ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the role of family and school effects on racial differences in IQ and achievement. It assesses racial and ethnic differences in the ten risk factors. The strong links between family characteristics and a child's intelligence raises the important question of the relationship between race and intelligence. Thus, three distinct theories attempt to explain the racial gap in intelligence. One theory emphasizes the heritability of IQ and explains racial differences in IQ scores by genetic differences between the races. The second theory emphasizes differences in family environments and explains IQ differences by virtue of racial differences in socioeconomic status and family characteristics. The third theory sees IQ and achievement differences as arising from differences in policies, programs, and resources in the schools children attend. Racial differences in a number of family risk factors, especially the socioeconomic characteristics of poverty, education, and family structure and size, most notably that collected by the US Bureau of the Census.
