If you choose to read about this research, you should keep four points firmly in mind: (1) The information is rated "M". Reading it can be hazardous to your posting privileges. (2) The Black-White test score gap is real. (3) The Black-White test score gap has serious social consequences for the United States. (4) Give weight to the raw data, but do not give as much weight to researchers' conclusions.
I agree with what you have said here. Unfortunately, these tests scores are real and are not going away. If anything, more testing will be done.
In my state, it used to be when I started college, the 1980's, the state university system had to take you...maybe with remedials, and of course , failling meant you were out. It changed during that decade and the state universities had challenged this, won, and fixed it so that one had to be in a certain percentile to enter the university.
For grade school children, testing is here to stay. For stats between White/Black kids, it is really a bad and unfair stat in my opinion. I do believe in testing to a point. I believe, as far as groups are concerned, socio-economic level is the real divider. I know, being a school teacher, poor inner -city or rural White children's living conditions are not that of rich, upper-middle or , middle-middle class White children. Same for Blacks who are poor inner-city vs. their Black wealthy counterparts.
Rich is rich. Poor is poor.
---------------------------------------------
Look up National Association for the Education of Young Children and search for testing of students. The NAEYC is like the headquarters for Early Childhood Education. It does not support standardized testing on very young children.
Last edited by Creole GAL on Sat 23 Jun 2007 16:41; edited 1 time in total
I read it here fwsweet. I have studided it. It is a big part of my profession. It is an on-going debate and discussion. It is a factor that is here to stay and is here as another dividing factor. I do not agree with it. I know it is not as simple as I wish it were and in my opinion, I think it is not accurate. I agree with you on your point.
Many things are not so simple, such as the ethnicity choices on applications, however they are here to stay. They are used for stats. They may be inaccurate, in my opinion, but they are used.
Joined: 16 Jan 2008 {Posts: 5 } Location: Texas-via-Alaska
Posted: Wed 23 Jan 2008 18:22 Post subject:
Hi every one i wanted to say how much i enjoy the ODR forum i have been obsessed with American history since i was a child (when i say american history i mean all of the american hemisphere) I remember reading a book many years ago about the Cherokee people before the removal to the west called Trail of Tears by John Ehle. There was a chapter in there that dealt with some German Movarian educators who were given permission by the Cherokee government to set up school in their Nation. This was during the same time when Cherokees had African Slaves but the Cherokees allowed African slave children to also attend classes. At some point the children were tested and the Movarians were very suprised to find that the Cherokee children tested as high or higher than many white schools in the mainstream of America did. What i remembered most about this was that the Author of this book pointed out that the African slave children scored just as high as the "cherokee" children did but the German Movarians always chose to ignore this fact. Whenever i have heard disscussions about the difference in school test performance between groups of people (mostly black and white) i have always remembered this chapter in this book and wondered if it holds any kind of value in the recent debates in the U.S. about nurture versus nature. I need to get my hands on that book again. I apologise for not quoting directly from the book.
I was reading some of the more scholarly points and there are times when the endpoint of a specific study is not necesarily the final stage of inquiry or analysis.
Asians consistantly score above 'black' and 'white' groups but Asians are not consistantly represented in positions of power (as defined by the majority) nor are they governors, mayors or such.
If anything, test scores can show where deficiencies exist within an educational system. Now it seems test score have become another urbanl sociological tool. I still say testing is good on its own merit but its use today is a horror story!
Why don't we see more Asian vs white test score gaps?
Take the group known as rich regardless of ethnicity and stratify by ethnicity, do test score make any difference and what importance are they when the group are all rich!
Recent Forbes magazine on the rich in USA and how many of the recent ones did not finish university.
Dittos to Senor Sweet: Look at the raw data but watch out for incongrous conclusions! I still canot spel corectly!
The black American IQ score is 88, and the White for all Europeans, is 99.
However, there is a simple explanation for this.
1. In my opinion, stereotype threat accounts for 10 points maximum. This is based off a study I read showing such an affect. I think then, that the black IQ is really somewhere up at 98 or close.
2. Second, blacks are probably less intelligent because of environmental factors such as low quality early childhood rearing. This would account for another 2 point difference.
Thus, the potential black IQ is probably 100, in my opinion.
Note: the mulatto IQ is 97 when meaned against the white control groups in 5 mulatto/white IQ studies. This is for UK/US/Germany. Its interesting that this is never mentioned, however. I think its for political reasons.
I suspect that the real mulatto IQ may be as high as 98 or 99, and that a loss of 1 to 2 points is due to poor environmental conditions among a small minority of mulattos. Then again, the mulatto IQ may be 100, or in fact higher, even with the affect of steroetype threat.
Also, these are all mulattos raised in the white community or combination of communities ( in UK ), so I couldnt say what the IQ is for mulattos raised in the black community. However, research shows little or no difference in intelligence ( during the 1970s ) between mulattos and negros in the black community, so I suspect they have equal intelligence.
Note: the mulatto IQ is 97 when meaned against the white control groups in 5 mulatto/white IQ studies. This is for UK/US/Germany.
Could you please provide a citation to your source? I have never seen any U.S. study that attempts to correlate test-score with actual admixture--just with ethnic self-identity. In fact, the only studies I have seen that even consider actual admixture deal with various diseases (obesity, diabetes, melanoma, etc.).
Note: the mulatto IQ is 97 when meaned against the white control groups in 5 mulatto/white IQ studies. This is for UK/US/Germany.
Could you please provide a citation to your source? I have never seen any U.S. study that attempts to correlate test-score with actual admixture--just with ethnic self-identity. In fact, the only studies I have seen that even consider actual admixture deal with various diseases (obesity, diabetes, melanoma, etc.).
Hi Frank,
sources can be found here in another thread on the site:
Joined: 26 May 2007 {Posts: 425 } Location: San Antonio, Texas
Posted: Mon 25 May 2009 12:16 Post subject:
fwsweet wrote:
PRESCHOOL
3. The gap appears at age 3 at the latest. It may well appear earlier but this has not been tested yet.
4. The gap does not appear in unassimilated immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa.
5. The gap does not appear in unassimilated British West Indian immigrants of predominantly African ancestry.
6. The gap does not appear in unassimilated Latin American immigrants of predominantly African ancestry.
7. There is a slight correlation between gap width and skin tone.
8. There is no correlation between gap width and actual underlying African genetic admixture.
9. Children of wealthy Black families have essentially the same gap as children of poor Black families.
10. Children of college-educated Black families have essentially the same gap as children of uneducated Black families.
11. First-generation biracial children of a Black mother and White father have the same gap as children with two Black parents.
12. First-generation biracial children of a White mother and Black father have a slightly less severe gap.
13. Black children raised by two White adoptive parents have no gap at all. (That is, not until adolescence, when their mental skills plunge to the same level as Black children raised by Black parents.)
14. There is some weak evidence of a grandmother effect. Although children of Black parents have the same gap, regardless of those parents wealth or education, children with educated grandparents seem to have a significantly smaller gap.
I've discussed this back on mulatto.org. I would think that in order to find the answer as to why this is the case, we only need to look back to the history of the Head Start Program, as started by Lyndon B. Johnson.
Johnson noticed that black and/or poor children were not as prepared - educationally and socially - for elementary school as white and/or well-to-do children.
The biggest two points made in this listing was that the gap appeared at the age of 3, and that mulatto children of a white mother had less of a gap than one with a black mother.
Upon further research for the Head Start program, it was found that black mothers are less likely to do certain activities with their children than white mothers - things like reading books to them, singing children's songs with them, and reciting nursery ryhmes with them. One of the major purposes of the Head Start Program was to provide an environment where these children could receive these things, as they weren't receiving them at home. My guess is that the gap still exists because what these black children do at Head Start is not reinforced at home - this can be seen in the statistics that show that Head Start is having a greater effect on the success of white children than black children.
Methods of discipline, though I don't recall it being discussed in relation to the Head Start Program, I believe, also has an effect.
And this has more to do with "black people spank, white people ground."
Most socioloy textbooks will tell you that poorer families discipline for obedience, whereas families that are more well-off discipline for success.
For all this talk about white children acting up in the store and talking back to their parents that we hear from black comedians - and even everyday in society - I think these flaws are nowhere near as bad as the flaws of how many poorer blacks discipline children.
While a black child may not act up in the store or talk back to his mother for fear of getting spank, this same child could slap some random kid in the neighorhood or cuss out his teacher, and his mother isn't going to do anything. As long as the kid doesn't do anything to irritate his mother, he has nothing to worry about (discipline for obedience).
Whereas, at least a white kid from a more well-off family will at least get grounded for these things (discpline for success).
But spanking itself, I believe, presents another problem - in that children who get spanked, I believe, only learn to respect authority only if that authority can spank them. Because these children know that "Mrs Smith ain't gonna put hands on ME!", they're morely likely to be disruptive in class.
By LIBBY QUAID, AP Education Writer Tue Jul 14, 10:40 pm ET
WASHINGTON Despite unprecedented efforts to improve minority achievement in the past decade, the gap between black and white students remains frustratingly wide, according to an Education Department report released Tuesday.
There is good news in the report: Reading and math scores are improving for black students in public schools across the country. But because white students are also improving, the disparity between blacks and whites has lessened only slightly.
On average, the gap narrowed by about seven points from 1992 to 2007, so that black students scored about 28 points behind white students on a 500-point scale.
The divide between minority and white students is considered one of the most pressing challenges in public education. Experts say it stems from entrenched factors that hinder learning.
More black children live in poverty, which is linked to an array of problems low birth weight, exposure to lead poisoning, hunger, too much TV watching, too little talking and reading at home, less involvement by parents and frequent school-changing.
The gap exists even before kids start school. But schools don't mitigate the problem, said Kati Haycock, president of the Education Trust, a children's advocacy group.
"African-American students are less likely than their white counterparts to be taught by teachers who know their subject matter," Haycock said.
"They are less likely to be exposed to a rich and challenging curriculum," she said. "And the schools that educate them typically receive less state and local funding than the ones serving mainly white students."
Scores in reading were especially discouraging. Only three states New Jersey, Delaware and Florida narrowed the divide in fourth grade, and no state did so in eighth grade. There was more progress in math among younger kids.
Closing the achievement gap was a central element of the 2002 No Child Left Behind law, which holds schools accountable for progress among every group of kids including minorities, those who have disabilities and those who are learning English.
The gap between black and white students shrank by 2 points after 2003, when accountability measures under No Child Left Behind took effect.
The implications of the disparity reach far beyond school walls. Minority students are also much more likely to drop out of high school half of minorities drop out, compared to about 30 percent of students overall. The future is bleak for dropouts; they are the only segment of the workforce whose income levels shrank over the past 30 years, according to the children's advocacy group America's Promise Alliance.
A huge percentage of minority students lack the simple skills they need to function in society, said Hugh Price, professor at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School and a former president of the Urban League.
Only about half of black and Hispanic fourth graders perform at or above "basic" in reading on the tests used in the study, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, Price noted.
Price argues schools would do well to borrow from the military, emphasizing belonging, teamwork, motivation and self-discipline, structure and routine and accountability and consequences, among other things. He described the successes of military academies in Philadelphia and in South Carolina.
"I'm not proposing that we militarize schools," he said. "But I think there are promising ideas to consider."
Haycock singled out two states that made strong achievement gains: Delaware has significantly narrowed the fourth-grade reading gap, from 26 points to 20 points, and Arkansas substantially narrowed the eighth-grade math gap, from 35 points to 28 points.
Delaware officials have focused heavily on literacy, putting reading specialists in schools to coach teachers and help struggling students and beefing up vocabulary and writing in its curriculum, Haycock said. The state also raised expectations for students and put tougher accountability measures in place for schools.
Arkansas, while it has a long way to go to reach the national average, raised expectations along with minimum scores required on annual state tests, Haycock noted.
The report found that states generally mirrored the national trend.
The findings constitute the first major Education Department report since President Barack Obama took office, though it was done by the agency's nonpartisan research arm, the Institute of Education Sciences. The report was based on test results from nationwide assessments from the early 1990s to 2007.
A separate report comparing Hispanic and white children is due out next fall.
Posted: Sat 18 Jul 2009 00:04 Post subject: Re: Achievement gap still splits white, black students
Some groups (immigrants, first generation biracials, MGM Mulatto Elites, etc.) may be doing well, but they are lumped in with the AAs. Any positive results would be overwhelmed in a sea of negative statistics.
fwsweet wrote:
No new research findings, just an update that the gap is still serious.
By LIBBY QUAID, AP Education Writer Tue Jul 14, 10:40 pm ET
WASHINGTON Despite unprecedented efforts to improve minority achievement in the past decade, the gap between black and white students remains frustratingly wide, according to an Education Department report released Tuesday.
There is good news in the report: Reading and math scores are improving for black students in public schools across the country. But because white students are also improving, the disparity between blacks and whites has lessened only slightly.
On average, the gap narrowed by about seven points from 1992 to 2007, so that black students scored about 28 points behind white students on a 500-point scale.
The divide between minority and white students is considered one of the most pressing challenges in public education. Experts say it stems from entrenched factors that hinder learning.
More black children live in poverty, which is linked to an array of problems low birth weight, exposure to lead poisoning, hunger, too much TV watching, too little talking and reading at home, less involvement by parents and frequent school-changing.
The gap exists even before kids start school. But schools don't mitigate the problem, said Kati Haycock, president of the Education Trust, a children's advocacy group.
"African-American students are less likely than their white counterparts to be taught by teachers who know their subject matter," Haycock said.
"They are less likely to be exposed to a rich and challenging curriculum," she said. "And the schools that educate them typically receive less state and local funding than the ones serving mainly white students."
Scores in reading were especially discouraging. Only three states New Jersey, Delaware and Florida narrowed the divide in fourth grade, and no state did so in eighth grade. There was more progress in math among younger kids.
Closing the achievement gap was a central element of the 2002 No Child Left Behind law, which holds schools accountable for progress among every group of kids including minorities, those who have disabilities and those who are learning English.
The gap between black and white students shrank by 2 points after 2003, when accountability measures under No Child Left Behind took effect.
The implications of the disparity reach far beyond school walls. Minority students are also much more likely to drop out of high school half of minorities drop out, compared to about 30 percent of students overall. The future is bleak for dropouts; they are the only segment of the workforce whose income levels shrank over the past 30 years, according to the children's advocacy group America's Promise Alliance.
A huge percentage of minority students lack the simple skills they need to function in society, said Hugh Price, professor at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School and a former president of the Urban League.
Only about half of black and Hispanic fourth graders perform at or above "basic" in reading on the tests used in the study, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, Price noted.
Price argues schools would do well to borrow from the military, emphasizing belonging, teamwork, motivation and self-discipline, structure and routine and accountability and consequences, among other things. He described the successes of military academies in Philadelphia and in South Carolina.
"I'm not proposing that we militarize schools," he said. "But I think there are promising ideas to consider."
Haycock singled out two states that made strong achievement gains: Delaware has significantly narrowed the fourth-grade reading gap, from 26 points to 20 points, and Arkansas substantially narrowed the eighth-grade math gap, from 35 points to 28 points.
Delaware officials have focused heavily on literacy, putting reading specialists in schools to coach teachers and help struggling students and beefing up vocabulary and writing in its curriculum, Haycock said. The state also raised expectations for students and put tougher accountability measures in place for schools.
Arkansas, while it has a long way to go to reach the national average, raised expectations along with minimum scores required on annual state tests, Haycock noted.
The report found that states generally mirrored the national trend.
The findings constitute the first major Education Department report since President Barack Obama took office, though it was done by the agency's nonpartisan research arm, the Institute of Education Sciences. The report was based on test results from nationwide assessments from the early 1990s to 2007.
A separate report comparing Hispanic and white children is due out next fall.
Joined: 10 Jun 2009 {Posts: 21 } Location: OH, USA
Posted: Sun 19 Jul 2009 01:16 Post subject:
I did not write this. It's something that came my way, and it seems to be relevant to this conversation. Is this person saying that his school is trying to cover up the B/W score gap in favor of the Blacks while at the same time trying to find those Blacks who have learning disabilities? I was a bit confused by this. I would appreciate any input. Thanks.
A major part of my job involves the administration of cognitive tests to children suspected of having learning disabilities, a process which traditionally included standard IQ tests. Unfortunately, a few years back a
court case in our state determined that IQ tests were somehow culturally
inappropriate, or unfair, for black kids, and their use for black kids was
effectively outlawed in our state.
In our state, in other words, we continue to have the burden of needing to
identify black kids with learning disabilities, but we are not allowed (for
political reasons) to administer to them those tests we would give to any other kid. And so, psychologists in my state work around it by administering standard IQ tests to white, asian, latino, filipino, celtic, slavic, germanic, etc., kids, and more culturally-free alternative ability tests to black kids. In this effort, psychologists avoid being sued for failing to comply with the ruling, and its intent to guarantee FAIR and EQUAL treatment.
Regardless of your feelings about the inherent validity of standard IQ tests, you will certainly be affronted to learn that the One Drop Rule is still in effect in this context, because if a kid has any black blood at all, that kid is classified by the school districts as African American, and hence subject to this separate treatment. It even goes so far that if a black kid comes from another state, where IQ testing is allowed for black kids, then people in the school district (this is a fact) will go through the child's educational records, and physically black-out any IQ scores or tests that appear in them.
I think the law is despicable, since it is illegal in the school system to give
IQ tests to black kids whose parents are university professors, but it remains legal to give them to hispanic kids whose parents speak no English. How is that fair?
My own response? I don't want to get sued, so I give black kids those
alternative ability tests (which are, effectively, just better IQ tests under a
different name), but I give them to the rest of the kids as well. I test all my kids the same. If I can't give standard IQ tests to black kids, then bygod I'll give them to no kids. Hopefully some day someone will see that this effort by California courts to protect black people has actually resulted in a violation of the Equal Protection clause, but in the meantime I will at least treat people the same, regardless of color.
Is this person saying that his school is trying to cover up the B/W score gap in favor of the Blacks while at the same time trying to find those Blacks who have learning disabilities? I was a bit confused by this. I would appreciate any input. Thanks.
I think she is saying her hands are tied in assessing children's needs, because her state forbids administering standardized tests to A-A kids. She also says that the prohibition follows the one-drop rule.
Both claims are hard to believe. First, educators throughout the U.S. are trying to reduce the U.S. test-score gap, or at least identify its cause. And this goal would be doomed if they cannot even measure kids' abilities. Second, U.S. "racial" classification court cases have consistently rejected the one-drop rule for over 20 years. I am confident that a family of mixed ancestry who did not want their child classified as Black could take the school district to court and win easily.
SBT, would you mind please telling us where you got this from? I am not saying that the report is untrue. After all, governments often enforce self-destructive feel-good legislation.* It is just that the claims are so implausible that I would like to see where they came from.
* (For example, ever since the feds made schools a free-fire zone for murderers 14 years ago by forbidding legal firearms, there has been one U.S. in-school shooting every 60 days, and the rate is still climbing.)
Posted: Mon 20 Jul 2009 03:43 Post subject: Tests and "Race"
sbt wrote:
I did not write this. It's something that came my way, and it seems to be relevant to this conversation. Is this person saying that his school is trying to cover up the B/W score gap in favor of the Blacks while at the same time trying to find those Blacks who have learning disabilities? I was a bit confused by this. I would appreciate any input. Thanks.
A major part of my job involves the administration of cognitive tests to children suspected of having learning disabilities, a process which traditionally included standard IQ tests. Unfortunately, a few years back a
court case in our state determined that IQ tests were somehow culturally
inappropriate, or unfair, for black kids, and their use for black kids was
effectively outlawed in our state.
In our state, in other words, we continue to have the burden of needing to
identify black kids with learning disabilities, but we are not allowed (for
political reasons) to administer to them those tests we would give to any other kid. And so, psychologists in my state work around it by administering standard IQ tests to white, asian, latino, filipino, celtic, slavic, germanic, etc., kids, and more culturally-free alternative ability tests to black kids. In this effort, psychologists avoid being sued for failing to comply with the ruling, and its intent to guarantee FAIR and EQUAL treatment.
Regardless of your feelings about the inherent validity of standard IQ tests, you will certainly be affronted to learn that the One Drop Rule is still in effect in this context, because if a kid has any black blood at all, that kid is classified by the school districts as African American, and hence subject to this separate treatment. It even goes so far that if a black kid comes from another state, where IQ testing is allowed for black kids, then people in the school district (this is a fact) will go through the child's educational records, and physically black-out any IQ scores or tests that appear in them.
I think the law is despicable, since it is illegal in the school system to give
IQ tests to black kids whose parents are university professors, but it remains legal to give them to hispanic kids whose parents speak no English. How is that fair?
My own response? I don't want to get sued, so I give black kids those
alternative ability tests (which are, effectively, just better IQ tests under a
different name), but I give them to the rest of the kids as well. I test all my kids the same. If I can't give standard IQ tests to black kids, then bygod I'll give them to no kids. Hopefully some day someone will see that this effort by California courts to protect black people has actually resulted in a violation of the Equal Protection clause, but in the meantime I will at least treat people the same, regardless of color.
If the parents classifed the child as white AND the child had a Euro phenotype, I doubt the school would try to reclassify them as "black." Mixed ancestry children whose parents try to "check all that apply" are vulnerable to being classified as "black."
Joined: 10 Jun 2009 {Posts: 21 } Location: OH, USA
Posted: Mon 20 Jul 2009 12:13 Post subject:
Thank you Frank and A.D. It's from a correspondence with someone from my genealogy. I do not know them well, and didn't want the person to know that I was confused by what they said.
Couldn't it be that the school or schools in that area don't follow the rules, like so many things. Maybe they do their own thing. I'm still confused. These things are sometimes hard for me to grasp.
Couldn't it be that the school or schools in that area don't follow the rules, like so many things.
Of course. But the problem is that the message said, "... their use for black kids was effectively outlawed in our state," claiming that the ban was state-wide.
Nevertheless, since the claim was made only in an internet message, I am even more skeptical than before. FWIW, my experience has been that where counties or municipalities defy state law, local policies tend to be more often prejudicial to the poor or to A-As than are state laws.
Last edited by fwsweet on Mon 20 Jul 2009 14:39; edited 1 time in total
Are you insinuating that there are no AAs who test at or above the average achievement level? If so, that's an untrue statement. Afro-Euro admixture levels are not correlated with improved test scores. Besides, the "AAs" referenced contain many desperately poor MGMs who display the gap as well as wealthy AAs that run the genetic gamut.
Here are some new findings of a correlation between prenatal air pollution and mental abilities test scores. Three important caveats: First, the findings HAVE NOT yet been replicated. Second, the AP writer connects both air pollution and test-scores to poverty, but only a very weak correlation has been found between test-scores and poverty. So read the findings but ignore the journalist's conclusions. Third, try not to grit your teeth at the journalist's ignorant use of "IQ" as in "IQ test" or "IQ score."
Also, we really need a copy of the original paper. Anyone?
CHICAGO Researchers for the first time have linked air pollution exposure before birth with lower IQ scores in childhood, bolstering evidence that smog may harm the developing brain.
The results are in a study of 249 children of New York City women who wore backpack air monitors for 48 hours during the last few months of pregnancy. They lived in mostly low-income neighborhoods in northern Manhattan and the South Bronx. They had varying levels of exposure to typical kinds of urban air pollution, mostly from car, bus and truck exhaust.
At age 5, before starting school, the children were given IQ tests. Those exposed to the most pollution before birth scored on average four to five points lower than children with less exposure.
That's a big enough difference that it could affect children's performance in school, said Frederica Perera, the study's lead author and director of the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health.
Dr. Michael Msall, a University of Chicago pediatrician not involved in the research, said the study doesn't mean that children living in congested cities "aren't going to learn to read and write and spell."
But it does suggest that you don't have to live right next door to a belching factory to face pollution health risks, and that there may be more dangers from typical urban air pollution than previously thought, he said.
"We are learning more and more about low-dose exposure and how things we take for granted may not be a free ride," he said.
While future research is needed to confirm the new results, the findings suggest exposure to air pollution before birth could have the same harmful effects on the developing brain as exposure to lead, said Patrick Breysse, an environmental health specialist at Johns Hopkins' school of public health.
And along with other environmental harms and disadvantages low-income children are exposed to, it could help explain why they often do worse academically than children from wealthier families, Breysse said.
"It's a profound observation," he said. "This paper is going to open a lot of eyes."
The study in the August edition of Pediatrics was released Monday.
In earlier research, involving some of the same children and others, Perera linked prenatal exposure to air pollution with genetic abnormalities at birth that could increase risks for cancer; smaller newborn head size and reduced birth weight. Her research team also has linked it with developmental delays at age 3 and with children's asthma.
The researchers studied pollutants that can cross the placenta and are known scientifically as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Main sources include vehicle exhaust and factory emissions. Tobacco smoke is another source, but mothers in the study were nonsmokers.
A total of 140 study children, 56 percent, were in the high exposure group. That means their mothers likely lived close to heavily congested streets, bus depots and other typical sources of city air pollution; the researchers are still examining data to confirm that, Perera said. The mothers were black or Dominican-American; the results likely apply to other groups, researchers said.
The researchers took into account other factors that could influence IQ, including secondhand smoke exposure, the home learning environment and air pollution exposure after birth, and still found a strong influence from prenatal exposure, Perera said.
Dr. Robert Geller, an Emory University pediatrician and toxicologist, said the study can't completely rule out that pollution exposure during early childhood might have contributed. He also noted fewer mothers in the high exposure group had graduated from high school. While that might also have contributed to the high-dose children's lower IQ scores, the study still provides compelling evidence implicating prenatal pollution exposure that should prompt additional studies, Geller said.
The researchers said they plan to continuing monitoring and testing the children to learn whether school performance is affected and if there are any additional long-term effects.
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