2009/06/26 by Eric A. Hanushek, John F. Kain, Steven G. Rivkin · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Psychology · #School Choice and Performance #Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies #Higher Education Research Studies #Racial composition #Composition (language) #Racial differences #Academic achievement #Demographic economics #Government (linguistics) #Quality (philosophy) #Accidental #Student achievement #Psychology #Economics #Race (biology) #Sociology #Developmental psychology #Ethnic group #Gender studies #Physics
paper · doi:10.1086/600386
openalex publication_date 2009/06/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Uncovering the effect of school racial composition is difficult because racial mixing is not accidental but instead an outcome of government and family choices. Using rich panel data on the achievement of Texas students, we disentangle racial composition effects from other aspects of school quality and from differences in abilities and family background. The estimates strongly indicate that a higher percentage of black schoolmates reduces achievement for blacks, while it implies a much smaller and generally insignificant effect on whites. These results suggest that existing levels of segregation in Texas explain a small but meaningful portion of the racial achievement gap.