No abstract

Black and Hispanic students often display substantial gaps in test scores when compared to White students at all levels of education. In this article, we examine when and how the Black‐White and Hispanic‐White test score gaps develop in the early elementary grades in a California school district with a large minority population, where more than 80% of the students are Black or Hispanic. We use multivariate analysis to predict the annual reading and math test scores of a student cohort from first through fourth grade controlling for various school and family factors. We find that in this racially diverse school district achievement gaps do develop, for both Black and Hispanic students. However, in comparison to the Black‐White achievement gaps, the Hispanic‐White gaps develop later, in particular in math, and they are half the size of the Black‐White achievement gaps. The eventual widening of the gaps for Hispanic and Black students does not seem to be the result of minority students attending schools of less quality. Finally, in contrast to previous studies with fewer minorities, the estimated achievement gaps by the fourth grade are small.1

Policies that mandate in-grade retention of low-performing students have become central components of standards-based reforms across the country. While educational researchers have extensively studied the student-level correlates of retention and the consequences of retention for student achievement, little attention has been focused on identifying the factors that influence district retention decisions. In this study, the authors explored the significance of a political explanation of retention. A multivariate approach was used to investigate levels of student retention in 2000-2001 in 1,039 Texas school districts. Results showed that, as in earlier studies, student achievement and demographics were directly linked to levels of retention. However, changes in district leadership, local voters' ideology, and minority representation among district officials also had significant effects on retention levels. These findings suggest that retention is driven not only by student-level characteristics and district resources but also by the constraints and preferences of local constituencies and leadership.

This study examines whether transnational terrorist attacks impact the political survival of leaders. We argue that external security threats, such as those from transnational terrorist incidents, can undermine incumbent target governments by exposing foreign policy failures and damaging society’s general well-being. Yet, terrorism may not destabilize democratic governments as a result of citizens rallying around their elected leaders in threatening times. Focusing on Archigos’ survival leadership data and International Terrorism: Attributes of Terrorist Events’ terrorism data for the 1968–2004 period, we find that autocrats who experience higher instances of transnational terrorist attacks are more likely to exit power. Democrats, however, are relatively secure to the destabilizing influence of transnational terrorism.

Objective. African-American and Hispanic students often have lower test scores than white students at all levels of education. In this article, we examine whether school factors impact racial groups differentially, helping reduce the test score gaps, and whether school policies benefit one racial group at the expense of another. Methods. The data is individual-level data from a school district in California. Multivariate analysis (FGLS) is used to study the effect of school factors and race on test scores, after controlling for individual and school attributes. Results. School factors have a small differential effect by race on test scores. The school policies that have a positive influence on minorities' scores often involve an environment where closer attention is paid to the needs of students. Conclusion. Most school policies have a small effect on test scores, impacting all racial groups in a similar manner, without redistributing benefits across groups.