Research has long touted the impact that positive role models can have on students, particularly at-risk students, and their academic performance. Having someone to look up to and draw inspiration from can be an incredibly effective motivator for students.

So it should come as little surprise that many think President Barack Obama might prove to be the ultimate muse? What did surprise some is how quickly the nation’s new leader seems to have an effect on persistent racial gaps in academic performance.

Researchers from San Diego State, Northwestern and Vanderbilt universities administered a 20-question test to a group of 472 black and white Americans, their ages ranging from 18 to 63 and their educational background ranging from high school drop out to doctoral recipient.

The test, which drew from the verbal portion of the GRE, was conducted before Obama’s nomination, after his acceptance speech at the DNC, and once more after he was elected.

“Obama is obviously inspirational but we wondered whether he would contribute to an improvement in something as important as black test-taking,” Ray Friedman, one of the study’s authors told the New York Times.   ”We were skeptical that we would find any effect, but our results surprised us.” 

The study showed that a disparity between the scores of the black test-takers and white test-takers virtually disappeared between the time Obama was vying for the nation’s highest office and the time he actually clinched it.

While the study drew on a small group and has not been peer-viewed, many found the results intriguing and worthy of more extensive research.

“There is certainly a theoretical foundation and some empirical support for the proposition that Obama’s election could increase the sense of competence among African-Americans and it could reduce the anxiety associated with taking difficult test questions,” Harvard professor Ronald Ferguson told the Times.

A recently released study by British researchers reached a fairly shocking conclusion: teens with attitude problems often became adults with attitude problems. Stop the presses! This is truly groundbreaking news!

I’m only half-joking. The study, which is published in the British Medical Journal is one of the most extensive of its kind, following the outcomes of more than 3,500 people over a 40-year period, people initially surveyed when they were just 13 years old.

Researchers had teachers evaluate their students behavior at age 13 and 15 and then tracked them over the next four decades. They found that the kids with even moderate behavioral issues (restlessness, lying, disobedience) were more likely to drop out of school, become a teenage parent, abuse alcohol, and face more difficulties in life than their peers.

“This research suggests that adolescent conduct problems are indicative of more serious problems in creating and maintaining positive social relationships and this has a long-term effect on the young adults ability to maintain good mental health, stable employment, and a happy family life,” Ian Colman, the study’s lead author and an assistant professor at the University of Alberta’s School of Public Health told CNN.

Similar research has reached similar conclusions, which is not to say that every teenager with an attitude problem is destined to have a tough life ahead of them. But most experts agree that unless certain behaviors are corrected through early interventions and other programs, the likelihood that troubled teens will become troubled adults are high.

Naomi Dillon, Senior Editor