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Title: Inequality in Lead Exposure and the Black-White Test Score Gap
Citation Type: Miscellaneous
Publication Year: 2015
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Abstract: We consider a new source of racial disparities in test scores: African American students' disproportionate exposure to environmental toxins, and, in particular, lead. Using a unique individual-level dataset of children's preschool lead levels linked with future educational outcomes for children in Rhode Island, we show that state policies aimed at reducing lead exposure led to significant declines in children's blood lead levels among cohorts born between 1997 and 2004. Exploiting the change in child lead levels as a result of the policy, we generate causal estimates of the impact of preschool lead levels on reading and math test scores from grade three through grade eight in an IV framework. We find that a 5 micrograms per deciliter increase in child lead levels (the threshold at which the CDC recommends intervention) reduces test scores by 6 points or 43 percent of a standard deviation. The effects are stronger in the lower tail of the test score distribution and do not fade over time. The decline in racial disparities in lead exposures can explain roughly half of the 32 percent decline in the racial gap in test scores in these cohorts. JEL Codes: I24, J15, Q53, Q58 We thank Rebecca Lee and Alyssa Sylvaria of the Providence Plan for their generosity and help with the data,
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Authors: Aizer, Anna; Currie, Janet; Simon, Peter; Vivier, Patrick
Publisher: Brown University
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Education, Race and Ethnicity
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