Can Tracking Raise the Test Scores of High-Ability Minority Students?
American Economic Review · 2016 · Volume 106 · Issue 10
Abstract
We evaluate a tracking program in a large urban district where schools with at least one gifted fourth grader create a separate "gifted/high achiever" classroom. Most seats are filled by non-gifted high achievers, ranked by previous-year test scores. We study the program's effects on the high achievers using (i) a rank-based regression discontinuity design, and (ii) a between-school/cohort analysis. We find significant effects that are concentrated among black and Hispanic participants. Minorities gain 0.5 standard deviation units in fourth-grade reading and math scores, with persistent gains through sixth grade. We find no evidence of negative or positive spillovers on nonparticipants.
Keywords
Analysis of Education, Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure, Human Capital, Skills, Occupational Choice, Labor Productivity
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