Over the past quarter-century, black Americans have made important gains in narrowing the gaps in educational and economic performance between themselves and whites. Between 1973 and 1996, for example, average scores of black 17-year-olds on the mathematics portion of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) grew by 6 percent, while average scores of white 17-year-olds remained about the same (NCES 1997b). Black-white gaps in NAEP reading scores also narrowed over this period. Further, in 1974, the high school dropout rate for 15- through 24-year-old blacks was twice the corresponding rate for whites; but by 1997, blacks and whites in this age bracket remained in high school at similar rates (NCES 1999).

Despite progress in reducing black-white gaps in mathematics and reading achievement, blacks have continued to score lower on the NAEP than whites (NCES 1997b). And, despite the convergence in high school completion rates of blacks and whites, the black-white gap in 4-year college completion rates of high school graduates 25–29 years old has increased slightly over the past quarter century. Between 1975 and 1998 this gap increased from 13 to 17 percentage points (NCES 1999).

In recent years black-white disparities have also persisted—and have sometimes grown larger—for labor market outcomes such as labor force participation,² unemployment,³ and hourly wages. Between 1973 and 1993, black-white differences in the labor force participation rates of 25- through 34-year-olds widened by 3.4 percentage points for men and 19 percentage points for women, and the corresponding black-white gaps in unemployment rates widened by about 2.4 percentage points for both men and women. Over the same time period, the black-white gap in hourly wages narrowed by one-third for 25- through 34-year-old men, but more than doubled for 25- through 34-year-old women (Bernstein 1995).

Recent studies have revealed a strong relationship between differences in prior educational achievement and black-white disparities in college attendance and earnings. With black-white disparities remaining in both educational and economic outcomes, it is important to understand the relationship between educational achievement during elementary and secondary school and subsequent academic and labor market performance.

2. The labor force participation rate is defined as the percentage of noninstitutionalized civilians who are employed, otherwise with a job, or looking for a job.
3.The unemployment rate is defined as the percentage of labor force participants who are without a job.

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