Aug. 26, 2008 Troubled children hurt their classmates' math and
reading scores and worsen their behavior, according to new
research by economists at the University of California, Davis,
and University of Pittsburgh. Scott Carrell, an assistant
professor of economics at UC Davis, and co-author Mark Hoekstra,
an assistant professor of economics at the University of
Pittsburgh, cross-referenced standardized test results and
school disciplinary records with court restraining order
petitions filed in domestic violence cases for more than 40,000
students enrolled in public elementary schools in Florida's
Alachua County for the years 1995 through 2003. The researchers
linked domestic violence cases to 4.6 percent of the elementary
school students in their sample. These children scored nearly 4
percentile points lower on standardized reading and math scores
than their peers whose parents were not involved in domestic
violence cases. (A percentile score reflects the percentage of
scores that fall below it; a student w