The black–white test score gap in young children: Contributions of test and family characteristics

Applied Developmental Science

Volumn 7, Issue 4, 2003, Pages 239-252

  Brooks Gunn, Jeanne ^a,b   Klebanov, Pamela K ^a,b   Smith, Judith ^c   Duncan, Greg J ^d   Lee, Kyunghee ^e  

^a Och Spine at New York Presbyterian Hospitals   (United States)

^b PRINCETON UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^c FORDHAM UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^d NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^e MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 85014185053     PISSN: 10888691     EISSN: 1532480X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1207/S1532480XADS0704_3     Document Type: Article

References (85)

1. Aber, J. L., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Maynard, R. A. (1995). Effects of welfare reform on teenage parents and their children. Future of Children, 5(2), 53–71.
2. Adler, S., & Birdsong, S. (1983). Reliability and validity of standardized testing tools used with poor children. Topics in Language Disorders, 3, 76–87.
3. Baker, P., Kech, C., Mott, F., & Quinlan, S. (1993). NLSY child handbook– revised edition. Columbus: Center for Human Resources Research, Ohio State University.
4. Baker, P., & Mott, F. (1989). NLSY handbook 1989: A guide and resource document for the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1986 Child Data. Columbus: Center for Human Resource Research, Ohio State University.
5. Baydar, N., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (1991). Effects of maternal employment and child-care arrangements in infancy on preschoolers’ cognitive and behavioral outcomes: Evidence from the Children of the NLSY. Developmental Psychology, 27, 932–945.
6. Bradley, R. H. (1995). Home environment and parenting. In M. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting, Vol. 2 (pp. 235–262). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
7. Bradley, R. H., & Caldwell, B. M. (1984). The HOME inventory and familydemographics. DevelopmentalPsychology, 20,315–320.
8. Bradley, R. H., Caldwell, B. M., Rock, S. L., Ramey, C. T., Barnard, K. E., Gray, C., et al. (1989). Home environment and cognitive development in the first three years of life: A collaborative study including six sites and three ethnic groups in North America. Developmental Psychology, 25, 217–235.
9. Bradley, R. H., Whiteside, L., Mundfrom, D. J., Casey, P. H., Kelleher, K. J., & Pope, S. K. (1994). Early indications of resilience and their relation to experiences in the home environments of low birthweight, premature children living in poverty. Child Development, 65, 346–360.
10. Brooks-Gunn, J., Berlin, L. J., Leventhal, T., & Fuligni, A. (2000). Depending on the kindness of strangers: Current national data initiatives and developmental research. Child Development, 71, 257–267.
11. Brooks-Gunn, J., Duncan, G. J., & Aber, J. L. (Eds.). (1997). Neighborhood poverty: Context and consequences for children (Vol. 1). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
12. Brooks-Gunn, J., Fuligni, A. S., & Berlin, L. J. (2003). Early child development in the 21st century: Profiles of current research initiatives. New York: Teachers College Press.
13. Brooks-Gunn, J., Klebanov, P. K., & Duncan, G. (1996). Ethnic differences in children’s intelligence test scores: Role of economic deprivation, home environment, and maternal characteristics. Child Development, 67, 396–408.
14. Brooks-Gunn, J., Klebanov, P. K., Liaw, F., & Spiker, D. (1993). Enhancing the development of lowbirthweight, premature infants: Changes in cognition and behavior over the first three years. Child Development, 64, 736–753.
15. Brooks-Gunn, J., Liaw, F., & Klebanov, P. K. (1992). Effects of early intervention on low birth weight preterm infants: What aspects of cognitive functioning are enhanced? Journal of Pediatrics, 120, 350–359.
16. Brooks-Gunn, J., McCarton, C., Casey, P., McCormick, M., Bauer, C., Berenbaum, J., et al. (1994). Early intervention in low birthweight, premature infants: Results through age 5 years from the Infant Health and Development Program. Journal of the American Medical Association, 272, 1257–1262.
17. Campbell, J. M. (1998). Review of Dunn & Dunn’s Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test–III. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 16, 334–338.
18. Campbell, J. M., Bell, S. K.,& Keith, L. K. (2001). Concurrent validity of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test–Third Edition as an intelligence and achievement screener for low SES African-American children. Assessment, 8, 85–94.
19. Chase-Lansdale, P. L., Gordon, R. A., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Klebanov, P. K. (1997). Neighborhood and family influences on the intellectual and behavioral competence of preschool and early school-age children. In J. Brooks-Gunn, G. J. Duncan, & J. L. Aber (Eds.), Neighborhood poverty: Context and consequences for children (Vol. 1, pp. 79–118). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
20. Chase-Lansdale, P. L., Mott, F. L., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Phillips, D. (1991). Children of the NLSY: A unique research opportunity. Developmental Psychology, 27, 918–931.
21. Constantine, W. L., Haynes, C. W., Spiker, D., Kendall-Tackett, K., & Constantine, N. A. (1993). Recruitment and retention in a clinical trial for low birth weight, premature infants. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 14, 1–7.
22. Doucette-Gates, A., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Chase-Lansdale, P. L. (1998). The role of bias and equivalence in the study of race, class, and ethnicity. In V. C. McLloyd & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Studying minority adolescents: Conceptual, methodological, and theoretical issues (pp. 211–236). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
23. Duncan, G. J., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Klebanov, P. K. (1994). Economic deprivation and early childhood development. Child Development, 65, 296–318.
24. Dunn, L. M., & Dunn, L. M. (1981). Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test–Revised. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.
25. Dunn, L. M., & Dunn, L. M. (1997). Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test–3rd Edition. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.
26. Fuchs, D., & Fuchs, L. S. (1989). Effects of examiner familiarity on Black, Caucasian, and Hispanic children: A meta-analysis. Exceptional Children, 55, 303–308.
27. Gardner, H. (1993). Multiple intelligences: The theory in practice. New York: Basic Books.
28. Gottfried, A. W. (Ed.). (1984). Home environment and early cognitive development. New York: Academic.
29. Gross, R. T., Spiker, D., & Haynes, C.W. (Eds.). (1997). Helping low birth weight, premature babies: The Infant Health and Development Program. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
30. Han, W., Waldfogel, J., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2001). The effects of early maternal employment on later cognitive and behavioral outcomes. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 63, 336–354.
31. Hauser, R. M. (1998). Trends in black-white test-score differential: I. Uses and misuses of NAEP/SAT data. In U. Neisser (Ed.), The rising curve: Long term gains in IQ and related measures (pp. 219–249).Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
32. Hedges, L.V., & Nowell, A. (1999). Changes in the black-white gap in achievement test scores. Sociology of Education, 72, 111–135.
33. Helms, J. E. (1992). Why is there no study of cultural equivalence in standardized cognitive ability testing? American Psychologist, 47, 1083–1101.
34. Herrnstein, R. J., & Murray, C. (1995). The bell curve: Intelligence and class structure in American life. New York: Free Press.
35. Infant Health and Development Program. (1990). Enhancing the outcomes of low birthweight, premature infants: A multisite randomized trail. Journal of the American Medical Association, 263, 3035–3042.
36. Jamieson, A., Curry, A., & Martinez, G. (2001, March). School enrollment in the United States—Social and economic characteristics of students (Population characteristics, P20-533). Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.
37. Jencks, C., & Phillips, M. (Eds.). (1998). The Black-White test score gap. Washington, DC: Brookings Institute.
38. Jensen, A. R. (1974). How biased are culture-loaded tests? Genetic Psychology Monographs, 90, 186–244.
39. Jensen, A. R. (1980). Bias in mental testing. New York: Free Press.
40. Jensen, A. R., & Reynolds, C. R. (1982). Race, social class and ability patterns on the WISC–R. Personality and Individual Differences, 3, 423–438.
41. Katz, I., Henchy, T., & Allen, H. (1968). Effects of race of tester, approval-disapproval, and need on Negro children’s learning. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 8, 38–42.
42. Kaufman, A. S., & Kaufman, N. L. (1983). Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children administration and scoring manual. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.
43. Kim, H., Baydar, N., & Greek, A. (2003). Testing conditions influence the race gap in cognition and achievement estimated by household survey data. Applied Developmental Psychology, 23, 567–582.
44. Klebanov, P. K., Brooks-Gunn, J., Chase-Lansdale, L., & Gordon, R. (1997). Are neighborhood effects on young children mediated by features of the home environment? In J. Brooks-Gunn, G. Duncan, & J. L. Aber (Eds.), Neighborhood poverty: Context and consequences for children (Vol. 1, pp. 119–145). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
45. Klebanov, P. K., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Duncan, G. (1994). Does neighborhood and family poverty affect mothers’ parenting, mental health, and social support? Journal of Marriage and the Family, 56, 441–455.
46. Klebanov, P. K., Brooks-Gunn, J., McCarton, C., & McCormick, M. C. (1998). The contribution of neighborhood and family income to developmental test scores over the first three years of life. Child Development, 69, 1420–1436.
47. Kohen, D., Brooks-Gunn, J., Leventhal, T., & Hertzman, C. (2002). Neighborhood income and physical and social disorder in Canada: Associations with young children’s competencies. Child Development, 73, 1845–1860.
48. Krescheck, J. D., & Nicolosi, L. (1973). A comparison of black and white children’s scores on the Peabody PictureVocabulary Test. Language, Speech, & Hearing Services in the Schools, 4(1), 37–40.
49. Lee, V., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Schnur, E. (1988). Does Head Start “close the gap?” A comparison of children attending Head Start, no preschool, and other preschool programs. Developmental Psychology, 24, 210–222.
50. Lee, V., Brooks-Gunn, J., Schnur, E., & Liaw, F.-R. (1990). Are Head Start effects sustained? A longitudinal follow-up comparison of disadvantaged children attending Head Start, no preschool, and other preschool programs. Child Development, 61, 495–507.
51. Leiter, R. (1979). Leiter International Performance Scale Battery. Windsor, England: NFER-Nelson.
52. Loehlin, J. C., Lindzey, G., & Spuhler, J. N. (1975). Race differences in intelligence. San Francisco: Freeman.
53. Love, J. M., Kisker, E. E., Ross, C. M., Schochet, P. Z., Brooks-Gunn, J., Paulsell, D., et al. (2002). Making a difference in the lives of infants and toddlers and their families: The impacts of Early Head Start. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
54. Lynn, R. (1996). Racial and ethnic differences in intelligence in the United States on the Differential Ability Scale. Personality and Individual Differences, 20, 271–273.
55. Massey, D. S. (1990). American apartheid: Segregation and the making of the underclass. American Journal of Sociology, 96, 329–358.
56. McCall, R. B., Appelbaum, M. I., & Hogarty, P. S. (1973). Developmental changes in mental performance. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 150, 38.
57. McCall, R. B., & Carriger, M. S. (1993). A meta-analysis of infant habituation and recognition memory performance as predictors of later IQ. Child Development, 64, 57–79.
58. McCarton, C. C., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Tonascia, J. (1994). The cognitive, behavioral and health status of mainland Puerto Rican children in the Infant Health and Development Program. In C. Garcia Coll & G. Lamberty (Eds.), Puerto Rican women and children: Issues in health, growth, and development (pp. 161–189). New York: Plenum.
59. McCormick, M. C., Brooks-Gunn, J., Workman-Daniels, K., Turner, J., & Peckham, G. (1992). The health and developmental status of very low birth weight children at school age. Journal of the American Medical Association, 267, 224–228.
60. McKey, R. H., Condelli, L., Granson, H., Barrett, B., McConkey, C., & Plantz, M. (1985). The impact of Head Start on children, families, and communities. In Final report of the Head Start Evaluation, Synthesis and Utilization Project. Washington, DC: CSR.
61. Menaghan, E. G., & Parcel, T. L. (1991). Determining children’s home environments: The impact of maternal characteristics and current occupational and family conditions. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 53, 417–431.
62. Mercer, J. R., & Brown, W. C. (1973). Racial differences in IQ: Fact or artifact? In C. Senns (Ed.), The fallacy of IQ (pp. 56–113). New York: Third Press.
63. Moore, C. L., & Retish, P. M. (1974). Effect of the examiner’s race on black children’sWechsler preschool and primary scale of intelligence IQ. Developmental Psychology, 10, 672–676.
64. Morris, P. A. (2001). The effects of welfare reform policies on children. Social Policy Report, 16(1), 1–20.
65. Phillips, M., Brooks-Gunn, J., Duncan, G. J., Klebanov, P. K., & Jencks, C. (1998). Family background, parenting practices, and the black-white test score gap. In C. Jencks & M. Phillips (Eds.), The Black-White test score gap (pp. 103–145).Washington, DC: Brookings Institute.
66. Phillips, M., Crouse, J., & Ralph, J. (1998). Does the black-white test score gap widen after children enter school? In C. Jencks & M. Phillips (Eds.), The Black-White test score gap (pp. 229–272). Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
67. Ramey, C. T., Bryant, D. M., Wasik, B. H., Sparling, J. J., Fendt, K. H., & LaVange, L. M. (1992). The Infant Health and Development Program for low birthweight, premature infants: Program elements, family participation, and child intelligence. Pediatrics, 3, 454–465.
68. Roid, G. H., & Miller, L. J. (1997). Examiners manual: Leiter International Performance Scale–Revised. Chicago: Stoelting.
69. Sattler, J. M. (1992). Assessment of children (3rd ed.). San Diego, CA: Author.
70. Scarr, S. (1981). Race, social class and individual differences. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
71. Scarr-Salapatek, S. (1971). Race, social class, and IQ. Science, 74, 1285–1295.
72. Scott, D. T., Bauer, C. R., Kraemer, H. C., & Tyson, J. (1989). Neonatal health index for preterm infants. Pediatrics Research, 25, 263a.
73. Scott, D. T., Bauer, C. R., Kraemer, H. C., & Tyson, J. E. (1997). The neonatal health index. In R. T. Gross, D. Spiker, & C. W. Haynes (Eds.), Helping low birth weight, premature babies: The Infant Health and Development Program (pp. 341–357). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
74. Smith, H.W., & May, W. T. (1967). Individual differences among inexperienced psychological examiners. Psychological Reports, 20, 759–762.
75. Smith, J. R., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Klebanov, P. (1997). Consequences of living in poverty for young children’s cognitive and verbal ability and early school achievement. In G. J. Duncan & J. Brooks-Gunn (Eds.), Consequences of growing up poor (pp. 132–189). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
76. Sternberg, R. J. (1997). Successful intelligence. New York: Plume.
77. Stoolmiller,M. (1999). Implications of the restricted range of family environments for estimates of heritability and nonshared environment in behavior-genetic adoption studies. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 392–409.
78. Sugland, B.W., Zaslow, M. J., Smith, J. R., Brooks-Gunn, J., Moore, K. A., Blumenthal, C., et al. (1995). The earlyHOMEinventory and HOME-short form in differing sociocultural groups: Are there differences in underlying structure, internal consistency of subscales, and patterns of prediction? Journal of Family Issues, 16, 632–663.
79. Terman, L. M., & Merrill, M. A. (1973). Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Manual for the third revision, form L-M. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
80. U.S. Census Bureau. (2002). Poverty thresholds 2001 (Current Population Survey). Washington, DC: Author.
81. U.S. Census Bureau. (2003). Statistical abstract of the United Status 2002. Washington, DC: Author.
82. Wachs, T. D., & Gruen, G. E. (1982). Early experience and human development. New York: Plenum.
83. Washington, J. A., & Craig, H. K. (1992). Performances of low-income, African American preschool and kindergarten children on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test–Revised. Language, Speech & Hearing Services in the Schools, 23, 329–333.
84. Wechsler, D. (1989). Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
85. Weinberg, R. A. (1989). Intelligence and IQ: Landmark issues and great debate. American Psychologist, 44(2), 98–104.