"Family Wealth May Explain Differences In Test Scores In School-age Children"

[jody]

Family Wealth May Explain Differences In Test Scores In School-age Children

ScienceDaily (Mar. 26, 2008) — A new study published in the March/April 2008 issue of the journal Child Development finds that family wealth might partly explain differences in test scores in school-age children. The study, conducted by researchers at New York University, also found that family wealth is positively associated with parenting behavior, home environment, and children's self-esteem.

Prior research has documented the association between children's cognitive achievement and the socioeconomic status of their parents as measured by education level, occupation, and income. Many of these studies focused on the effect of poverty--defined by family income--on children's achievement, but household wealth (i.e., net worth) has received little attention.

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Family wealth accumulated from different sources also was found to have a distinct influence on children at different developmental stages. Liquid assets, particularly holdings in stocks or mutual funds, were positively associated with school-aged children's test scores. Family wealth was associated with a higher quality home environment, better parenting behavior, and children's private school attendance.

The researchers suggest that the stronger impact of wealth on school-aged children may be because school-aged children benefit more from family wealth that is spent on educational resources that require substantial financial investment, such as private schools, extracurricular activities, and cultural experiences. Furthermore, older children may be more conscious of differences in wealth relative to their peers as they are exhibited in the quality of the learning environment, possessions, and the type of neighborhood where children live. These differences may influence their self-esteem and aspirations, which in turn are positively associated with their school performance.

Wealth is a surrogate for other causes including the possibility that people with traits that are useful for education are also better qualified for success in modern business leading to accumulation of wealth.

It may be that such traits are inherited and if so, the 21st century with designer babies on the horizon will be interesting,

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Another, 'duh'.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. Can I second that "duh"?

[momster]

2. Water Wet, Snow Cold

is the other breaking story for the day.

[twiceshy]

4. I wonder if they cross referenced this for the presence and use...

...of books in the house? I grew up in a family of six and one income, we didn't have a lot of cash. But we had a lot of books and no television. I do agree that lower socio-economic families will have lower scores, but it has more to do with their prerogatives than with a lack of money. When my own kids were little, we couldn't afford books. I would take them to the library from the age of three and they would come home with as many as the library would let them take. Education is a choice.

[LWolf]

3. We've known since well before

the "standards and accountability" movement that started us on the road to high stakes testing that the biggest predictor of standardized test scores was SES, not anything that happened at school.

This was discussed at length in a psychological measurement course I took back in the early 90s, a few years before the state version of NCLB took hold in CA.

[ulysses]

6. from the "no fucking shit" department

Good to see research catching up with common sense.

[Scooter24]

7. Not that this is shocking...

We've seen stories and research concluding the same thing for many years now. Take my local school district for example...

Highland Park, TX
Median Family Income- $373,327
Poverty- 1.6%


Highland Park High School
2007 National Blue Ribbon School
Newsweek National Rank- 14th

Aprox. 2000 students Grades 9-12


Students:
White- 93%
Hispanic- 4%
Asian- 2%
African American- <1%

Eligible for Free/Reduced Price Lunch- 0%
Limited English Proficient- <1%

TEA Acknowledgements/Awards-
Rated: Exemplary
*Commended Performance- Reading/English Language Arts
*Commended Performance- Mathematics
*Commended Performance- Science
*Commended Performance- Social Studies
*Texas Success Initiative- Higher Education Readiness Component: Math
*Texas Success Initiative- Higher Education Readiness Component: English/Language Arts
*Advanced Course/Dual Enrollment Completion
*Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate Results
*Attendance Rate
*Recommended High School Program
*SAT/ACT Results


TAKS Testing Results:

Grade 9-
Subject- % meeting or exceeding standards (state average)

Reading- 99% (state average- 86%)
Math- 96% (state average- 60%)

Grade 10-

Social Studies- 100% (state average- 86%)
Science- 93% (state average- 58%)
English/Language Arts- 96% (state average- 84%)
Math- 95% (state average- 63%)

Grade 11-

Social Studies- 100% (state average- 94%)
Science- 99% (state average- 77%)
English/Language Arts- 99% (state average- 90%)
Math- 98% (state average- 80%)

[adnelson60087]

8. Those numbers look so high

that I wonder where the Spec Ed kids are? Everyone's got'em...Those are simply amazing numbers.

[Scooter24]

9. The school has excellent programs in

Special Education as well.

The Special Education subgroup is 8% at this school.

http://www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/tx/other/3294#students