Race gaps in SAT math scores are as big as ever
Feb 3, 2017 by Brookings Institution
Richard V. Reeves –
Education has long been cast as the “great equalizer” of American society. Post-secondary colleges, and in particular public universities, are especially prized as engines of upward mobility. As recent research by Raj Chetty, John Friedman, Emmanuel Saez, Nicholas Turner, and Danny Yagan shows, some institutions are more effective in this regard than others.
The new Chetty et al. study provides a treasure trove for further research. One major limitation of the data (which is available online), however, is that it cannot identify the race or ethnicity of the student, since it is drawn from administrative tax records. This matters because there are big race gaps in intergenerational mobility rates. Education is a big part of the story here: While the race gap is closing for college enrollment, it remains as stark as ever for graduation rates.
College success rates reflect, in large part, inequalities that open up long before college matriculation. As we show in our latest entry in the Social Mobility Paper series, “Race gaps in SAT scores highlight inequality and hinder upward mobility,” there are, for example, persistent race gaps on the math section of the SAT, which is an important gateway to higher education. Insofar as SAT scores predict student success in college, inequalities in SAT score distributions reflect and reinforce racial inequalities across generations.
http://www.educationviews.org/race-gaps-sat-math-scores-big/
