“…a must-read for serious students of economic policy.” - Glenn Hubbard, Dean, Columbia Business School, and former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
“…challenges misconceptions that distort our economic debates.” - Arthur Brooks, President of the American Enterprise Institute
“Unintended Consequences represents the most cogent and persuasive analysis of the Financial Crisis to date.” - Andrei Shleifer, 1999 John Bates Clark Medal Winner
“Unintended Consequences is far smarter and more thought-provoking than most economics written for the general public” - Greg Mankiw, Harvard University, Former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors
“A full-throated defense of economic dynamism.” - The Wall Street Journal
“…serious thinking for serious thinkers. …a thought-provoking blueprint for growing middle- and working-class incomes.” - Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts
“…a must-read for serious students of economic policy.” - Glenn Hubbard, Dean, Columbia Business School, and former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
“There are an amazing number of good ideas and interesting points made in Unintended Consequences. The thinking underlying it, and the obvious depth of understanding of the author, are very impressive.” - Steven Levitt, coauthor of Freakonomics; 2004 John Bates Clark Medal
“…reminds us that inequality sends a signal of what society lacks most, in America’s case, entrepreneurship and risk taking.” - Lawrence Lindsey, CEO, The Lindsey Group, former Director of the National Economic Council
“…a very valuable contribution.” - Larry Summers, former Secretary of the Treasury and director of the National Economic Council, president emeritus, Harvard University
“…a very valuable contribution.” - Larry Summers, former Secretary of the Treasury and director of the National Economic Council, president emeritus, Harvard University
“…reminds us that inequality sends a signal of what society lacks most, in America’s case, entrepreneurship and risk taking.” - Lawrence Lindsey, CEO, The Lindsey Group, former Director of the National Economic Council
AI Summary.International student assessment results show mathematics performance held near earlier levels for about 15 years before falling sharply, with mean scores down 9 points in math and about 14 in reading in the latest cycle. Reported student motivation and school engagement declined, and hasty incorrect answering rose to 11%.
OECD StaffOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
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Mean OECD math and reading scores fell roughly 25 PISA points—about a year of schooling—between 2018 and 2025, alongside reduced motivation and engagement and increased carelessness, exemplified by a near-doubling of “hasty readers.”
Are international student test scores falling alongside declining motivation and engagement?
Core argument: PISA 2025 mean performance fell by 9 score points in mathematics and about 14 points in reading between 2022 and 2025, after mathematics scores had remained close to their 2003 level through 2018.
In math, performance remained close to the 2003 level up to 2018, then dropped sharply btw 2018 and 2025. Mean performance dropped by 9 score points in mathematics and about 14 score points in reading btw 2022 and 2025. Over the 2018-2025 period, the largest drops [in reading] were among the most advantaged 25% of socio-economic status, and the socio-economic gap with the most disadvantaged students reduced somewhat, by 11 points, on average across 35 OECD countries. In mathematics, the share of disadvantaged students scoring below proficiency Level 2 increased in previous cycles and remained high in 2025; among advantaged students, the share scoring below proficiency Level 2 increased, reaching 18% in 2025, about 4pp. Students’ reports of their motivation for learning and engagement with school also declined between 2022 and 2025. The proportion of “hasty readers” – those who gave fast and incorrect responses – increased by about five percentage points, on average, from almost 7% in 2018 to 11% in 2025. Analyses for math, also show an increase in the proportion of hasty responses between 2022 and 2025.
Takeaways by Macro Roundup® AI
PISA 2025 mean performance fell by 9 score points in mathematics and about 14 points in reading between 2022 and 2025, after mathematics scores had remained close to their 2003 level through 2018.
Over 2018–2025, the largest reading declines came among the most advantaged 25% by socio-economic status, and the gap with the most disadvantaged students narrowed by 11 points on average across 35 OECD countries.
The share of "hasty readers," who gave fast and incorrect responses, rose about five percentage points, from almost 7% in 2018 to 11% in 2025, with hasty responses in mathematics also increasing between 2022 and 2025.
Related Articles:
Do Adults Have the Skills They Need to Thrive in a Changing World?— An international assessment of adult skills describes numeracy proficiency levels ranging from counting objects and adding small whole numbers at the lowest level, to extracting information from tables and graphs and performing basic arithmetic with money and percentages at Level 1, up to analysing complex mathematical information and critically evaluating whether data support a claim at Level 5.
Are China’s Students Really Number One? A Statistical Riddle— China's reported 65-point jump in mean international student test scores between testing rounds coincided with a change in which provinces represented the country, swapping the most populous province for a richer, much smaller one. The author argues such swings, including a fall in low performers from 43% to 19% in reading, are unmatched elsewhere.
Have Humans Passed Peak Brain Power?— The share of Americans reporting they read a book in the past year has fallen below half, alongside declining performance in numeracy and problem-solving in most countries. The share of adults unable to use mathematical reasoning to evaluate the validity of statements averages 25% in high-income countries and 35% in the US.
AI Summary.A study of a large public urban university system finds that high school grade point average is a far stronger predictor of student academic success than SAT scores, contrasting with analyses of highly selective colleges that found the SAT superior. Under-represented minority students were less likely to graduate within six years at every grade point average level.
Theodore Joyce, Mina Afrouzi Khosroshahi, Sarah Truelsch, Kerstin Gentsch, et al.National Bureau of Economic Research
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SAT scores are known to be better predictors of college and post-college success in Ivy+ universities. By contrast, this study of a public urban university system with 11 colleges shows that for the 2010–2019 cohort, high school GPA strongly dominates SAT scores.
Do high school grades predict college success better than test scores?
Core argument: In a study of 2010–2019 cohorts at a large public urban university system, high school GPA predicts student academic success far better than the SAT, contrary to analyses of Ivy-plus colleges that found the SAT superior.
Many of the country’s most selective colleges have returned to requiring the SAT, based on evidence that the test not only predicts student success, but facilitates the identification of qualified applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds. The results from our study of a large public urban university system find the opposite: high school grades are a vastly superior predictor of student academic success than is the SAT. We undertake an exercise with binned scatter plots of six year graduation rates against HSGPA [High School Grade Point Average] stratified by URM [under-represented minority] and whether the student received the maximum Pell grant (Figures 1a and 1b). [Note that SAT is included in the regression so the monotonic linear effect of GDP remains after controlling for SAT score]. We find that URM are less likely to graduate in six years at every level of HSGPA than are non-URM. In contrast, we find no similar difference when we stratify the plot by whether the student received the max Pell grant or not, a strong proxy for a low-income household (Figure 1b). The clear takeaway from the analysis of the 2010-2019 cohorts is the dominance of HSGPA in predicting student academic success. The results are in direct contrast to recent high-profile analyses of students from Ivy-plus colleges that demonstrated the superiority of SAT over HSGPA in predicting not only first-year academic outcomes, but post-college success as well.
Takeaways by Macro Roundup® AI
In a study of 2010–2019 cohorts at a large public urban university system, high school GPA predicts student academic success far better than the SAT, contrary to analyses of Ivy-plus colleges that found the SAT superior.
Binned scatter plots of six-year graduation rates against high school GPA, controlling for SAT score, show under-represented minority students are less likely to graduate in six years at every level of high school GPA than non-URM students.
Stratifying six-year graduation rates by receipt of the maximum Pell grant, a proxy for a low-income household, shows no similar gap to the one found between under-represented minority and non-URM students.
Military Officer Quality in the All-Volunteer Force— The authors find a steady decline in U.S. Marine Corps officers' General Classification Test scores, which is statistically associated with the expansion of college attendance and explains 96% of the measured change. They also find a positive association between African American officers and mean test scores, arguing affirmative action has not lowered officer quality.
Do Adults Have the Skills They Need to Thrive in a Changing World?— An international assessment of adult skills describes numeracy proficiency levels ranging from counting objects and adding small whole numbers at the lowest level, to extracting information from tables and graphs and performing basic arithmetic with money and percentages at Level 1, up to analysing complex mathematical information and critically evaluating whether data support a claim at Level 5.
AI Summary.White men's share of positions across US culture and technology industries declined markedly over roughly a decade: from 48% to 11.9% of lower-level TV writers, 39% to 18% of Harvard humanities tenure-track posts, nearly half to under a third of Google's workforce, and 55.8% to 33.8% of mid-level Amazon managers.
Jacob SavageCompact Magazine
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Jacob Savage argues that the widespread discrimination against young white men in “high-status” sectors such as media and tech during the 2010s is a key driver of contemporary political dynamics among young men.
How much has white men's share of culture and tech jobs fallen?
Core argument: White men fell from 48% of lower-level TV writers in 2011 to 11.9% in 2024, and from 39% of Harvard humanities tenure-track positions in 2014 to 18% in 2023.
In 2011, the year I moved to Los Angeles, white men were 48% of lower-level TV writers; by 2024, they accounted for just 11.9%. The Atlantic’s editorial staff went from 53% male and 89% white in 2013 to 36% male and 66% white in 2024. White men fell from 39% of tenure-track positions in the humanities at Harvard in 2014 to 18% in 2023. The white men shut out of the culture industries didn’t surge into other high-status fields. At Google, white men went from nearly half the workforce in 2014 to less than a third by 2024—a 34% decline. In 2014, at Amazon, entry-level “professionals”—college graduates just starting out—were 42.3% white male. These were the employees who, if they’d advanced normally over the next decade, would be the mid-level managers of today. But mid-level Amazon managers fell from 55.8% white male in 2014 to just 33.8% in 2024—a decline of nearly 40%. In retrospect, 2014 was the hinge, the year DEI became institutionalized across American life.
Takeaways by Macro Roundup® AI
White men fell from 48% of lower-level TV writers in 2011 to 11.9% in 2024, and from 39% of Harvard humanities tenure-track positions in 2014 to 18% in 2023.
Mid-level Amazon managers went from 55.8% white male in 2014 to 33.8% in 2024, a decline of nearly 40%, while entry-level Amazon professionals were 42.3% white male in 2014.
At Google, white men fell from nearly half the workforce in 2014 to under a third by 2024, a 34% decline, part of the author's case that 2014 was the hinge year when DEI became institutionalized.
Related Articles:
Do Adults Have the Skills They Need to Thrive in a Changing World?— An international assessment of adult skills describes numeracy proficiency levels ranging from counting objects and adding small whole numbers at the lowest level, to extracting information from tables and graphs and performing basic arithmetic with money and percentages at Level 1, up to analysing complex mathematical information and critically evaluating whether data support a claim at Level 5.
Military Officer Quality in the All-Volunteer Force— The authors find a steady decline in U.S. Marine Corps officers' General Classification Test scores, which is statistically associated with the expansion of college attendance and explains 96% of the measured change. They also find a positive association between African American officers and mean test scores, arguing affirmative action has not lowered officer quality.
US PISA Results By Subpopulation— On the international PISA student assessments, American Asian and White students ranked at the top, American Hispanic students outscored Hispanic students elsewhere, and American Black students performed well. In reading, American Asian students placed first and American White students third.
AI Summary.U.S. twelfth-graders' average math and reading scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress fell to their lowest levels on record, with math the worst since that test began in 2005 and reading below any point since 1992. The share rated proficient slid 2 percentage points to 35% in reading and 22% in math.
Matt BarnumWall Street Journal
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New National Assessment of Educational Progress results show the share of American high school seniors who scored basic or above on national tests fell to the lowest level on record: 68% in reading and 55% in math.
Have U.S. twelfth-grade math and reading scores fallen to record lows?
Core argument: U.S. twelfth-graders' average math score was the worst since the current National Assessment of Educational Progress math test began in 2005, and their reading score fell below any point since that assessment started in 1992.
American high-school seniors’ scores on major math and reading tests fell to their lowest levels on record, according to results released Tuesday by the U.S. Education Department. Twelfth-graders’ average math score was the worst since the current test began in 2005, and reading was below any point since that assessment started in 1992. The share of 12th-graders who were proficient slid by 2 percentage points between 2019 and 2024—to 35% in reading and 22% in math. The results are from tests that are part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, administered to tens of thousands of students in early 2024. In reading, two-thirds of seniors could determine the purpose of a persuasive essay, but only one in five was able to draw a conclusion from such an essay, supported by the text. In math, 60% of students deduced the population of an area using information on size and density, while just under half correctly turned a real-world scenario into an algebraic expression.
Takeaways by Macro Roundup® AI
U.S. twelfth-graders' average math score was the worst since the current National Assessment of Educational Progress math test began in 2005, and their reading score fell below any point since that assessment started in 1992.
The share of U.S. 12th-graders scoring proficient fell 2 percentage points between 2019 and 2024, to 35% in reading and 22% in math, according to results released by the U.S. Education Department.
In reading, two-thirds of seniors could determine the purpose of a persuasive essay but only one in five could draw a text-supported conclusion from it, while in math just under half converted a real-world scenario into an algebraic expression.
Related Articles:
Do Adults Have the Skills They Need to Thrive in a Changing World?— An international assessment of adult skills describes numeracy proficiency levels ranging from counting objects and adding small whole numbers at the lowest level, to extracting information from tables and graphs and performing basic arithmetic with money and percentages at Level 1, up to analysing complex mathematical information and critically evaluating whether data support a claim at Level 5.
Have Humans Passed Peak Brain Power?— The share of Americans reporting they read a book in the past year has fallen below half, alongside declining performance in numeracy and problem-solving in most countries. The share of adults unable to use mathematical reasoning to evaluate the validity of statements averages 25% in high-income countries and 35% in the US.
AI Summary.An analysis of admissions and transcript records at Ivy-Plus colleges finds standardized test scores predict first-year college grades with a normalized slope 4x greater than high school grade point average, controlling for race, gender, and socioeconomic status. The authors find no evidence test scores underpredict college performance for students from less advantaged backgrounds.
John Friedman, Bruce Sacerdote, Douglas Staiger, and Michele TineNational Bureau of Economic Research
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Students at Ivy-plus colleges whose SAT/ACT scores were at the 99th percentile had 1st-year college GPAs 0.43 points higher than those who had scored at the 75th percentile, while high school GPAs had little predictive power. @John_N_Friedman
Do standardized test scores predict college grades better than high school GPA?
Core argument: Analyzing admissions and transcript records at multiple Ivy-Plus colleges, the authors find SAT/ACT scores predict first-year college grades with a normalized slope four times greater than high school GPA, conditional on race, gender, and socioeconomic status.
We analyze admissions and transcript records for students at multiple Ivy-Plus colleges to study the relationship between standardized (SAT/ACT) test scores, high school GPA, and first-year college grades. Standardized test scores predict academic outcomes with a normalized slope four times greater than that from high school GPA, all conditional on students’ race, gender, and socioeconomic status. Standardized test scores do not underpredict college performance for students from less advantaged backgrounds. Collectively these results suggest that standardized test scores provide important information to measure applicants’ academic preparation that is not available elsewhere in the application file. While some of the raw correlation between these variables relates to students’ demographic characteristics, much remains even when controlling for these variables. In contrast, high school GPA does not predict academic performance nearly as well. We also find no evidence of bias against students from less advantaged backgrounds, as students from such backgrounds do not outperform (and in some cases underperform) other students with the same test score
Takeaways by Macro Roundup® AI
Analyzing admissions and transcript records at multiple Ivy-Plus colleges, the authors find SAT/ACT scores predict first-year college grades with a normalized slope four times greater than high school GPA, conditional on race, gender, and socioeconomic status.
Standardized test scores do not underpredict college performance for students from less advantaged backgrounds, who do not outperform and in some cases underperform other students with the same test score.
Much of the correlation between test scores and academic performance remains after controlling for demographic characteristics, which the authors suggest indicates test scores provide information on applicants' academic preparation not available elsewhere in the application file.
Standardized Test Scores and Academic Performance at Ivy-Plus Colleges— Using admissions records and first-year grades at multiple Ivy-Plus colleges, the authors find SAT and ACT scores substantially predict college academic success even among students with the same high school grades, while high school grade point average does little to predict it. Conditional on test scores, students from lower- and higher-resourced high schools have virtually identical college grades.
Do Adults Have the Skills They Need to Thrive in a Changing World?— An international assessment of adult skills describes numeracy proficiency levels ranging from counting objects and adding small whole numbers at the lowest level, to extracting information from tables and graphs and performing basic arithmetic with money and percentages at Level 1, up to analysing complex mathematical information and critically evaluating whether data support a claim at Level 5.
AI Summary.A regression discontinuity study of a large urban school district, where disadvantaged students qualify for gifted status at a lower IQ threshold, estimates that being identified as gifted raises the college entry rate of marginally eligible boys by 28 percentage points, from 46% to 74%. That matches the 74% rate of marginally ineligible girls, closing the gender gap.
David Card, Eric Chyn, and Laura GiulianoNational Bureau of Economic Research
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Card et al, find that the 25-30 percentage point college enrollment gap between disadvantaged boys and girls with IQs of ~116 closed among students who qualified for a “gifted” program. @EricChyn
Does gifted identification raise college entry for disadvantaged boys?
Core argument: Gifted identification raises the estimated college entry rate of marginally eligible disadvantaged boys by 28 percentage points, from 46% for those narrowly missing the threshold to 74%, in a large urban school district.
We study the effects of being identified as gifted in elementary school on subsequent test scores, courses and grades, and on the probability of entering college, for disadvantaged children in a large urban school district (“the District”). The law specifies a threshold of 130 [IQ] points for non-disadvantaged students, but allows districts to select a lower “Plan B” threshold [116 pts] for FRL and ELL students. The strict IQ threshold for gifted status provides the basis for a regression discontinuity (RD) evaluation of the impacts of being identified as gifted. Figure 6 illustrates how these impacts affect gender gaps by presenting the estimated mean potential outcomes for the complying boys (left side) and complying girls (right side) using an 8-point bandwidth. The estimated college entry rate for male compliers who narrowly miss the gifted threshold is 46%; the 28 ppt treatment effect of passing the threshold raises this to 74%, which equals the rate for female compliers who narrowly miss the threshold - being identified as gifted raises the college entry rate of marginally eligible boys to the same rate as girls.
Takeaways by Macro Roundup® AI
Gifted identification raises the estimated college entry rate of marginally eligible disadvantaged boys by 28 percentage points, from 46% for those narrowly missing the threshold to 74%, in a large urban school district.
The estimated 74% college entry rate for marginally eligible boys identified as gifted equals the rate for female compliers who narrowly miss the threshold.
The study uses a regression discontinuity design around the IQ threshold for gifted status, 130 points for non-disadvantaged students and a "Plan B" threshold of 116 points for free-lunch and English-learner students.
Related Articles:
Do Adults Have the Skills They Need to Thrive in a Changing World?— An international assessment of adult skills describes numeracy proficiency levels ranging from counting objects and adding small whole numbers at the lowest level, to extracting information from tables and graphs and performing basic arithmetic with money and percentages at Level 1, up to analysing complex mathematical information and critically evaluating whether data support a claim at Level 5.
Skills and Human Capital in the Labor Market— Labor market earnings are strongly associated with measures of personality traits and preferences, and over the last two decades returns to cognitive skills have been flat or declined in the US, Sweden, and Finland while returns to "soft" skills such as conscientiousness, extraversion, emotional stability, and social skills have grown rapidly.
Multidimensional Human Capital and the Wage Structure— The wage return to cognitive skills has declined, from about 10% higher hourly wages per standard deviation of test score in the 1980s and early 1990s to 4.5% in the 2000s and early 2010s, while returns to a bachelor's degree rose. Social skill-intensive occupations grew as a share of US jobs, with faster real wage growth.
AI Summary.Public schools in heavily Democratic areas often stayed closed for close to a year, while schools in some Republican areas reopened after only the initial spring closure. Eight of the 10 states with the largest losses in student achievement since 2019 voted Democratic in recent presidential elections, and eight of the 10 with the smallest math shortfalls voted Republican.
David LeonhardtNew York Times
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.@DLeonhardt reports a sharp partisan gap in learning loss: 8 of the 10 states with the biggest math declines since 2019 – likely due to prolonged school closures – voted Democratic, while 8 of the 10 smallest shortfalls voted Republican.
Do longer school closures explain larger student achievement losses?
Core argument: Eight of the 10 states that have lost the most ground in test scores since 2019 voted Democratic in recent presidential elections, while eight of the 10 states with the smallest math shortfalls voted Republican.
Many public schools in heavily Democratic areas stayed closed for almost a year — from the spring of 2020 until the spring of 2021. In some Republican areas, by contrast, schools remained closed for only the spring of 2020. Eight of the 10 states that have lost the most ground since 2019 voted Democratic in recent presidential elections. And eight of the 10 states with the smallest math shortfalls voted Republican. [Higher initial scores don’t] explain the post-pandemic patterns. For example, New Jersey (a blue state) and Utah (a red state) both had high math scores in 2019, but New Jersey has fared much worse since then.
Takeaways by Macro Roundup® AI
Eight of the 10 states that have lost the most ground in test scores since 2019 voted Democratic in recent presidential elections, while eight of the 10 states with the smallest math shortfalls voted Republican.
Many public schools in heavily Democratic areas stayed closed from the spring of 2020 until the spring of 2021, whereas schools in some Republican areas were closed only for the spring of 2020.
Higher initial scores do not explain the post-pandemic patterns: New Jersey and Utah both had high math scores in 2019, but New Jersey has fared much worse since.
Related Articles:
Long COVID for Public Schools: Chronic Absenteeism Before and After the Pandemic— Nationwide chronic absenteeism — the share of students missing at least 10% of a school year — rose from 15% in 2018 to 28% in 2022, and although rates improved in 2023, they remained 75% above the pre-pandemic baseline. Chronic absenteeism is associated with lower standardized test scores, with the highest rates in lower-achieving, higher-poverty districts.
What the Data Says About Pandemic School Closures, Four Years Later— Among school districts with similar poverty levels, remote learning was associated with greater declines in student achievement, and a district-level analysis found community poverty rates and the length of school closures had roughly equal effects on outcomes. For each week spent remote, students in poor districts experienced steeper math losses than peers in richer districts.
Students Are Making a ‘Surprising’ Rebound From Pandemic Closures. But Some May Never Catch Up— An analysis of standardized test data led by Stanford and Harvard researchers finds elementary and middle-school students have regained about a third of pandemic learning losses in math and a quarter in reading. Because poorer districts lost more ground initially, the typical poor district remains nearly half a grade level behind, versus about a fifth for rich districts.
AI Summary.US student test scores peaked in the early 2010s; from that peak to the pandemic, scores fell for students at the 10th and 25th percentiles while rising slightly at the 75th and 90th. After the pandemic, scores fell across all percentile groups, with much larger declines among lower-performing students.
Nat MalkusAmerican Enterprise Institute
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.@natmalkus notes the decline in US fourth-grade math scores since 2013 has been driven by large declines at the bottom of the distribution, while the scores of top 10% performers have been relatively stable.
Are declines in US student test scores concentrated among lower-performing students?
Core argument: US student test scores across numerous assessments peaked in the early 2010s, and indexing each percentile group's score to its 2013 peak shrinks the figure's scale from 100 to 30 points.
Student test scores across numerous assessments peaked in the early 2010s. In Figure 3, Panel B, I show how percentile scores change from their peak in 2013. Subtracting the peak 2013 score for each group from that group’s score in a given year makes the 2013 score for each group equal to zero and shrinks the figure’s scale markedly, from 100 to 30 points. Panel B makes the relative changes within percentile groups come into sharp relief: between 2013 and the pandemic, scores for the 10th and 25th percentiles fell, while those for the 75th and 90th percentiles rose slightly. After the pandemic, scores fell across the board, but much more for students in the lower percentiles.
Takeaways by Macro Roundup® AI
US student test scores across numerous assessments peaked in the early 2010s, and indexing each percentile group's score to its 2013 peak shrinks the figure's scale from 100 to 30 points.
Between 2013 and the pandemic, scores for students at the 10th and 25th percentiles fell while scores at the 75th and 90th percentiles rose slightly.
After the pandemic, US student scores fell across all percentile groups, with much larger declines for students in the lower percentiles.
Related Articles:
Do Adults Have the Skills They Need to Thrive in a Changing World?— An international assessment of adult skills describes numeracy proficiency levels ranging from counting objects and adding small whole numbers at the lowest level, to extracting information from tables and graphs and performing basic arithmetic with money and percentages at Level 1, up to analysing complex mathematical information and critically evaluating whether data support a claim at Level 5.
TIMSS Shows the Bottom Is Falling Out for US Test Scores— US math scores on the international Trends in Mathematics and Science Study fell 18 points for fourth graders and 27 points for eighth graders, on a scale where about 30 points equates to a year of learning. Declines were concentrated among the lowest-performing students, with fourth-grade scores above the 75th percentile barely moving.
2024 SAT Data Drop— Race gaps in SAT scores are consistent across years, with most differences within the range expected from sampling error; the exceptions are Amerindian scores falling and Asian scores rising relative to White scores. The author attributes those shifts to changes in who selects into SAT test-taking rather than genuine population changes.
