites. The middle of the chapter tries to explain the pattern of stops and starts in progress for teenagers, especially Black teenagers. The last third of the chapter reviews some ideas and evidence about how communities of student’s peers, parents, and teachers affect education incentives and standards differently for Black youth.

WHAT ARE THE TRENDS?

To determine trends, the content of the NAEP trend assessments has remained virtually constant since they began for reading in 1971 and for

1  

As a check on the accuracy of NAEP trends reviewed, Hedges and Nowell (1998) assembled all other nationally representative data sets since 1965 that have race-specific test scores for Black and White children. Most of these data sets are cross-sectional, not longitudinal. Hedges and Nowell focus on the difference between Blacks’ and Whites’ scores, measured in standard deviations (SD). Examining the gap across exams administered in different years, they found a narrowing of the gap, just as NAEP does.

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

math in 1973. The other type of NAEP exam, called the “main assessment,” changes to reflect current ideas and priorities. Each trend assessment was repeated every four years through 1990; then the schedule shifted to every two years, with smaller samples. NAEP scores range from 0 to 500. Scores for 9-, 13-, and 17-year-olds are all expressed on the same scale. Tables 12–1 and 12–2 show scores for reading and math. Both tables cover mean scores for Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites through 1996. In any given year, the standard deviation (SD) of scores within an age group is about 30 points for math and 40 points for reading. The standard errors (SE) of the mean scores are shown in parentheses on the tables.

Trends for Nine-Year-Olds

Reading scores for nine-year-olds rose mostly during the 1970s, but the increase in math scores occurred mostly in the mid-to-late 1980s. It seems almost certain that effective curricular and instructional changes focused more on reading in the 1970s and more on math in the 1980s. In support of this proposition—that instruction in different subjects was improved at different times—is the fact that reading scores declined slightly for Black and Hispanic nine-year-olds in the late 1980s at the same time that math scores improved the most.

O’Day and Smith (1993) conjecture that the increased emphasis on basic skills between the late 1960s and the early 1980s contributed importantly to improvement in reading scores for all students, but especially for racial-minority students. Measures to strengthen math instruction helped all three groups of nine-year-olds to achieve roughly equal progress in the late 1980s.

Changes in disparity do not follow the same general timing as changes in overall performance. All of the catching up with Whites that Black nine-year-olds achieved was done by 1986 for math and 1988 for reading (Table 12–2). After that, Blacks lost a little ground but regained it by 1996. For reading, Hispanic-White disparity follows a pattern similar to the Black-White disparity, but there is a strangely unstable pattern for math. It seems likely that the composition of the Hispanic student sample was changing in ways that, for the broad group, make these comparisons over time less dependable. For Blacks, however, it is noteworthy that reductions in Black-White disparity follow a similar time pattern for both reading and math. This suggests that the factors helping Blacks narrow the gap on one subject, also helped in the other.

I have shown elsewhere (Ferguson, 1998b) that Black-White disparity in reading and math scores for nine-year-olds follows the same nonlinear trajectory as national reductions in pupil-to-teacher ratios for elementary schools. Not only do inflection points match closely when class-size and

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

Black-White disparity are graphed, but multiple regression lines fit well even after including a separate control for a linear trend (see Ferguson, 1998b, Figure 9–4). One might expect this association between test-score disparity and class size if (1) reducing class size helps Black students more than White students or (2) class sizes fell more in schools where Blacks attend. It appears that both are true for the period since 1970.

First, the proposition that smaller classes help students learn was tested in the Tennessee Star Experiment conducted in the 1980s, the largest random-assignment study ever done to test that theory. Roughly 6,500 students in 80 schools were assigned randomly to either small (13 to 17 students) or large (22 to 25 students) classes. Estimated benefits of small classes were larger for Black than for White students and larger in inner-city schools. Second, elementary pupil-to-teacher ratios fell nationally by roughly 25 percent between 1970 and 1990 (National Center for Education Statistics, 1996b). Moreover, class sizes appear to have been reduced more for Blacks than for Whites. When Coleman (1966) conducted the classic study Equality of Educational Opportunity, class sizes were still somewhat larger for Blacks than for Whites. By 1990, national data show no overall differences in pupil-to-teacher ratios by race (Black/ White) or by socioeconomic status, as measured by the percentage of students eligible for free-and-reduced lunch subsidies.2 Certainly, more than class size was changing over this period in the schooling of nine-year-olds. Civil rights gains and positive changes in family educational background might be important as well (Grissmer et al., 1998). Nonetheless, it appears quite likely that class-size reductions that affected Blacks (and perhaps Hispanics) more than Whites are part of the explanation for reductions in Black-White test-score disparity from 1970 through the late 1980s.

Despite this evidence, there is an active debate among researchers about whether class size matters at all. My reading of the evidence (Ferguson, 1998b) is that it does, at least for elementary schools. However, Hanushek (1998), Krueger (1997), and Greenwald et al. (1996) argue on various sides of the debate.

2  

See Ferguson (1998b, Table 9–11) for the author’s calculations for 1987–1992 using the U.S. Department of Education’s Common Core of Data Surveys, School-Level file. Nationally, the pupil-to-teacher ratio was between 17 and 18, independent of the percentage of Black students or the percentage qualifying for free-and-reduced lunch subsidies. (Note that actual class sizes tend to be about 25 percent larger than pupil-to-teacher ratios because teachers have periods off during the day for planning and lunch.) Some authors (e.g., Boozer and Rouse, 1995) suggest that this apparent parity masks differences in class size among students with similar needs. Though a distinct and important possibility, this remains to be established in nationally representative samples.

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

TABLE 12–1 NAEP Scores for Black, Hispanic, and White 9-, 13-, and 17-Year-Olds

A. Reading Scores, 1971 Through 1996

 

Age

1971

1975

1980

1984

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

Black

17

238.7 (1.7)

240.6 (2.0)

243.1 (1.8)

264.3 (1.0)

274.4 (2.4)

267.3 (2.3)

260.6 (2.1)

266.2 (3.9)

265.4 (2.7)

13

224.4 (1.2)

225.7 (1.3)

232.8 (1.5)

236.3 (1.2)

242.9 (2.4)

241.5 (2.2)

237.6 (2.3)

234.3 (2.4)

235.6 (2.6)

9

170.1 (1.7)

181.2 (1.2)

189.3 (1.8)

185.7 (1.4)

188.5 (2.4)

181.8 (2.9)

184.5 (2.2)

185.4 (2.3)

190.0 (2.7)

Hispanic

17

n.a.

252.4 (3.6)

261.4 (2.7)

268.1 (4.3)

270.8 (4.3)

274.8 (3.6)

271.2 (3.7)

263.2 (4.9)

264.7 (4.1)

13

n.a.

232.5 (3.0)

237.2 (2.0)

239.6 (2.0)

240.1 (3.5)

237.8 (2.3)

239.2 (3.5)

235.1 (1.9)

239.9 (2.9)

9

n.a

182.7 (2.2)

190.2 (2.3)

187.1 (3.1)

193.7 (3.5)

189.4 (2.3)

191.7 (3.1)

185.9 (3.9)

194.1 (3.5)

White

17

291.4 (1.0)

293.0 (0.6)

292.8 (0.9)

295.2 (0.7)

294.7 (1.2)

296.6 (1.2)

297.4 (1.4)

295.7 (1.5)

294.4 (1.2)

13

260.9 (0.7)

262.1 (0.7)

264.4 (0.7)

262.5 (0.6)

261.3 (1.1)

262.3 (0.9)

266.4 (1.2)

265.1 (1.1)

267.0 (1.0)

9

214.0 (0.9)

216.6 (0.7)

221.3 (0.8)

218.2 (0.9)

217.7 (1.4)

217.0 (1.3)

217.9 (1.0)

218.0 (1.3)

219.9 (1.2)

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

B. Math Scores, 1973 Through 1996

 

Age

1973

1978

1982

1986

1990

1992

1994

1996

 

Black

17

270.0 (1.3)

268.4 (1.3)

271.8 (1.2)

278.6 (2.1)

288.5 (2.8)

285.8 (2.2)

285.5 (1.8)

286.4 (1.7)

 

13

228.0 (1.9)

229.6 (1.9)

240.4 (1.6)

249.2 (2.3)

249.1 (2.3)

250.2 (1.9)

251.5 (3.5)

252.1 (1.3)

 

9

190.0 (1.8)

192.4 (1.1)

194.9 (1.6)

201.6 (1.6)

208.4 (2.2)

208.0 (2.0)

212.1 (1.6)

211.6 (1.4)

 

Hispanic

17

277.0 (2.2)

276.3 (2.3)

276.7 (1.8)

283.1 (2.9)

283.5 (2.9)

292.2 (2.6)

290.8 (3.7)

292.0 (2.1)

 

13

239.0 (2.2)

238.0 (2.0)

252.4 (1.7)

254.3 (2.9)

254.6 (1.8)

259.3 (1.8)

256.0 (1.9)

255.7 (1.6)

 

9

202.0 (2.4)

202.9 (2.2)

204.0 (1.3)

205.4 (2.1)

213.8 (2.1)

211.9 (2.3)

209.9 (2.3)

214.7 (1.7)

 

White

17

310.0 (1.1)

305.9 (0.9)

303.7 (0.9)

307.5 (1.0)

309.5 (1.0)

311.9 (0.8)

312.3 (1.1)

313.4 (1.4)

 

13

274.0 (0.9)

271.6 (0.8)

272.4 (1.0)

273.6 (1.3)

276.3 (1.1)

278.9 (0.9)

280.8 (0.9)

281.2 (0.9)

 

9

225.0 (1.0)

224.1 (0.9)

224.0 (1.1)

226.9 (1.1)

235.2 (0.8)

235.1 (0.8)

236.8 (1.0)

236.9 (1.0)

 

Note: Standard errors (SE) of mean scores are shown in parentheses.

SOURCE: National Assessment of Educational Progress (1996).

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

TABLE 12–2 NAEP Score Gaps and Percentage of Gap Remaining

A. Gaps in Reading Scores

 

White-Black Gap

White-Hispanic Gap

 

17-year-olds

13-year-olds

9-year-olds

17-year-olds

13-year-olds

9-year-olds

1971

52.7

36.5

43.9

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

1975

52.4

36.4

35.4

40.6

29.6

33.9

1980

49.7

31.6

32.0

31.4

27.2

31.1

1984

30.9

26.2

32.5

27.1

22.9

31.1

1888

20.3

18.4

29.2

23.9

21.2

24.0

1990

29.3

20.8

35.2

21.8

24.5

27.6

1992

36.8

28.8

33.4

26.2

27.2

26.2

1994

29.5

30.8

32.6

32.5

30.0

32.1

1996

29.0

31.4

29.9

29.7

27.1

25.8

 

Percentage of the 1971 Gap Remaining

Percentage of the 1975 Gap Remaining

1971

100.0

100.0

100.0

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

1975

99.4

99.7

80.6

100.0

100.0

100.0

1980

94.3

86.6

72.9

77.3

91.9

91.7

1984

58.6

71.8

74.0

66.7

77.4

91.7

1888

38.5

50.4

66.5

58.9

71.6

70.8

1990

55.6

57.0

80.2

53.7

82.8

81.4

1992

69.8

78.9

76.1

64.5

91.9

77.3

1994

56.0

84.4

74.3

80.0

101.4

94.7

1996

55.0

86.0

68.1

73.2

91.6

76.1

Trends in Learning After Age Nine

The fact that Black and Hispanic children reach the age of nine with fewer math and reading skills on average than Whites is mostly because Black and Hispanic children begin school with fewer skills. Once enrolled in school there is the chance that Black and Hispanic children could learn more than Whites but still have lower levels of skill because they start so far behind. We know that, on average, Black and Hispanic four-and five-year-olds score lower on tests of school readiness than Whites and lower on exams in early school years (Phillips et al., 1998a, 1998b). Phillips et al. (1998b) use a congressionally mandated, nationally representative, longitudinal data set called Prospects. Data collection began in 1991 for three birth cohorts—one in the first grade, one in the third grade, and one in the seventh grade. Phillips et al. conclude from their analysis of the Prospects data that Blacks appear to have learned less than Whites during the 1990s. Indeed, data from NAEP suggest the same; however,

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

B. Gaps in Math Scores

 

White-Black Gap

White-Hispanic Gap

 

17-year-olds

13-year-olds

9-year-olds

17-year-olds

13-year-olds

9-year-olds

1973

40.0

46.0

35.0

33.0

35.0

23.0

1978

37.5

42.0

31.7

29.6

33.6

21.2

1982

31.9

32.0

29.1

27.0

20.0

20.0

1986

28.9

24.4

25.3

24.4

19.3

21.5

1990

21.0

27.2

26.8

26.0

21.7

21.4

1992

26.1

28.7

27.1

19.7

19.6

23.2

1994

26.8

29.3

24.7

21.5

24.8

26.9

1996

27.0

29.1

25.3

21.4

25.5

22.2

 

Percentage of 1973 Gap Remaining

Percentage of 1973 Gap Remaining

1973

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

1978

93.8

91.3

90.6

89.7

96.0

92.2

1982

79.7

69.6

83.1

81.8

57.1

87.0

1986

72.2

53.0

72.3

73.9

55.1

93.5

1990

52.5

59.1

76.6

78.8

62.0

93.0

1992

65.2

62.4

77.4

59.7

56.0

100.9

1994

67.0

63.7

70.6

65.2

70.9

117.0

1996

67.5

63.3

72.3

64.8

72.9

96.5

 

SOURCE: National Assessment of Educational Progress (1996).

NAEP data for the 1970s and 1980s tell a different story. For the 1970s and 1980s, both Black and Hispanic gains appear much of the time to be greater than those for Whites. Hence, the answer to whether Blacks or Hispanics learn more or less than Whites during the school years may differ across time.

ETS selects a new NAEP sample each year, so children tested at one age from a particular birth cohort are not the same as those tested from the same birth cohort four years later. Nonetheless, data showing differences between 9- (or 13-) year-olds’ scores one year and 13- (or 17-) year-olds’ scores four years later provide the best nationally representative approximations available for measuring learning gains from ages 9 to 13 and 13 to 17, and measuring changes over time (see Figure 12–1).

Of course, using NAEP in this way only makes sense if we assume that children tested at, for example, age 13, had roughly the same distribution of scores at age 9 as the members of their cohort that NAEP actu-

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

ally tested at age 9. This seems likely, since NAEP samples are constructed to be nationally representative. Still, using NAEP for this type of approximation is necessarily imperfect for three reasons: (1) the 17-year-old sample does not cover dropouts; (2) the 13- and 17-year-old samples include recent immigrants who, of course, were not tested four years earlier; and (3) NAEP does not test children labeled as having learning disorders. The first two of these three reasons are probably greater problems for data for Hispanic students than for Blacks or Whites because the Hispanic dropout rate is higher, as is the Hispanic immigration rate. (The interval properties I assume below for comparing test score gains are probably only appropriate for comparing intervals where the average scores are very similar. I do not assume, for example, that a gain of say 20 points, from 170 to 190 for 9-year-olds, represents the same amount of learning or degree of difficulty as a 20-point gain, from say 250 to 270, for 17-year-olds. No such comparisons across disparate ranges are necessary for the way that I use the scores.)

Tables 12–1 and 12–2, along with Figure 12–1, represent a fairly complete summary of trends for reading and math scores over the past few decades. There is too much here to discuss it all in detail. However, there is one pattern that deserves special attention. Specifically, the test-score pattern for Black students who were age 9 in 1984 is a fascinating anomaly. As 13-year-olds in 1988, this cohort had scores that were closer to White children’s than for any other cohort of 13-year-old Blacks. Indeed, the difference between Black and White 13-year-olds in 1988 was less than half the difference that existed for the same age group in 1971. After 1988, however, by the time that they were 17 years old, the gap between Blacks and Whites in the cohort more than doubled. This represents a marked deceleration in academic progress both absolutely and relative to Whites and Hispanics. It is typical in statistical time series for rapid advancements to be followed by “corrective” periods of slower growth (i.e., regression to the mean). I cannot rule out that this accounts for some of the pattern; however, I suspect something more fundamental was happening.

To investigate further, I examined unpublished NAEP data that give breakouts by region, type of community, type of school, and parents’ education. For this cohort of Black children, the pattern of rapid progress from ages 9 to 13, followed by very slow progress from ages 13 to 17, shows up for all four census regions, all four types of communities, public and nonpublic schools, and all three levels of parents’ education! The fact that it shows up for both public and nonpublic schools suggests that the explanation is not some fundamental change in public school policies or practices. Further, this period shows the biggest ever gain for Whites from ages 13 to 17, which also suggests that something other than school

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

FIGURE 12–1 Standardized NAEP (A) reading and (B) math scores for Black 9-, 13-, and 17-year-olds (Metric=S.D.’s below 17-year-old Whites’ 1996 mean). Labels on lines give the year that the tests were taken.

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

FIGURE 12–1 Standardized NAEP (C) reading and (D) math scores for Hispanic 9-, 13-, and 17-year-olds (Metric=S.D.’s below 17-year-old Whites’ 1996 mean). Labels on lines give the year that the tests were taken.

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

FIGURE 12–1 Standardized NAEP (E) reading and (F) math scores for White 9-, 13-, and 17-year-olds (Metric=S.D.’s below 17-year-old Whites’ 1996 mean). Labels on lines give the year that the tests were taken.

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

policy is at work. Again, there is a possibility that the pattern is an artifact of the way the data were collected and processed. This possibility deserves investigation. For the time being, however, it seems reasonable to assume that the pattern is not an artifact.

This pattern of poor performance in high school is not unprecedented. The paltry 0.44 SD (16.2 points) that the 1975 birth cohort of Black youth gained as 13- and 17-year-olds, in 1988 and 1992, is essentially the same as the 0.45 SD (17.7 points) that another cohort achieved in 1971 and 1975. In addition, it is highly suggestive to compare 13-year-olds in 1975 with 17-year-olds in 1980. The mean score for Black 13-year-olds in 1975 is only 0.44 SD below the mean for 17-year-olds in 1980. Hence, it appears that Black teenagers were not developing their reading skills in the 1970s. For 13- to 17-year-olds, both Blacks and Whites (NAEP did not distinguish Hispanics in 1971), similarities between 1971–1975 and 1988–1982 are striking. In both periods, the score at the 5th percentile for Black 17-year-olds was actually lower than the score at the 5th percentile for 13-year-olds in the same cohort four years earlier (Table 12–3). With this negative change in scores, it is not surprising that disparity in scores—even among Blacks—became much greater by age 17 than it was at age 13. However, gains near the top of the distribution were comparatively low as well: growth in scores in the top 10 percent of these cohorts that were 13 in 1971 and 1988 was only two-thirds as great as for the cohort that was 13 in 1984. The latter cohort appears to have been more academically engaged after age 13. The 13-year-old cohort of Blacks in 1988 scored higher at every point in the distribution than Blacks who were 13 in 1984; yet, by age 17, the rank ordering of the two cohorts had reversed, with the younger cohort doing worse at every point in the distribution. This is not true for Whites. The younger cohort of 17-year-old Whites outscored its older siblings at every point in the distribution except the very bottom.

Progress over the next few decades similar to the rates that 17-year-olds attained from 1980 to 1988 could produce a dramatic narrowing of Black-White gaps in reading and math, and Hispanic-White gaps in reading. On the other hand, if the lack of relative progress achieved after 1988 continues, disparities will remain or widen. Whether one chooses to be hopeful or pessimistic depends on what one believes about the underlying causes for the leveling off that occurred after the late 1980s. [See the Appendix for a discussion of Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) score trends. Similar to NAEP, for both reading and math, racial gaps narrowed rapidly during the 1980s, but this stopped by 1990.]

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

TABLE 12–3 Percentiles of NAEP Reading Scores for 13- and 17-Year-Olds by Race, for Four Cohorts

 

Whites

Blacks

 

 

Score Age 13

Score Age 17

Diff. Col. 2 Minus 1

Score Age 13

Score Age 17

Diff. Col. 5 Minus 4

Diff. Col. 3 Minus 6

Column

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

 

1984 Cohort

 

Year Percentile

1988

1992

1992–1988

1988

1992

1992–1988

 

5

204.0

228.1

24.1

190.6

187.9

-2.7

26.8

10

217.1

244.9

27.8

202.2

206.2

4.0

23.8

25

238.3

272.3

34.0

222.0

235.1

13.1

20.9

50

262.2

300.1

37.9

242.4

262.5

20.1

17.8

75

285.1

324.5

39.4

263.6

288.3

24.7

14.7

90

304.2

346.6

42.4

283.6

312.0

28.4

14.0

95

315.8

359.0

43.2

298.9

327.0

28.1

15.1

95th-5th

111.8

130.9

19.1

108.3

139.1

30.8

-11.7

90th-10th

87.1

101.7

14.6

81.4

105.8

24.4

-9.8

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

 

Whites

Blacks

 

 

Score Age 13

Score Age 17

Diff . Col 2 Minus 1

Score Age 13

Score Age 17

Diff. Col 5 Minus 4

Diff. Col. 3 Minus 6

Column

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

 

1980 Cohort

 

Year Percentile

1984

1988

1988–1984

1984

1988

1988–1984

 

5

204.9

232.6

27.7

180.1

214.4

34.3

-6.6

10

218.3

247.3

29.0

192.4

227.8

35.4

-6.4

25

240.6

271.4

30.8

213.3

250.5

37.2

-6.4

50

263.4

295.4

32.0

236.4

274.3

37.9

-5.9

75

285.6

319.9

34.3

259.3

299.6

40.3

-6.0

90

305.0

339.7

34.7

280.3

321.0

40.7

-6.0

95

316.8

351.6

34.8

292.7

333.1

40.4

-5.6

95th-5th

111.9

119.0

7.1

112.6

118.7

6.1

1.0

90th-10th

86.7

92.4

5.7

87.9

93.2

5.3

0.4

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

 

1976 Cohort

 

Year Percentile

1980

1984

1984–1980

1980

1984

1984–1980

 

5

209.0

228.5

19.5

178.6

201.9

23.3

-3.8

10

221.8

243.5

21.7

190.6

216.0

25.4

-3.7

25

242.8

267.7

24.9

210.9

239.0

28.1

-3.2

50

265.1

293.6

28.5

232.6

264.0

31.4

-2.9

75

286.9

318.8

31.9

254.8

288.3

33.5

-1.6

90

305.7

340.6

34.9

275.0

310.5

35.5

-0.6

95

316.9

353.5

36.6

286.2

323.6

37.4

-0.8

95th-5th

107.9

125.0

17.1

107.6

121.7

14.1

3.0

90th-10th

83.9

97.1

13.2

84.4

94.5

10.1

3.1

 

1967 Cohort

 

Year Percentile

1971

1975

1975–1971

1971

1975

1975–1971

 

5

204.6

225.9

21.3

166.3

164.7

-1.6

22.9

10

217.9

241.7

23.8

178.0

182.1

4.1

19.7

25

239.4

267.0

27.6

199.1

210.4

11.3

16.3

50

262.0

294.0

32.0

223.3

239.3

16.0

16.0

75

283.5

319.9

36.4

245.5

268.1

22.6

13.8

90

302.2

343.2

41.0

264.8

294.1

29.3

11.7

95

313.1

357.0

43.9

276.8

309.7

32.9

11.0

95th-5th

108.5

131.1

22.6

110.5

145.0

34.5

-11.9

90th-10th

84.3

101.5

17.2

86.8

112.0

25.2

-8.0

 

SOURCE: Adapted from National Assessment of Educational Progress (1992: A–153 to A–156), and author’s calculations.

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

WHAT DISTINGUISHED THE 1980s?

After teenagers gained so little in the 1970s, what explains such extraordinary progress during the 1980s, especially for Blacks? Grissmer et al. (1998) tested a number of hypotheses and found that “Positive changes in family characteristics can explain nearly all the White gains but only a small part of the Black gains” (p. 221). The evidence they reviewed suggests that gains for Black students who were in elementary school during the 1970s and in high school during the early-to-mid 1980s are at least partly explained by reduced class sizes, racial desegregation, and more-demanding coursework. I agree; more-demanding coursework was part of a broad-based movement for accountability in the 1980s.

Heightened Accountability

The 1980s were a period of heightened accountability for teachers and administrators in public education, and perhaps private education as well. Publication of A Nation at Risk (Gardner et al., 1983) was a major event, but only one among many events that symbolized a concern that failure to produce a well-educated citizenry would seriously threaten the nation’s future stability and prosperity. Hence, the decade produced statements of concern about disparities in educational performance. The Commission on Minority Participation in Education and American Life (1988) wrote:

If these disparities are allowed to continue, the United States inevitably will suffer a compromised quality of life and a lower standard of living. Social conflict will intensify. Our ability to compete in world markets will decline, our domestic economy will falter, our national security will be endangered. In brief, we will find ourselves unable to fulfill the promise of the American dream.

Whatever the degree of overstatement, this was not a plea for altruism. It was a declaration of national self-interest that many people believed then as they do now.

The appointment of this commission and others reflected forces that had been building since the late 1970s. Among the most visible changes in primary and secondary education during the 1980s was the proliferation of initial state-certification testing for new teachers: 3 states in 1980, 20 in 1984, 40 in 1988, and 42 in 1990 (National Center for Education Statistics, 1991, Table 148). Over time, certification testing has the greatest effect on schools where the teachers who fail the tests would otherwise have taught. In many cases, these are schools that serve disproportionate numbers of Black children. Most studies that consider the question find that teachers’ test scores are statistically significant predictors of their

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

students’ scores [see Greenwald et al. (1996) for a meta-analysis that includes teacher test scores; see also Ferguson (1998b) for discussion and evidence on teacher testing].

I am not suggesting that certification testing, per se, is a major reason that Black students made such remarkable gains during the 1980s. It seems unlikely that new teachers would have such a sudden impact. The introduction of certification testing was part of a movement in American education to improve the quality of schools, especially the weakest. A clear possibility is that Black students benefited disproportionately from that movement. The rise in math scores that virtually all groups achieved during the decade seems to be further evidence of the movement’s impact.

Higher-Level, More Demanding Courses

Figure 12–2 shows annual changes in the number of students taking math (algebra and higher) and English courses among those students graduating from high school during the 1980s and the early 1990s. There was not much change in the number of students taking English, possibly because most students are automatically enrolled in an English course most semesters. The only way to increase the number would have been for students to take more than one English course per semester. For math, however, increases were substantial.

From 1982 through 1990, the average number of math courses that students took (algebra or higher) rose by almost a full course for Blacks and Hispanics and by almost half a course for Whites. From 1990 through 1994, however, the propensity to take more advanced courses in math slowed for Blacks but accelerated for Whites and Hispanics. This timing coincides with trends in NAEP math scores. From 1982 through 1990, NAEP math scores for 17-year-olds rose about 4 points for Whites, about 9 points for Hispanics, and about 17 points for Blacks. Conversely, from 1990 through 1994, NAEP math scores fell by 3 points for Blacks, but rose by 3 points for Whites and 7 points for Hispanics. Using the SE of the average NAEP scores (shown in parentheses in Table 12–1B), we see that the changes in average math scores during the early 1990s was of the same order of magnitude as their SEs. Hence, they are not statistically distinguishable from zero; nonetheless, their directions seem consistent with changes in course taking. This general similarity in timing does not prove causation, but it tends to support the conjecture that course taking is part of the explanation for the NAEP trends in math, especially for the 1980s.

Blacks were taking higher-level courses as the 1990s approached. As shown in Figure 12–2, their scores were rising, compared to Blacks who took the same courses (or at least courses with the same titles) in 1978 (Table 12–4). The same is true for Whites and Hispanics, but to a lesser extent. In addition, Figure 12–1 (B, D, and F) indicates that math-score

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

FIGURE 12–2 Annual growth in average number of math (algebra and higher) and English courses, for students graduating from high school, by race/ethnicity. SOURCE: Adapted from National Center for Education Statistics (1998: Table 136).

gains for 17-year-olds during the 1980s were building on the positive trends of the same cohorts at ages 9 to 13. Hence, improvements in the quality of math instruction at all levels—elementary, middle, and high school—probably helped to account for rising scores.

Trends in reading scores are not as similar among Blacks, Whites, and Hispanics, as are trends for math scores. Trends for Black 17-year-olds in particular, present a real puzzle. Their mean reading score in 1988 was 274 with an SE of 2.4 points. By 1992, the mean score had fallen by almost 14 points—6 times the SE. Indeed, the mean reading score for Black 17-year-olds was lower in 1992 than in 1984. Changes in such things as parenting, school resources, curriculum, instruction, and even school violence “…do not appear to be large enough to explain the drop in Black seventeen-year-olds’ reading scores. This important question remains unresolved” (Grissmer et al., 1998:223).

The distributions of NAEP reading-score gains from ages 13 to 17 are remarkably similar for the 17-year-old Black cohorts in 1975 and 1992. That both groups achieved small gains from ages 13 to 17 is also apparent in Figure 12–1.

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

TABLE 12–4 Mathematics Proficiency of 17-Year-Olds, by Highest Math Course Taken and Race/Ethnicity, 1978 and 1990

 

All Areas

General Math or Pre-Algebra

Algebra I

Geometry

Algebra II

Calculus or Pre-Calculus

1978

 

White

306

272

291

310

325

338

Black

269

247

264

281

292

297

Hispanic

277

256

273

294

303

306

1990

 

White

310

277

292

304

323

347

Black

289

264

278

285

302

329

Hispanic

284

259

278

286

306

323

Change 1978–1990

 

White

4

5

1

-6

-2

9

Black

20

17

14

4

10

31

Hispanic

7

3

5

-8

3

17

 

SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics (1996a, Table 121).

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

WHAT ROLE MIGHT POPULAR CULTURE HAVE PLAYED?

Rhythm and blues artist James Brown is not known for enunciation, but his words were as clear as could be in 1969 when he shouted “I’m Black and I’m proud!” on his hit record that remains an anthem for the period. In an act of collective self-determination, young Black leaders in the late 1960s and early 1970s no longer accepted the labels “Negro” or “colored.” Their political message rejected the hegemony of White society, asserted a need to mobilize “Black power,” and spurned integration as a legitimate goal for Blacks in a racist society. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s had pushed for integration and assimilation. It had raised hopes that equal opportunity was possible and could make the American dream real for Blacks. But impatience grew. Riots rocked the cities and Black leadership evolved.

In the early 1970s, court-ordered busing for school integration disrupted the lives of middle and high school students. Simultaneously, any focus on academic excellence was being blurred by oppositional messages decrying assimilation—muddying what, before, had been a clear consensus that it was okay to aspire to the White American dream. Allegations proliferated that schools were not teaching the whole truth about history; and with their legitimacy thus questioned, some schools, especially those serving Blacks, tried to make their curriculums more multicultural. Students agitated for Black history courses, not advanced algebra. Academic excellence was not categorically rejected by Black youth culture, but neither was it effectively promoted as a worthy and legitimate pursuit by many adults. Gradually, tensions seemed to fade. In music, R&B lost its political edge and disco reigned supreme (George, 1998). Still, neither the early nor the late 1970s delivered a clear message to Black teenagers that they should focus on schooling and learning. It seems entirely plausible to me that forced busing, mixed messages from Black leaders, and a youth culture searching for ways to be authentically Black are key parts of the explanation for why Black 13- to 17-year-olds achieved such meager reading-score gains during the 1970s.

The unusually small gains Black teenagers achieved in reading during the 1970s are matched only by what they achieved from 1988 to 1992. It appears that Black (and perhaps also Hispanic) youth were relatively disengaged from activities that could otherwise have enhanced their reading skills. Clearly, their disengagement from academic endeavors was not total; gains in math scores seem less affected, and there were minimal gains in reading. Still, it seems that something important was different; popular culture is a prime suspect.

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

Less Leisure Reading

A natural place to look for changes in youth culture is in the ways that youth spend their time. Fortunately, ETS collects data on such things when it administers the NAEP reading exams. Table 12–5 includes data for leisure reading, telling friends about good books, and watching television; Table 12–6 addresses time spent doing homework. Table 12–5 shows that Blacks spend more time watching television than Whites and Hispanics, and Hispanics watch more than Whites. There is not, however, much of a trend in hours watched that might help explain why test scores peaked for minority youth at the end of the 1980s. Hence, if a change in television habits is part of the story for test scores, it has to be a change in what youth watched, not how long they sat in front of the television.

Table 12–6 shows that Black 17-year-olds devoted somewhat more time to homework in 1988, when their reading scores peaked, than in 1992, when their scores were lowest. Generally, however, reports of time on homework are remarkably similar for the three racial groups, and there appear to be no major racial differences in trends. Lacking a much more elaborate multivariate analysis, trends for time spent doing homework and watching television appear to have no clear implications for trends in reading scores.

Conversely, there appears to be a strong (one might even say striking) correlation between reading scores and leisure reading. Jencks and Phillips (1999) found that leisure reading is a statistically significant predictor of reading, but not math, scores for high school students. Reading scores for Black youth follow both ups and downs in leisure reading from 1988 through 1996 (see Table 12–5 and Figure 12–3). For Whites, leisure reading held steady from 1984 through 1994, then dipped in 1996. For Blacks and Hispanics, the percentage of 17-year-olds reporting that they read almost daily for pleasure dropped by half from 1984 to 1994. The drop for Black youth who were 13 years old in 1988 is especially dramatic. In 1988, 35.5 percent of 17-year-old Blacks read almost daily for pleasure, but by 1992 the number for 17-year-old Blacks was only 14.7 percent. This 14.7 percent represents a cohort of which 36.6 percent answered affirmatively that they read almost daily for pleasure as 13-year-olds in 1988. This essentially matches the 37.2 percent who answered affirmatively among Whites.

Hip Hop’s Explosive Growth

The year 1988 was the watershed year for “hip hop.” After only 3 gold records before 1988, there were 17 in 1988 alone. It was the year that mainstream music video outlets forcefully embraced this movement in

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

TABLE 12–5 Trends in NAEP Reading Scores, Leisure Reading, Telling Friends About Good Books, and Watching Television Among 17-Year-Olds

 

1984

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

NAEP reading scores

 

Black

264.3 (1.0)

274.4 (2.4)

267.3 (2.3)

260.6 (2.1)

266.2 (3.9)

265.4 (2.7)

Hispanic

268.1 (2.2)

270.8 (4.3)

274.8 (3.6)

271.2 (3.7)

263.2 (4.9)

264.7 (4.1)

White

295.2 (0.7)

294.7 (1.2)

296.6 (1.2)

297.4 (1.4)

295.7 (1.5)

294.4 (1.2)

Percent who read almost daily for fun

 

Black

30.5 (1.9)

35.3 (6.0)

20.0 (5.7)

14.7 (3.3)

16.4 (4.5)

21.0 (4.6)

Hispanic

26.1 (2.2)

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

13.4 (3.7)

19.6 (7.5)

White

31.3 (0.9)

27.6 (2.3)

35.4 (2.2)

29.2 (1.8)

32.6 (3.3)

23.6 (2.5)

Percent who at least occasionally tell friends about good books

 

Black

74.8 (1.9)

78.1 (3.8)

71.3 (5.0)

65.1 (5.4)

61.9 (5.0)

67.3 (8.0)

Hispanic

78.2 (2.4)

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

72.2 (5.1)

66.5 (8.2)

White

77.1 (1.0)

73.7 (2.2)

69.0 (2.5)

70.6 (1.9)

70.8 (2.5)

69.6 (3.4)

Percent who spend more than 2 hours daily watching television

 

Black

62.9 (1.0)

63.1 (2.0)

65.0 (1.9)

66.4 (1.5)

66.2 (2.5)

64.8 (2.3)

Hispanic

48.2 (1.5)

44.4 (3.0)

37.8 (5.2)

45.5 (2.8)

50.7 (2.2)

49.9 (3.0)

White

40.2 (0.9)

35.2 (1.1)

32.9 (0.9)

30.3 (0.9)

29.7 (1.4)

28.4 (1.2)

Note: Standard errors of mean scores are in parentheses.

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

TABLE 12–6 Trends in Time Spent on Homework for Black, Hispanic, and White 17-Year-Olds, 1980 to 1996

 

1980

1984

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

Hispanics

 

None

38.1

30.5

13.5

26.7

26.4

23.2

25.8

(2.7)

(1.4)

(2.8)

(3.5)

(3.0)

(2.4)

(2.6)

Didn’t do it

11.5

11.0

15.3

10.2

10.1

11.2

13.7

(1.5)

(1.0)

(2.8)

(2.1)

(1.8)

(2.0)

(1.8)

Less than 1 hour

23.1

23.4

27.5

26.0

30.4

31.5

28.6

(1.8)

(1.8)

(3.9)

(2.9)

(3.3)

(4.0)

(2.4)

1–2 hours

20.2

22.6

26.3

23.1

23.6

24.6

24.9

(2.0)

(1.2)

(4.1)

(2.0)

(2.4)

(2.4)

(2.6)

More than 2 hours

7.0

12.5

17.4

14.0

9.6

9.5

7.1

(0.7)

(0.8)

(2.5)

(2.1)

(1.3)

(1.8)

(1.3)

Total 1 hour or more

27.2

35.1

43.7

37.1

33.2

34.1

32.0

Blacks

 

None

39.0

24.6

24.2

27.6

32.2

27.3

25.2

(2.6)

(1.4)

(2.4)

(1.9)

(3.8)

(3.1)

(3.5)

Didn’t do it

8.4

7.2

9.8

8.6

7.3

9.1

11.2

(0.5)

(0.6)

(1.0)

(1.3)

(1.1)

(1.5)

(1.6)

Less than 1 hour

19.7

25.8

27.9

25.7

28.4

23.3

25.3

(1.0)

(1.2)

(2.3)

(2.2)

(2.2)

(1.8)

(2.3)

1–2 hours

23.0

30.0

27.0

26.5

24.3

29.5

26.8

(1.7)

(1.1)

(2.1)

(2.2)

(2.2)

(1.9)

(3.1)

More than 2 hours

9.9

12.4

11.1

11.5

7.8

10.9

11.5

(0.9)

(0.6)

(2.0)

(1.5)

(1.3)

(1.8)

(2.0)

Total 1 hour or more

32.9

42.4

38.1

38.0

32.1

40.4

38.3

Whites

 

None

30.3

21.7

21.1

21.8

20.5

22.7

22.6

(1.3)

(0.9)

(1.6)

(1.1)

(1.0)

(1.6)

(1.6)

Didn’t do it

13.1

12.2

14.1

13.4

13.1

11.8

14.0

(0.5)

(0.5)

(0.8)

(0.7)

(0.6)

(0.7)

(0.7)

Less than 1 hour

24.3

26.6

28.0

28.6

29.2

27.8

28.6

(0.6)

(0.5)

(1.1)

(1.0)

(1.0)

(1.0)

(1.1)

1–2 hours

22.6

26.6

25.8

24.5

25.7

25.2

23.6

(0.6)

(0.6)

(1.6)

(0.8)

(0.9)

(1.3)

(1.1)

More than 2 hours

9.6

12.9

10.9

11.7

11.5

12.5

11.2

(0.5)

(0.7)

(1.1)

(0.8)

(0.9)

(1.1)

(0.8)

Total 1 hour or more

32.2

39.5

36.7

36.2

37.2

37.7

34.8

Note: Standard errors of mean scores are in parentheses.

SOURCE: Unpublished NAEP data provided to the author by the Educational Testing Service.

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

FIGURE 12–3 Trends in NAEP reading scores and reading for pleasure among Black 17-year-olds, 1984 to 1996. SOURCE: Educational Testing Service, unpublished data.

Black and Hispanic youth culture that had been developing on urban streets since the mid-to-late 1970s. George’s book Hip Hop America (1998) is regarded by many as the definitive text on hip hop’s origins and evolution (also see Rose, 1994; Southern, 1997). Hip hop is a multifaceted blend of the new and the old in Black and Hispanic culture. The nation first glimpsed it in the late 1970s when national media exposed wide audiences to the artistic graffiti on New York City subway trains and the acrobatic “break dancing” on New York City’s streets. Elements of it spread quickly across the country. George (1998) describes hip hop as “a product of post-civil rights America” (p. viii).

For Black and Hispanic youth, more than for Whites, hip hop probably transcends the realm of entertainment to become an integral aspect of identity and a lens through which to understand the world. Many of the messages in hip hop mix social-class perspectives with racial commentary from an explicitly Black and Hispanic point of view, especially in “gangsta” rap, which became popular rapidly during precisely the period under focus here; messages were oppositional and challenging to mainstream culture in an “in-your-face” confrontational style (see, for discussion, Rose, 1991; Dyson, 1996; Martinez, 1997; McLaurin, 1995).

Gangsta rap and associated forms of dress and personal expression

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

began as legitimate cultural insignia among a minority of Black youth. Indeed, it has been noted that “hip hop culture is one of the few cultural movements that has been shaped and, to a large extent, controlled by young Black males” (Nelson, 1991, cited in McLaurin, 1995). Drugs, gangs, and activities associated with the marketing and consumption of crack cocaine, admittedly relevant to a minority of Black youth, are a factor in the effect of this popularized form of expression. The music that emanated from such lifestyles was highly original, entertaining, and marketable. Although the experiences that it reflected may have been authentic for only some youth, others embraced the expressions and began to mimic the styles and behaviors of gangsta rap and other hip-hop personalities. Did this affect learning and school engagement more for Black and Hispanic youth than for Whites? I think the answer is almost surely yes. The drop in leisure reading after 1988 may well have been the result of a shift toward listening to this popular new music.

Of course, rap is not unique in affecting identity. Various forms of music are integral to most human cultures and identities. For Blacks, “Negro spirituals” emanated from the time of slavery, jazz and blues from early in the twentieth century, rhythm and blues from after World War II, and so on through funk and disco to rap. Rap is simply the latest addition, and it combines elements of all the others. Concerning the effect of rap in Black identity, one pair of music historians go so far as to write “After a number of years of being lulled into complacency by popular music and disco, rap music has reintroduced Black identity and consciousness” (Berry and Looney, 1996:266).

Rap Music and Achievement-Related Judgments

Students derive their aspirations and standards for academic performance from parents, teachers, peers, carriers of popular culture, and their own sense of what is achievable and appropriate. Generally, an adolescent’s sense of what is appropriate for him or her feels more autonomously determined than it actually is (Muuss, 1988). Different literatures have different emphases, but, generally, identity involves the internalized self (what youth think about themselves), the persona (how youth behave), and the reputation (what others think about the youth). Social forces and the demands they place on youth—for styles of dress, speech, time use, and behavior—affect all three aspects of identity. A few recent studies have sought to examine whether rap music can affect the identities and achievement orientations of Black youth (Johnson et al., 1995, Zillmann et al., 1995; Hanson, 1995; Orange, 1996).

Johnson et al. (1995) sought mainly to assess the effects of exposure to violent rap videos on attitudes toward the use of violence. However,

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

their other purpose was to study the effect of exposure to rap music on perceptions of the usefulness of education. Their study involved 46 Black males, ages 11 to 16, in Wilmington, North Carolina. All were enrolled in school (grades 6 through 10) and were participants at an inner-city boys club. They were randomly assigned to three groups. One group watched a series of eight rap music videos containing violent lyrics or imagery. The second group watched the same number of videos, but not containing any violence. The third group, the controls, watched no videos at all.

Following the videos, the boys were invited to participate in an exercise to assess their decision-making skills. The study found that those youth who had watched the violent videos were more likely, by a statistically significant margin, to condone the use of violence in the decisions they were asked to consider. More important for our purposes here, the study also found statistically significant effects on perceptions related to achievement. Specifically, the subjects were asked to read a passage “involving two young friends who chose different paths in life. Bobby chose to go to college and pursue a law degree and Keion chose not to go to college. Bobby came home for a break and Keion came to pick him up in his new BMW and he was wearing nice clothes and nice jewelry. When Bobby asked Keion how he could afford all those nice things without a job, Keion told Bobby to go for a ride with him and not worry about how he could afford the things. Keion picked up four girls and they all commented on how nice his clothes and car were. Bobby told Keion that he would have nice cars, and so on, when he finished school and Keion replied that he ‘did not need college’ to get nice things” (Johnson et al., 1995:33).

When asked whether they wanted to be like Bobby or Keion, youth in the control group, who had not watched either set of rap videos, wanted to be more like Bobby, the aspiring lawyer, by a statistically significant margin. There was no difference between the youth who had watched the violent and nonviolent videos, in who they wanted to emulate—Keion. When asked about the likelihood that Bobby would successfully complete law school, youth in the control group were more optimistic about Bobby’s chances, again by a statistically significant margin.

If watching rap videos and listening to rap music promote cynicism about societal fairness, and about the prospects of people who work hard experiencing success, then it might also detract from academic engagement and performance. Mickelson (1990) found that those students earn lower grades who agree more with statements such as “…my parents tell me to get a good education to get a good job,” but “[b]ased on their experiences, people like us are not always paid or promoted according to our education.” Mickelson calls these “concrete beliefs,” as opposed to “abstract beliefs”—i.e., that success requires education and effort.

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

Mickelson also noted that Black students agreed as much as, or more than, White students, that success requires effort; but the Black students did not believe as much as White students that life is fair and that people always get what they deserve.

Hanson (1995) conducted a number of studies using “schema theory.” Schema theory, in this context, suggests that popular music and music videos are structured around themes that are “schematically represented in memory” (p. 46). Subjects tend rather automatically to use these schema as the basis for interpretations, social judgments, and decisions soon after the video has been viewed, or soon after memories of the video are brought to mind. Hanson reports that violent hard-rock videos often affect attitudes about violence in a manner similar to what Johnson et al. (1995) found using violent rap videos; she concludes that both her and Johnson and colleagues’ studies “clearly indicate the power of the themes contained in music videos to alter, at least temporarily, the kinds of social judgements people make” (Hanson, 1995:50). She goes on to suggest that, at least theoretically, cognitive priming of the type contained in rap videos “has the capacity to make frequently primed schemas become chronically highly accessible” (Hanson, 1995).

Hence, youth who devote a lot of time to listening to any type of music, including rap, may be more likely to interpret the world in ways consistent with the messages in that music. This might be especially so for those who come to use rap music consciously as a source of information about the world. One well-known performer, Chuck D of the group Public Enemy, has asserted that “Rap music is Black folks’ CNN” (McLaurin, 1995:306).

The degree to which Black youth use rap music as a source of information or insight is unclear. Similarly, my suggestion here that the rise of rap music may help account for the drop in leisure reading and reading scores for Black and Hispanic students should be regarded as tentative until more evidence is found to support it.

PEER PRESSURE TO NOT “ACT WHITE”

One often hears that fear of “acting White” prevents Black and Hispanic students from striving to meet higher standards.3 To illustrate the

3  

The phrase “acting White” in the academic literature is most associated with the work of Signithia Fordham and John Ogbu (see, for example, Ogbu, 1978; Fordham and Ogbu, 1986; Fordham, 1988; and Belluck, 1999). In two highly influential papers, Philip Cook and Jens Ludwig (1997, 1998) present evidence they believe is inconsistent with the “acting White” hypothesis as an explanation for the Black-White achievement gap. Using nationally representative data for high school students, they find few Black-White differences across several

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

subtle influence of the acting-White challenge, provided below are three examples from an inner-ring suburb of a Midwestern city, from unpublished transcripts of interviews and focus groups conducted by anthropologist John Ogbu in May 1997. The racial composition in the district is roughly 50:50 Black/White, but there is a wide difference in academic performance. The vast majority of the children in top academic sections are White and most of those in the lower sections are Black. Many of the Black and White parents are professionals; and most people agree that the Black students underperform.

For each example, consider whether the fear of acting White might be an impediment to closing the Black-White achievement gap, and whether it might be affected by elements of the hip-hop culture, as discussed above.

• First Example: A Middle-School Principal Seeks Answers [The principal is speaking.]

We had a youngster working in our office during his study halls. He was very bright. And I go and evaluate classes all the time. He sat in front of me in one of our science classes. The teacher asked a question. He didn’t put his hand up. I heard him mutter under his breath—the right answer. I poked him, and said, “Hey, what’s going on here?” He said, “You don’t have to ride home on the bus like I do.” I said, “You’re right; I don’t.” “You don’t have to play in the neighborhood with all the other kids.” I said, “You’re right. I don’t understand.” He said, “I don’t want ‘em to know I’m smart. They’ll make fun of me. I won’t have any friends.” I said, “So you’d rather sit there and pretend that you don’t know than face kids who might say you’re smart?” And he even said, “Worse than smart.” I said, “Well, what’s worse than that in your world?” He said, “Where I live, they’re gonna say I’m White.” I said, “Oh.” I said, “Now I, I think I understand. I don’t agree with you, but I hear what you’re saying.”

We lack good quantitative evidence of whether the pattern in this passage—i.e., holding back for fear of ostracism—happens more often for

   

measures of school effort. Further, they find that high-achieving Black students seem to feel just as popular, perhaps even more popular, than do low achievers. Hence, they con-clude, the focus of efforts to improve the performance of Black students should be on equalizing educational opportunities, not on trying to overcome the fear of acting White. I agree. At the same time, Cook and Ludwig agree that their work has no bearing on the question of whether fear of acting White prevents Black students from working harder than Whites, which might be required to narrow the Black-White achievement gap. For a much more detailed and subtle discussion of these and related issues, see Ferguson (forthcom-ing).

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

Black students than for Whites, and how much it affects academic performance, but this is not an unusual report.

• Second Example: Ambivalence of a Black Student Leader

The following speaker is a male student selected for interviewing from among a small group of Black student leaders. First, he addresses the challenge of being smart without acting White and his own feeling that people who sound White are selling out:

I just love to hear Michael Jordan because he sounds very intelligent without, you know, sounding White, like, what other people call, like, a [sic] “oreo sound.” He sounds actually like a strong, Black male who can actually talk to the people intelligently, which is actually hard to do. I mean, hard to sound like, “Oh, I’m not selling out,” or things like that. …I’ve seen some people who, like (I wouldn’t want to say, I don’t know), but, you know, that’s good for them if that’s the path they chose to lead.

Second, he struggles with the trade-off between staying with other Black students in college preparatory (CP) courses, versus getting a better education in the honors courses. He begins by saying that it is not important to take honors courses, but then explains that honors courses provide a better atmosphere for learning.

I don’t really find it very important to take honors. I’ve taken all kinds of, like, honors, CP, and everything. I just feel you that you should take whatever you can do well in. I mean, being in some CP classes it’s, like it’s a different atmosphere. It’s, like, it’s harder for the teacher to teach in some of those classes; she has to, like, deal with people causing problems and laughing and throwing people out of class. And I feel it hurts the people who want to learn…. And then honors classes, it’s, like, everybody just sits there nice and soft and everybody listens in those classes. Everybody’s more, everybody puts their education at the top of their priorities. Within the CP classes, everybody is just, like, chillin’, laughin’, jokin’ at the teacher. And you see, like, everybody coming out of these Saturday schools…. I mean, not all of ‘em are troublemakers, but I mean you hardly see White people wantin’ a Saturday school.

Should he stay mostly in the honors classes, where he’s one of only a few Blacks, or should he take the CP courses where the majority of the students are Black? Does his apparent ambivalence reflect a concern about being able to do well in the honors courses, a concern about acting White and selling out, or both? Do White students face such pressures equally? Would the Black-White achievement gap be affected if Black students received help in coping with such issues?

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

• Third Example: Acting Ghetto

One way to not act White is to act ghetto. Here, the same Black male student as above reflects on, and clearly rejects, the polar opposite of acting White:

It seems to me, almost, like Black students act as ghetto as possible, like, as much of the time as they can. And I think that that’s a lot of the problem. Because you’ll be sitting in class, and people will just leave, or, like, we’re in class, and the teacher handed a test to somebody, and they just, like, here you can have it back. That’s just ridiculous.

Similarly, Ainsworth-Darnell and Downey (1998), found, using national data, that teachers rate Black students as more frequently disruptive and as putting forth less effort. The Black-White differences that they found were not very large, but remained statistically significant after accounting for family income, parental occupations, and parental education.

These issues need to be handled at the community level, in alliances among teachers, students, parents, and administrators. As I describe in Ferguson (1998a), evidence tends to support the conclusion that teachers’ perceptions and expectations have an important effect on the performance of Black students, more than Whites (Casteel, 1997; Kleinfeld, 1972; Jussim et al., 1996). If we can equip teachers with the skills to encourage and motivate students, the fear of acting White and the peer norms that sometimes reward “acting ghetto” need not carry the day. Professional development opportunities that help teachers in this regard could be quite important next steps.

PARENTAL AND TEACHER STANDARDS

Teachers hold to higher standards those students they expect can perform at higher levels. One student who earns a grade of C may receive a reprimand for slacking off, while another with the same grade receives praise because it seems to reflect his best effort. The literature is clear on finding that teachers expect less, on average, from Black students than Whites (Ferguson, 1998a; Brophy, 1985; Good, 1987; Howard and Hammond, 1985; Jussim et al., 1996; Taylor, 1979). The few studies that take students’ past grades and test scores into account find that teachers have the same expectations on average for Black and White students who have performed equally in the past. Hence, by this notion of expectations conditional on past performance, teachers are not racially biased, even though they expect less of Blacks, because Blacks’ past performance predicts their lower future performance. Using a notion of expectations based on students’ latent potentials, teachers may or may not underestimate

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

FIGURE 12–4 “What is the lowest grade you can get without your parents getting upset?” Answers by student’s race/ethnicity and mother’s education. Y-axis is in standard deviations (1 letter grade per s.d.) around a mean of C+. Sample sizes for bars, from left to right on the diagram: 56, 15, 128, 31; 46, 47, 99, 115; 150, 126, 167, 866; 128, 137, 111, 882; 328, 138, 78, 1525. Source: Author’s calculations, using data supplied by Laurence Steinberg for high schools in Wisconsin and San Francisco during the 1980s.

Black or Hispanic students’ latent potentials by more than they underestimate Whites’. Because potential is not apparent until it shows itself, there is no way of proving or calibrating whether bias has a role here. Nonetheless, teachers who underestimate their students’ potentials probably underinvest in the search for ways of unlocking it. Reverend Robert Schuller says, “Any fool can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the apples in a seed.” If we believed more in children’s potential, we might invest more effort in cultivation and aim for larger harvests.

These statements about expectations and standards apply as much to parents as to teachers. Figure 12–4 is based on a survey of students in nine

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

high schools in Wisconsin and San Francisco during the 1980s.4 It provides a striking illustration of the fact that parental standards can differ by race and parents’ education. Students were asked, “What is the lowest grade you can get without your parents getting upset?” The mean answer was between C and C+, with a standard deviation of about one marking level (e.g., the difference between C+ and B-).

The most outstanding feature of Figure 12–4 is the performance Asian students perceive that their parents hold them accountable for; it is a higher level of performance than the other student groups perceive is expected of them. Asians whose parents are high school dropouts report higher grade-level thresholds for provoking parental anger than do White, Black, or Hispanic students whose parents have four-year college degrees. Conversely, Black students whose parents are college graduates report, on average, almost the same parental standards as Whites whose parents are high school graduates and have not attended college at all. If teachers, parents, and peers hold Black and sometimes Hispanic students to lower standards than Whites and Asians, part of the reason is that Black and Hispanic students have historically performed at lower levels. But this can change. Especially when help is available, students tend to strive at least for the minimum standards that people around them set. National surveys show that students of all racial groups think the standards are too low.

WHAT STUDENTS THINK ABOUT THEIR SCHOOLS

Trends in NAEP indicate that achievement scores have risen over the past three decades. Presumably, minimum standards have risen as well. A nationally representative survey of high school students conducted in 1996, however, indicates that neither Black, Hispanic, nor White students feel that standards are high enough (Public Agenda, 1997). The survey covered 1,000 randomly selected high school students, plus another 1,120 over-sample interviews for Blacks, Hispanics, private high school students, middle school students, and students from two metropolitan areas. Tables 12–7 through 12–9 present selected items from the report. For the most part, I have selected items that show racial differences or items that have direct bearing on the question of standards.

Fifty-six percent of Black students, 45 percent of Hispanic students,

4  

The numbers in Figure 12–3 come from a multiyear project by Laurence Steinberg, B. Bradford Brown, and Sanford Dornbusch. The project produced a number of papers, but many of their findings are summarized in a book by Steinberg (1996). The tabulations in Figure 12–3 are my own, using the raw data graciously provided by Steinberg.

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

TABLE 12–7 Percent Responding That the Problem Is “Very Serious” or “Somewhat Serious” in Their School

(Question: Here are some problems different schools could have. Please tell me how serious a problem this is in your school.)

 

High School Students

 

Whites

Blacks

Hispanics

Private School

Too many teachers are doing a bad job

36

56

45

22

Not enough emphasis on the basics such as reading, writing and math

30

49

41

16

Too many kids get passed to the next grade when they should be held back

41

58

49

16

Too many students get away with being late to class and not doing their work

49

58

50

35

Students pay too much attention to what they’re wearing and not what they look like

73

81

79

42

Classes are too crowded

42

52

45

14

 

SOURCE: Public Agenda (1997, Table 4). Reprinted with permission from Public Agenda, New York.

and 36 percent of White students reported “Too many teachers are doing a bad job” is a “very serious” or “somewhat serious” problem in their school (Table 12–7). Items related to “doing a bad job” included not emphasizing basics such as reading, writing, and math; passing students to the next grade when they should be held back; and allowing students to get away with being late to class and not doing their work. More Black than Hispanic students and more Hispanic than White students report these to be problems. It appears either that Black students have higher standards for their schools (which seems unlikely) or that Black students receive a lower standard of instruction. Students in the private school sample, which is not differentiated by race, report far fewer of these problems than do students in public schools.

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

TABLE 12–8 Percent Responding That the Proposed Change Would Get Them to Learn “a Lot More”

(Question: Now I’m going to read a list of things that might get you to learn more and ask if you think they’ll really work. Remember, I’m not asking if you like these ideas, only if you think they will actually get you to learn more.)

 

High School Students

 

Whites

Blacks

Hispanics

Private School

Having more good teachers

60

75

69

74

Getting your class work checked and redoing it until it’s right

58

74

69

61

Kicking constant troublemakers out of class so teachers can concentrate on the kids who want to learn

50

66

58

50

Knowing that more companies in your area are using high school transcripts to decide who to hire

48

62

49

46

Knowing you’ll get something you want from your parents if you do well

27

43

44

27

 

SOURCE: Public Agenda (1997, Table 5). Reprinted with permission from Public Agenda, New York.

Sixty-two percent of Blacks, 49 percent of Hispanics, and 48 percent of Whites say they would learn “a lot more” if they knew that companies in the area were using high school transcripts to decide whom to hire (Table 12–8). Other measures that might get them to learn “a lot more” include having more good teachers, having work checked and then redoing it, removing chronic troublemakers from class, and receiving material incentives from parents. Answers on each of these questions indicate that children of all three racial groups believe they could learn a lot more than they currently do.

Table 12–9 lists 10 characteristics of effective teachers, and whether students believe that “most” of their current teachers have these characteristics. A majority of students respond that teachers with any of 9

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

TABLE 12–9 Percent Responding That Certain Kinds of Teachers Would Lead Them to Learn “a Lot More”/Percent Responding “Most” of Their Teachers Are Like That Item Now

(Question: Now I’m going to talk about different kinds of teachers and ask you if you think they lead you to learn more or not.)

 

High School Students

 

Whites

Blacks

Hispanics

Private School

A teacher who tries to make lessons fun and interesting

79/25

76/25

78/23

84/39

A teacher who is enthusiastic and exited about the subject they teach

71/29

71/28

72/32

71/32

A teacher who knows a lot about the subject they teach

70/47

74/49

72/47

77/63

A teacher who treats students with respect

68/42

75/37

68/50

73/63

A teacher who gives students a lot of individual help with their work

67/33

76/31

69/31

78/51

A teacher who uses hands-on projects and class discussion

68/23

67/31

68/19

70/33

A teacher who explains lessons very carefully

64/33

72/38

72/35

71/48

A teacher who challenges students to constantly do better and learn more

63/33

79/42

69/36

74/51

A teacher who personally cares about his students as people

62/30

68/31

66/31

71/58

A teacher who knows how to handle disruptive students

45/28

52/35

44/35

52/44

 

SOURCE: Public Agenda (1997, Table 11). Reprinted with permission from Public Agenda, New York.

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

characteristics (the exception is “knows how to handle disruptive students”) could inspire them to learn “a lot more.” For all characteristics, no public-school students reported that most of their teachers had the characteristics listed. On the other hand, for 5 of the 10 characteristics, a majority of private-school students say that most of their teachers fit the description. For most of the items in Table 12–9, Black and Hispanic students rate their teachers higher on average than White students rate theirs. How do we reconcile this with Table 12–7, where larger percentages of Black and Hispanic than White students report that too many teachers are doing a bad job? One possibility is that schools serving Black and Hispanic students have a larger percentage of dedicated teachers and a larger percentage of teachers doing a bad job. Another possibility is that Black and Hispanic students have lower threshold standards than Whites do for judging teachers, so that Blacks would rate any given teacher performance higher than Whites would. If this latter interpretation is closer to correct, then it is even more a problem that a larger percentage of Black and Hispanic than White students agree that “too many teachers are doing a bad job.” The correct interpretation is impossible to glean from these data, but the issues are important, and the Public Agenda survey has at least begun to inform the discussion.

The Public Agenda survey results as well as the more extended discussion of standards-related issues above, suggest that children can do more than we are asking of them. Moreover, they know it. It appears that standards of effort and performance for Black and Hispanic students, and perhaps for teachers and parents as well, are lower than what will be required to avoid a future of continued racial disparity in academic achievement. We have underestimated children’s potentials. We can and should produce a larger harvest.

CONCLUSION

Children’s knowledge includes what they already know before arriving at school and what they learn once there. The average Black or Hispanic child in the United States has fewer school-related skills than the average White child at the beginning of kindergarten. This is true even among households that appear equal in parental schooling and socioeconomic status [see Chapters 4 and 7 in Jencks and Phillips (1998)]. Once a child enters school already less proficient than his peers, catching up requires more than keeping up; equal progress merely maintains initial disparities.

Basic skill gaps among White, Black, and Hispanic children, as measured by standardized test scores, have narrowed substantially over the past 30 years. Large gaps remain, but more progress is possible if we set

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

high standards and do what it takes to achieve them. If we care about equality of results, then we must face the fact that catching up requires running faster than the competition: the only way for Black and Hispanic students in a given birth cohort to narrow the gap with Whites during the school years is for them to learn more than Whites do. Although NAEP cannot measure changes in proficiency between school entry and age nine, data from NAEP suggest that Black and Hispanic children often have learned more than Whites after age nine, but not for all time periods, and not enough to come even close to closing the test-score gap. Accelerating progress on closing these gaps can be facilitated by a more supportive popular culture, by teachers and parents who set high standards, and by a society that provides the necessary resources and incentives to keep it all on track. Responsive teaching can weaken the link between past and future performance for an individual child. Similarly, a responsive and determined society can change prospects for large numbers of children— of all races and ethnicities—whose potential otherwise might be wasted.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This paper was initially prepared for the National Research Council Conference on Racial Trends in the United States, held October 15 and 16, 1998, at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. Work on the paper has benefited from the financial support of the Annie E.Casey Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T.MacArthur Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation, through their support for the National Community Development Policy Analysis Network Project on Education and Youth in Community Development. Jordana Brown helped to collect the materials on which this paper is based and has provided helpful comments that improved the paper. William T.Dickens, Christopher Jencks, and Meredith Phillips also provided helpful comments.

APPENDIX

TRENDS IN SCHOLASTIC APTITUDE TEST SCORES

Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores represent that segment of the high school population planning to apply to colleges where the SAT is required in the application. Hence, SAT scores and trends are not based on a random sample of all students. Further, characteristics of the sample, such as what percentage of students it represents, change over time. Still, SAT does provide a national time series of scores with which to compare the NAEP scores. Figure 12–A shows changes since 1976 in SAT scores for Blacks, Mexicans, and Whites. (Note that Mexicans’ scores for the SAT

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

FIGURE 12–A Changes since 1976 in SAT (A) verbal and (B) math scores by racial/ethnic background (three-year moving averages). SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics (1996a, Table 128).

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

are for a smaller segment of the Hispanic population than NAEP because NAEP includes additional Hispanic nationalities. Do not assume close comparability.) All three groups achieved higher scores in math during the 1980s. (College enrollment rates for new high school graduates during the mid-to-late 1980s were rising.) This is consistent with trends in the NAEP. The similarity of math trends for different racial groups and across both NAEP and SAT indicates that there was probably a narrow range of forces causing the changes across the board. These probably included changes in course-taking, curriculum, and instruction. For both NAEP and SAT, verbal scores are more variable than math, with less of a common pattern across groups. However, just as with NAEP, the most salient thing to notice about Blacks in these two figures is that both verbal and math progress stops abruptly at the end of the 1980s, after a decade of rapid improvement.

REFERENCES

Ainsworth-Darnell, J., and D.Downey 1998 Assessing the oppositional-culture explanation for racial/ethnic differences in school performance. American Sociological Review 60(4):536–553.


Belluck, P. 1999 Reason is sought for lag by blacks in school effort. New York Times (July 4):1.

Berry, V., and H.Looney, Jr. 1996 Rap music, black men, and the police. In Mediated Messages and African American Culture: Contemporary Issues, V.Berry and C.Manning-Miller, eds. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications.

Boozer, M., and C.Rouse 1995 Intraschool variation in class size: Patterns and implications. Working paper No. 5144. National Bureau of Economic Research.

Brophy, J. 1985 Teacher-student interaction. In Teacher Expectancies, J.Dusek, ed. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.


Casteel, C. 1997 Attitudes of African American and Caucasian eighth grade students about praises, rewards, and punishments. Elementary School Guidance and Counseling 31(April):262–272.

Coleman, J., and E.Campbell, et al. 1966 Equality of Educational Opportunity. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Commission on Minority Participation in Education and American Life 1988 One-Third of a Nation. Washington, D.C.: American Council on Education/Education Commission of the States.

Cook, P., and J.Ludwig 1997 Weighing the burden of “acting white”: Are there race differences in attitudes toward education? Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 16(2):656–678.

1998 The burden of “acting white”: Do black adolescents disparage academic achievement? In The Black-White Test Score Gap, C.Jencks and M.Phillips, eds. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

Du Bois, W.E.B. 1903 The Souls of Black Folk. Chicago: McClurg.

Dyson, M. 1996 Between God and Gangsta Rap: Bearing Witness to Black Culture. New York: Oxford University Press.


Ferguson, R. 1998a Teachers’ perceptions and expectations and the black-white test score gap. In The Black-White Test Score Gap, C.Jencks and M.Phillips, eds. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.

1998b Can schools narrow the black-white test score gap? In The Black-White Test Score Gap, C.Jencks and M.Phillips, eds. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.

Forth-coming Race and the social determinants of high-school achievement. In Brookings Papers on Education Policy, 2001, D.Ravitch, ed. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.

Fordham, S. 1988 Racelessness as a factor in black students’ success: Coping with the burden of “acting white.” Harvard Education Review 58(1):54–84.

Fordham, S., and J.Ogbu 1986 Black students’ school success: Coping with the burden of “acting white.” The Urban Review 18(3):176–206.


Gardner, D., et al. 1983 A Nation At Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.

George, N. 1998 Hip Hop America. New York: Viking Press.

Good, T. 1987 Two decades of research on teacher expectations: Findings and future directions. Journal of Teacher Education (July-August):32–47.

Greenwald, R., L.Hedges, and R.Laine 1996 The effect of school resources on student achievement. Review of Educational Research 66:361–396.

Grissmer, D., A.Flanagan, and S.Williamson 1998 Why did the black-white test score gap narrow in the 1970s and 1980s? In The Black-White Test Score Gap, C.Jencks and M.Phillips, eds. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.


Hanson, C. 1995 Predicting cognitive and behavioral effects of gangsta rap. Basic and Applied Social Psychology 16(1,2):43–52.

Hanushek, E. 1998 The evidence on class size. Occasional paper 98–1. University of Rochester, W. Allen Wallis Institute of Political Economy.

Hedges, L., and A.Nowell 1998 Black-white test score convergence since 1965. In The Black-White Test Score Gap, C.Jencks and M.Phillips, eds. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.

Howard, J., and R.Hammond 1985 Rumors of inferiority. New Republic 72(9).


Jencks, C., and M.Phillips 1998 The Black-White Test Score Gap. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

1999 Aptitude or achievement: Why do test scores predict educational attainment and earnings? In Learning and Earning: How Schools Matter, S.Mayer and P.Peterson, eds. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.

Johnson, J., L.Jackson, and L.Gatto 1995 Violent attitudes and deferred academic aspirations: Deleterious effects of exposure to rap music. Basic and Applied Social Psychology 16(1,2):27–41.

Jussim, L., J.Eccles, and S.Madon 1996 Social perception, social stereotypes, and teacher expectations: Accuracy and the quest for the powerful self-fulfilling prophesy. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 28:281–387.

Kleinfeld, J. 1972 The relative importance of teachers and parents in the formation of Negro and white students’ academic self-concepts. Journal of Educational Research 65:211–212.

Krueger, A. 1997 Experimental estimates of education production functions. Draft. Princeton University and National Bureau of Economic Research.


Martinez, T. 1997 Popular culture as oppositional culture: Rap as resistance. Sociological Perspectives 40(2):265–286.

McLaurin, P. 1995 An examination of the effect of culture on pro-social messages directed at African-American at-risk youth. Communication Monographs 62(December):321–325.

Mickelson, R. 1990 The attitude-achievement paradox among black adolescents. Sociology of Education 63:44–61.

Muuss, R. 1988 Friendship patterns and peer-group influences: An ecological perspective based on Bronfenbrenner, Kandel and Dunphy. Chapter 14 in Theories of Adolescence. New York: McGraw-Hill.


National Center for Education Statistics 1991 Digest of Education Statistics 1991. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.

1992 NAEP Trends in Academic Progress. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education.

1996a Digest of Education Statistics 1996. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.

1996b NAEP Trends in Academic Progress. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education.

1998 Digest of Education Statistics 1998. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.

Nelson, H. 1991 Bring the Noise: A Guide to Rap Music and Hip-Hop Culture. New York: Harmony Books.


O’Day, J., and M.Smith 1993 Systemic reform and educational opportunity. In Designing Coherent Education Policy: Improving the System , S.Fuhrman, ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Ogbu, J. 1978 Minority Education and Caste: The American System in Cross-Cultural Comparison. New York: Academic Press.

Orange, C. 1996 Rap videos: A source of undesirable vicarious empowerment for African-American males. High School Journal (April/May).

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×

Phillips, M., J.Crouse, and J.Ralph 1998a Does the black-white test-score gap widen after children enter school? In The Black-White Test Score Gap, C.Jencks and M.Phillips, eds. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.

Phillips, M., J.Brooks-Gunn, G.Duncan, P.Klebanow, and J.Crane 1998b Family background, parenting practices, and the black-white test score gap. In The Black-White Test Score Gap, C.Jencks and M.Phillips, eds. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.

Public Agenda 1997 Getting By: What American Youth Really Think About Their Schools. Summary Report of Survey and Focus Group Results. Washington, D.C.: Public Agenda.


Rose, T. 1991 ‘Fear of a black planet’: Rap music and Black cultural politics in the 1990s. Journal of Negro Education 60(3):276–290.

1994 Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America. Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press.


Southern, E. 1997 The Music of Black Americans: A History. Third Edition. New York: W.W.Norton and Company.

Steinberg, L. 1996 Beyond the Classroom. New York: Simon and Schuster.


Taylor, M. 1979 Race, sex, and the expression of self-fulfilling prophecies in a laboratory teaching situation. Personality and Social Psychology 6:897–912.


Zillmann, D., C.Aust, K.Hoffman, C.Love, V.Ordman, J.Pope, and P.Seigler 1995 Radical rap: Does if further ethnic division? Basic and Applied Social Psychology 16(1,2):1–25.

Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 348
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 349
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 350
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 351
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 352
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 353
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 354
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 355
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 356
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 357
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 358
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 359
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 360
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 361
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 362
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 363
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 364
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 365
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 366
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 367
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 368
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 369
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 370
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 371
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 372
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 373
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 374
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 375
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 376
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 377
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 378
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 379
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 380
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 381
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 382
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 383
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 384
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 385
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 386
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 387
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 388
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 389
Suggested Citation:"12. Test Score Trends Along Racial Lines, 1971 to 1996: Popular Culture and Community Academic Standards." National Research Council. 2001. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9599.
×
Page 390
Next: 13. Residential Segregation and Neighborhood Conditions in U.S. Metropolitan Areas »
America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences: Volume I Get This Book
×

The 20th Century has been marked by enormous change in terms of how we define race. In large part, we have thrown out the antiquated notions of the 1800s, giving way to a more realistic, sociocultural view of the world. The United States is, perhaps more than any other industrialized country, distinguished by the size and diversity of its racial and ethnic minority populations. Current trends promise that these features will endure. Fifty years from now, there will most likely be no single majority group in the United States. How will we fare as a nation when race-based issues such as immigration, job opportunities, and affirmative action are already so contentious today?

In America Becoming, leading scholars and commentators explore past and current trends among African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans, and Native Americans in the context of a white majority. This volume presents the most up-to-date findings and analysis on racial and social dynamics, with recommendations for ongoing research. It examines compelling issues in the field of race relations, including:

  • Race and ethnicity in criminal justice.
  • Demographic and social trends for Hispanics, Asian Americans, and Native Americans.
  • Trends in minority-owned businesses.
  • Wealth, welfare, and racial stratification.
  • Residential segregation and the meaning of "neighborhood."
  • Disparities in educational test scores among races and ethnicities.
  • Health and development for minority children, adolescents, and adults.
  • Race and ethnicity in the labor market, including the role of minorities in America's military.
  • Immigration and the dynamics of race and ethnicity.
  • The changing meaning of race.
  • Changing racial attitudes.

This collection of papers, compiled and edited by distinguished leaders in the behavioral and social sciences, represents the most current literature in the field. Volume 1 covers demographic trends, immigration, racial attitudes, and the geography of opportunity. Volume 2 deals with the criminal justice system, the labor market, welfare, and health trends. Both books will be of great interest to educators, scholars, researchers, students, social scientists, and policymakers.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    Switch between the Original Pages, where you can read the report as it appeared in print, and Text Pages for the web version, where you can highlight and search the text.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  9. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!