Coleman Revisited School Segregation, Peers, and Frog Ponds

Students from minority segregated schools tend to achieve and attain less than similar students from White segregated schools. This study examines whether peer effects can explain this relationship using normative models and frog-pond models. Normative models (where peers become alike) suggest that minority schoolmates are a liability. Frog-pond models (where students benefit from recognition) suggest that minority schoolmates are an asset. Data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study and the Census show that students from minority-concentrated schools attain less education in the long run than students from White-concentrated schools net of many covariates. Both normative processes and frog-pond processes (especially from class rank) help explain attainment, but they tend to cancel each other out and make the net effect of peers in minority and white concentrated schools small.