Extreme and Expanding Disadvantage: Black-White Gaps in Behavior Over the Course of Childhood

• In Event: Mind the Gaps: Educational Stratification by Race/Ethnicity and Ability/Disability

Abstract

Teachers report that black kindergartners have worse classroom behavior than whites. However, these cross-sectional estimates of mean gaps hide the true extent of black children’s behavioral disadvantages. This paper uses nationally representative, longitudinal data to show that blacks have a higher predicted probability of appearing in the tail of the behavioral ratings’ distributions than whites at all points in elementary school, and this disadvantage expands with age. Strikingly, even if they start kindergarten without behavior problems, black students are more likely to experience downward mobility in the ratings’ distribution over time than whites. These findings contribute to our understanding of how racial inequalities in education arise and accumulate.

Author

• Jill Bowdon, University of Pennsylvania