Steinhardt, Wagner Faculty Honored for Research on Racial Test Score Gap
Three faculty members from NYU Steinhardt and the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service have won the first annual L. Douglas Wilder Award for Scholarship in Social Equity and Public Policy. The faculty are Leanna Stiefel, professor of economics, NYU Wagner; Ingrid Gould Ellen, associate professor of public policy and urban planning at Wagner; and Amy Ellen Schwartz, professor of economics and education, who holds dual appointments in the Steinhardt School and Wagner. The award was given for their recent article in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management entitled "Disentangling the Racial Test Score Gap: Probing the Evidence in a Large Urban School District."The Standing Panel on Social Equity of the Washington, D.C.-based National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA), a 40-year-old organization, honored the professors at the Social Equity Leadership Conference on February 7, 2008, held at Arizona State University. The judges called the work an example of exemplary scholarship and a substantial contribution to social equity, selecting it from a field of 15 finalists.
In the study, the professors measure the size and distribution of the racial and ethnic gaps in performance among New York City's elementary and middle schools. The data allow them to explore the role of many factors at the school and classroom level in shaping racial disparities. They are able to explain variations within and between schools, using a complete census of students. They also complement their analyses of the black/white test score gaps - standard in the research literature - with a wider focus that also compares whites with Hispanics and Asians.