TY  - JOUR
AU  - Cascio,Elizabeth U.
AU  - Lewis,Ethan G.
TI  - Schooling and the AFQT: Evidence from School Entry Laws
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 11113
PY  - 2005
Y2  - February 2005
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11113
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11113.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Elizabeth U. Cascio
Department of Economics
Dartmouth College
6106 Rockefeller Hall
Hanover, NH 03755
Tel: (603) 646-4096
Fax: (603) 646-2122
E-Mail: elizabeth.u.cascio@dartmouth.edu

Ethan G. Lewis
Department of Economics
Dartmouth College
6106 Rockefeller Hall
Hanover, NH 03755
Tel: 603/646-2943
Fax: 603/646-2122
E-Mail: ethan.g.lewis@dartmouth.edu
AB  - Is the Armed Forces Qualifying Test (AFQT) a measure of achievement or ability? The answer to this question is critical for drawing inferences from studies in which it is employed. In this paper, we test for a relationship between schooling and AFQT performance in the NLSY 79 by comparing test-takers with birthdays near state cutoff dates for school entry. We instrument for schooling at the test date with academic cohort - the year in which an individual should have entered first grade - in a model that allows age at the test date to have a direct effect on AFQT performance. This identification strategy reveals large impacts of schooling on the AFQT performance of racial minorities, providing support for the hypothesis that the AFQT measures school achievement.
ER  -