Journals > Journal: School Readiness: Closing Racial and Ethnic Gaps > Article: Health Disparities and Gaps in School Readiness
Journal Issue: School Readiness: Closing Racial and Ethnic Gaps Volume 15 Number 1 Spring 2005
Discussion and Conclusions
That there are pervasive differences in health between black and white children in the United States is beyond doubt. But do these disparities explain the racial gaps in school readiness? The evidence assembled here suggests that although many specific health conditions impair cognition and behavior in individual children, it is unlikely that any particular condition can explain much of the racial gap. For example, children with ADHD score a third of a standard deviation lower on test scores than children without the disorder. But because ADHD affects relatively few children and because racial differences in its prevalence are small, it explains little of the racial difference in school readiness. This does not mean that ADHD or other health conditions are unimportant. Clearly ADHD often has devastating effects on the 4 percent of boys and 2 percent of girls it affects even if it does not explain much of the racial gap in outcomes.
Moreover, summed over all health conditions, health differentials could well explain a sizeable portion of the racial gap. Three of the conditions evaluated here—ADHD, asthma, and lead poisoning—could explain up to 0.6 of a point in the hypothetical 8 point gap used for illustrative purposes. Not enough evidence is yet available to evaluate how much other common conditions such as injuries, ear infection, and dental caries could contribute. But it would not be far-fetched to suppose that differences in health conditions might together explain one point, or an eighth of the school readiness gap. And maternal health and behaviors may have even larger effects on racial gaps in school readiness because they affect more children. After all, the majority of children are in excellent health, which means that mean gaps in test scores are driven largely by children who do not have health problems.
Simply summing the various estimates in this paper suggests that as much of a quarter of the readiness gap between blacks and whites might be attributable to health conditions or health behaviors of both mothers and children. Summing yields an upper estimate, because some children may be affected by more than one condition or behavior. But these findings confirm once again that mind and body are intimately connected and that at least some of the persistent gap in school readiness between black and white children may reflect differences in their health.
