The Effect of Race and Socioeconomic Class on Achievement

1
The Effect of Race and Socioeconomic Class on
Achievement

• Wendy Heath
• August 2007

2

• One of the goals of No Child Left Behind is that
  students be proficient in reading and math by
  2014 (Kahlenberg, 2006).
• Therefore, school systems are now placing greater
  emphasis on

3

• determining the reasons certain races and
  socioeconomic classes achieve while others do
  not.
• This topic is of great interest to me because the
  school where I teach has gone through significant
  rezoning.

4

• As a result, my high school has become more
  racially diverse and the average socioeconomic
  level has shifted dramatically toward the poverty
  line.
• In previous years at my school,

5

• the students at or below the poverty line was
  less than 15.
• However, after the addition of the new high
  schools, the percentage has now risen to almost
  50.

6

• Research has always shown that racially diverse
  schools with a high percentage of low
  socioeconomic students generally must deal with
  lower levels of achievement among these students.

7

• Therefore, it would be extremely beneficial for
  me to research ways in which other school systems
  and educational specialists have been successful
  in dealing with this situation.

8
Overview

• This electronic presentation will elaborate on
  policies and practices that many school systems
  advocate, or in some cases, discourage in order
  to ensure that all students regardless of their
  background have an equal

9

• opportunity to achieve.

10
Summary

• Wake County is a school system in North Carolina
  that has implemented a new program that is
  integrating students based on socioeconomic
  status instead of integrating them based on race.

11

• The research found that their achievement levels
  increased not because they were attending schools
  with a greater percentage of White students, but
  because they were placed in schools with a
  middle-class environment

12

• Kahlenberg, 2006).
• Another issue that could affect achievement among
  races and socioeconomic classes is standardized
  testing.
• Richard Rothstein (2004) suggests

13

• we must consider what constitutes valued
  learning and how the achievement might change if
  the other factors of high stakes test scores
  received equal weighting.
• He makes this statement based on research that
  found that many Black students with lower SAT
  scores who

14

• went to Ivy League schools had lower graduation
  rates, but they went on to be better contributors
  to society than their higher scoring White
  classmates.
• Standardized testing can also cause

15

• an effect called the pull-out phenomenon.
• There have been press articles that have
  documented cases across the country where
  educators have pressured students with lower
  levels of achievement to drop out

16

• of school or to obtain their GED so that school
  systems would have higher test scores this
  practice has mostly affected minority groups
  (Adam, 2005).
• The behaviors associated with

17

• certain races and socioeconomic classes can also
  adversely affect achievement.
• Yoonsun Choi (2006) found in his study that GPA
  was significantly predictive of delinquent
  offenses,

18

• sexual behaviors, and substance use one year
  later, even after controlling for
  socio-demographic variables and the earlier
  problem behaviors.
• For example, after observing tables

19

• produced from Chois study, one can note the
  drastic decline in GPA among certain races as a
  result of binge drinking.

20
Annotated Websites

• Title Using Social, Economic, and Educational
  Reform to Close the Black-White Achievement Gap
• Website www.epinet.org/content.cfm/books_class_a
  nd_schools

21

• What can be found a) the legacy of the Coleman
  report b) the success of some poor children
  doesnt mean that poverty does not matter

22

• Useful for anyone dealing with students who are
  racially diverse
• 2) Title The Issues of Race, Class, and Gender
• Website www. Azete.com/preview/13678

23

• What can be found examples of how people are
  stigmatized for their race, sex, and class
• Useful for anyone dealing with students who are
  racially diverse and have low SES

24

• 3) Title Socioeconomic Status, Gender, and
  Retention Impact on Student Achievement
• Website www.usca.edu/essays/vol172003/stockton.p
  df

25

• What can be found the purpose of this article
  is to discuss the impact of SES, race, gender,
  and retention on student achievement
• Useful for anyone dealing with students who are
  racially diverse and have low SES

26

• 4) Title Cultural Diversity and Academic
  Achievement
• Website www.ncre.org/sdrs/areas/issues/educatrs/
  leadrshp/le0bow.htm
• What can be found an overview of

27

• the most serious and explosive issues in the
  U.S. today concerning educational needs of
  culturally and linguistically diverse students
• Useful for anyone dealing with students who are
  racially diverse

28

• and have low SES
• 5) Title A Teacher Like Me Does Race,
  Ethnicity, or Gender Matter?
• Website www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/tdee1/Research
  /aeapp05.pdf

29

• What can be found an overview of the large and
  persistent achievement gaps separated by minority
  and nonminority students
• Useful for anyone dealing with students who are
  racially diverse

30
Print Resources

• Title The New Integration
• Author R.D. Kahlenberg
• What can be found discusses how social
  integration provides more benefits than racial
  integration

31

• Useful for anyone dealing with students who are
  racially diverse and have low SES
• 2) Title Class and Schools Using social,
  economic, and educational reform to close the
  Black-White achievement gap

32

• Author R. Rothstein
• What can be found discusses how non-cognitive
  aspects of an individual should be taken into
  account to measure success

33

• Useful for anyone dealing with students who are
  racially diverse and have low SES

34
Conclusion

• Research has shown that socioeconomic class not
  race plays a greater role in determining the
  level of achievement among students.
• Standardized testing has been found to adversely
  affect minority

35

• groups and certain SES classes.
• Stereotypes have led to myths concerning
  certain races ultimately hindering academic
  success.

36
Reference Page

• Adam, M. (2005, January). High School Exit Exams
  and Hispanics. The Hispanic Outlook in Higher
  Education, 52-57.

37

• 2) Choi, Y. (2007). Academic Achievement and
  Problem Behaviors among Asian Pacific Islander
  American Adolescents. J Youth Adolescence,
  36c,403-415.

38

• 3) Kahlenberg, R.D. (2006, May). The New
  Integration. Educational Leadership, 22-26.
• 4) Rothstein, R. (2004). Class and Schools
  Using social, economic, and educational reform to
  close the Black-White achievement gap,

39

• 200 pp.