Examining racial differences in the effect of popular sports participation on academic achievement

Using data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, this study employs propensity score modeling to measure the effects of participation in varsity football (among men) and varsity basketball (among men and women) in the 10th grade on students’ GPAs and math test scores in the twelfth grade. This study also investigates whether the effect of sports participation on student achievement differs between black and white students. The results show that participation in varsity football negatively affects the 12th grade GPAs of black, but not white, men but does not affect the math test scores of either of these subgroups. Moreover, varsity basketball participation leads to higher GPAs in the 12th grade among white, but not black, women. Implications of the different operationalizations of sports participation, the investigation of different student subpopulations, and the different methods of analysis are discussed.