Is All Money Created Equal? Racial Differences in Students' Educational Returns to Parental Income, 1960 to 2009

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 20
  In Roundtable Session: Race Matters: The Intersection of Race and Education Policy and Practice

Abstract

Researchers have recently highlighted achievement gaps between students from high- versus low-income families. To date, studies have not considered the possibility that, compared to white students, non-white students may receive differential returns to the same category in the distribution of parental income. I investigate black-white math achievement gaps within income quintiles among cohorts of 9th graders in 1960 and 2009, respectively. Between 1960 and 2009, the gaps decreased significantly and became more uniform across the income distribution. But, in 2009, they were still large and significant. In 1960, inequalities in parental education and school characteristics explained a sizable proportion of within-quintile black-white gaps. By 2009, those inequalities explained a negligible proportion of the gaps.

Author

• Jordan Conwell, University of Wisconsin-Madison