Socioeconomic status is a major factor that is fueling the academic achievement gap in

America. Over the past fifty or so years, the increase in income inequality within this country has

led to an increase of inequality in education between high-income and low-income families, due

to correlation between status and opportunity for work, unequal access to resources for early

childhood education development, and unequal affordability and funding of higher education.

Within the American society, a persons income plays a role in determining their status,

whether they be labeled as belonging to the upper, middle, or lower class. This in turn determines

the opportunities presented to them in relation to work or education. The issue at hand is that

income inequality has risen dramatically in the past 30-40 years, which has increased the gap in

income between high and low income families. With rising income inequality also came

declining economic growth, and this in turn makes upward social mobility a lot more difficult to

attain and far less certain. Therefore, a family on the lower end of the scale of social status will

most likely not be able to obtain opportunities for higher education or higher paid work as easily

as a family on the higher end of the scale. It was also presented, in a study conducted by Sean F.

Reardon, that children in high-income families are increasingly likely to be raised by two

parents, both having college degrees, whereas a low-income child is more likely to be raised by a

single mother with a low level of education. This shows that income correlates to family

characteristics and resources important for a childs development, and when it comes to a childs

development there is a rapidly growing disparity in the extent to which families invest their time

and money in their childrens education.

Reardon explains in his comprehensive study of this issue that the academic achievement

gap is already large when children enter Kindergarten and does not grow notably during the

school years. This shows that the inequality is present before a child has even begun its
education, and that the primary cause of this inequality in academics is not unequal school

quality. The achievement gap is shown to be widening between the summer months when the

students are not in school, but narrowing during the fall and spring months when they are. This

shows that a childs academic achievement is most affected when they are home with their

families during the summer months. With the income gap between high and low-income families

having increased greatly over the past forty or so years, this has led to an inequality in the access

a family has to resources to invest in their childs schooling and development. High-income

families have access to far more educational resources, relative to low-income families.

Therefore, children from high-income homes are more likely to be academically prepared for the

next phase in schooling than would children from low-income homes who may not have had

access to the academic aid or preparation they needed during the summer due to financial

reasons (Reardon, 2013).

With inequality already being present in academics from the start of a childs educational

path due to the effects associated with their familys socioeconomic status, it is only further

increased once the point of higher education is reached. Where a student goes to obtain higher

education is dependent upon many different factors which include their grades throughout their

secondary education, their performance on standardized test, and their ability to pay the cost of

tuition. As stated previously, there is inequality in academics from the start of education, which

leads to effects in a childs grades and performance on standardized test depending upon what

access they have to educational resources outside of school. Low-income homes are already at a

disadvantage in this way, and then when it comes to having to pay for a college education, even

if a child has the grades and test scores to get into a certain school, low-income families are less

likely to be able to send their children to certain colleges because of inability to pay the tuition
and fees. Also the Americas higher education is 2-tiered, where the schools that are more

restrictive and considered to be of higher-quality, receive a lot more funding than community

college or state schools. Emily Chertoff even makes note in her article on inequality in Americas

2-tiered education system, that Princeton gets about 54,000 dollars a year per student in

government subsidies, whereas the college of New Jersey receives a total of about 1,600 dollars.

On top of this many of these lower funded schools are the ones that are overwhelming serving

low-income people and minorities, while these higher funded schools serve those who are

already at the top of the social scale in society. Once again, those with higher-income are

presented with easier access to more resources and programs towards their education. With many

of these higher end universities being restrictive in their acceptance of transfer students from

community college, this also makes it much more difficult for a lower-income family to continue

on with their education past a two-year degree (Chertoff, 2013).

Though other factors do come into play in the academic achievement gap, it can be seen

that socioeconomic status plays a major role in perpetuating this achievement gap. Seeing as the

American society is one focused on social class, and that academic inequality is present before a

child has even begun schooling, shows that a familys income and status is important in

determining their childs achievement in the American society when it comes to academics.

There is an unequal balance between high-income families and low-income families and this

inequity is creating a larger gap.

 References

Chertoff, E. (2013, May 25). How America's 2-Tiered Education System Is Perpetuating Inequality.

Retrieved April 19, 2017, from https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/05/how-americas-2-

tiered-education-system-is-perpetuating-inequality/276246/

Reardon, S. F. (2013). The Widening Income Achievement Gap. Educational Leadership, 70(8),
10-16.