Black–White Achievement Gap and Family Wealth

doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01127.x

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Wiley InterScience

Child Development

Volume 79 Issue 2, Pages 303 - 324

Published Online: 24 Mar 2008

Published on behalf of the Society for Research in Child Development

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Black–White Achievement Gap and Family Wealth

W. Jean Yeung ¹ Dalton Conley ¹

¹ New York University

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to W. Jean Yeung, Department of Sociology, New York University, 295 Lafayette Street, Fourth Floor, New York, NY 10012. Electronic mail may be sent to jean.yeung@nyu.edu.

This study was supported by a research grant (5R03HD043056-02) from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The authors appreciate the valuable comments from Jencks and participants in California Center for Population Research, University of California, Los Angeles.

ABSTRACT

This article examines the extent to which family wealth affects the Black–White test score gap for young children based on data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (aged 3–12). This study found little evidence that wealth mediated the Black–White test scores gaps, which were eliminated when child and family demographic covariates were held constant. However, family wealth had a stronger association with cognitive achievement of school-aged children than that of preschoolers and a stronger association with school-aged children's math than on their reading scores. Liquid assets, particularly holdings in stocks or mutual funds, were positively associated with school-aged children's test scores. Family wealth was associated with a higher quality home environment, better parenting behavior, and children's private school attendance.

Received: 19 December 2007; Accepted: 14 March 2008;

DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER (DOI)

10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01127.x About DOI

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