Question: To what extent does socioeconomic class affect student achievement?

Claim: Higher social class of students and their families have appeared to lead to higher
academic achievement.

Backing:
● studies found wealthier students have better test scores than of those of poorer classes

because things like private schools, extracurricular activities, and cultural experiences,

are much more easily obtained.

● study shows students in poverty are more likely to struggle with class engagement

because of 7 reasons; their health, vocabulary, effort, lack of hope, their mindset,

relationships, and distress

● effects of poverty on the brain and how it lowers children’s test scores. Universities did

(MRI’s) on 400 children. showed that poorer children had a reduced amount of, "grey

matter", in the frontal lobe, temporal lobe and hippocampus.these areas in the brain are

really important for long-term memory and understanding information. It was said that

the difference in the amount of grey matter within poorer people is associated with

inability to manage stress, with depression and learning disabilities.

● Most of the time wealthy parents invest more time and money into their kids than lower

income parents do. The parents of the wealthier children have more money, giving their

kids more opportunities for a better education whereas the poor families barely have

enough money to get by day to day.

● Many times poor families cannot afford school supplies or the best level of education for

their children. However, many of the schools that these children are being put into are not

meeting the needs of their circumstance of poverty. The schools that these children are a
 part of are not providing them with proper education or materials needed to perform their

best, leading them to a greater risk of academic failure.

● The experiences of teachers and parents and their lack of different programs and more

sophisticated education can also play a role in poverty schooling. If teachers are not

giving poor children the equal opportunity and attention that they give their wealthier

classmates then their education and intelligence is not being put to the highest it can be.

● the children with more wealth have benefits that can be spent on educational resources

such as, private schools, extra curricular activities, and cultural experiences, children in

families with less wealth do not have these options.

● As the income of the average family increases, the money spent on school and extra

education programs increase as well

● The more money you have, your college options are more open because there are no

financial obstacles. This will earn you a better job with a better salary, which can lead to

you creating your own wealthy family.

● Students from lower income families may have poor expectations and less motivation to

do well in school. If these students aren’t expected to do well, they won’t have the

motivation to see what they are really capable of in school.

● According to Seth Pollak, senior author of the study at The University of Wisconsin-

Madison, the approximate 20% difference in test scores between the poor and middle

class could be because of an impaired brain development in the “upper-front and side

regions of the brain”. In the brain, “gray matter” is where the neuronal cells are located.

The research shows that children in families that are at 150% of the federal poverty level

have 3-4% less of the gray matter compared to the average student their age.
● Studies from the University of London show that, in 2008 in Britain, out of all the

families who had a low enough income for them to be eligible for government subsidized

free school meals, there were only 232 students in the entire country who had high

enough grades to be eligible

● As the poverty rates increase, the test scores decrease. For example, schools with less

than 10% of their students in poverty had an average science score of 571. While schools

with 75% or more students in poverty had an average science score of 461.

● They (the American Psychological Association) also discussed how other factors

contribute to AA, such as “Family characteristics, sometimes incorrectly referred to as

SES, are substantially correlated with AA (academic achievement)…”. Other factors,

such as family characteristics stated in the quote, can relate back to socioeconomic status.

Family characteristics can be affected by SES (socioeconomic status) because of the

parent/guardian's occupation and income. The larger income of the family, the more

opportunities for extracurriculars and tutoring to strengthen their academic abilities and

performance. When lower-class families are struggling to provide food for their families

everyday, then there is a slimmer chance that they’d use their money for a tutor or going

to math camp.

● American Psychological Association, is “Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Child

Development”. It begins with “Recent research consistently reports that persistent

poverty has more detrimental effects on the IQ, school achievement, and socioemotional

functioning than transitory poverty”. The text supports, that not just a person’s income,

but those in poverty are at a disadvantage in their academics. The article continues on
 with how those in poverty are more susceptible to health complications that would make

them miss school and/or diminish their mindset going into school.

● “Which Teens Have High “Academic Self-Esteem”?” discusses the student’s perspective

in their academic standings. If some of those students who are in lower socioeconomic

classes have lower socioemotional functioning as well, then it would show through their

opinions of themselves.

● These actions include a meeting with a representative of the Harlem Children’s Zone at

the White House to discuss the funding of their program and magnet schools. Their

program provides a class for the low-income families of pre-K children to help prepare

their children for success in school.

Question

Claim

Backing

Specific Info

Lenses/perspective

line of reasoning should be clear

Danait, Alexa, Grace, Abby

Gunsher 3B

AP Seminar
11 October 2015

Wealth Effects Education

Many individuals may never be completely satisfied with what they have and will always

look to the social class above them for comparison. It seems most of these things that we believe

we are missing in life and can be affected by money, are tangible. When in reality, some of the

most important parts of us are decided before we are even born, simply based off of our family's

wealth. Even those tangible things such as, the house you grow up in, or the clothes you can

afford, change you as a person and will follow you through your childhood. What is the one

thing you think you have complete control over? Your education, but this is just another aspect

of life majorly affected by your wealth. To what extent does socioeconomic class affect student

achievement?

Higher social classes of students and their families have appeared to lead to higher

academic achievement. Evidence suggested from The Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion,

London School of Economics and Political Science shows that student’s wealth most affects

their cognitive development and school achievement. This had the highest effect in comparison

to social-behavioral development, maternal mental health, and the parenting and home

environment. As the income of the average family increases, the money spent on school and

extra education programs increase as well. The authors from Science Daily, conducted a study

from The Society for Research in Child Development showing how family wealth is a cause of

the contrast in test scores of school age children. In this study, it was found that children who

are of a higher class generally achieve better test scores than of those of a lower classes because

private schools, extracurricular activities, and cultural experiences, are more easily obtained.

New York University says that the student’s cognitive achievement alters more based on family
wealth in school aged children than in preschoolers. Families with more wealth associate with a

better home environment, better parenting behaviors, and more children in private schools,

which is all something that directly affects a child.

A possible reason New York University has for family wealth greatly impacting

children’s cognitive achievement is because the children with more wealth have benefits that can

be spent on educational resources such as, private schools, extra curricular activities, and

cultural experiences, children in families with less wealth do not have these options. The way a

child is brought up and the experiences they have affects their school work. Many times lower

class families cannot afford school supplies or the best level of education for their children.

However, many of the schools that these children are being put into are not meeting the needs of

education levels. The schools that these children are attending are not providing them with

proper education or materials needed to perform their best, leading them to a greater risk of

academic failure. Studies performed by John Jerrim from the Institute of Education at the

University of London suggests that your ability to move up in levels of education is directly

impacted by you or your family’s wealth. The more money you have, your college options are

more open because there are no financial obstacles. This will earn you a better job with a better

salary, which can lead to you creating your own wealthy family.

Low income directly affects the wellbeing, comprehension ability, and the child engaging

in school and reaching academic achievements and excellence. NYU reasons this by stating that

children at school age are usually aware of wealth differences in comparison to their classmates

which can alter their self esteem, ultimately affecting their overall school performance. Students

from lower income families may have poor expectations and less motivation to do well in school.
If these students aren’t expected to do well, they won’t have the motivation to see what they are

really capable of in school. The University of Wisconsin-Madison showed the effects of poverty

on the brain and how it lowers children’s test scores. According to Seth Pollak, senior author of

the study at The University of Wisconsin-Madison, the approximate 20% difference in test

scores between the poor and middle class could be because of an impaired brain development in

the “upper-front and side regions of the brain”. The results showed that children who had less

wealth had a reduced amount of, "gray matter", in the frontal lobe, temporal lobe and

hippocampus. In the brain, “gray matter” is where the neuronal cells are located. The research

shows that children in families that are at 150% of the federal poverty level have 3-4% less of the

gray matter compared to the average student their age. All of these areas missing in the brain are

important for long-term memory and understanding information. It was said that the difference

in the amount of grey matter within poorer people is associated with inability to manage stress,

with depression and learning disabilities. This shows evidence that poorer students already have

a disadvantage resulting in the difference in test scores between wealthier and poorer students.

Data gathered from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

(ASCD) shows evidence that being in poverty causes students to be inattentive and unengaged.

The organization states that students in poverty are more likely to struggle with class

engagement because of their health, vocabulary, effort, lack of hope, their mindset, relationships,

and distress. If a student is in poverty it can affect their relationships because they start to

become insecure and stressed out causing them to put in less effort, which in turn, makes them

feel hopeless. ASCD also found that intelligence is linked to health. Poverty’s negative

influence on health affects attention, reasoning, learning, and memory, which are all important

elements needed in school.

 Studies from the University of London show that, in 2008 in Britain, out of all the

families who had a low enough income for them to be eligible for government subsidized free

school meals, there were only 232 students in the entire country who had high enough grades to

be eligible for the free meals. This demonstrates even further that lower income correlates to

lower student achievement and grades. A chart from a Trends in International Mathematics and

Science study done in 2003 compares schools with different percentages of poverty students and

their average test scores in math and science. As the poverty rates increase, the test scores

decrease. For example, schools with less than 10% of their students in poverty had an average

science score of 571. While schools with 75% or more students in poverty had an average

science score of 461.

One can observe that wealth truly does affect a student's education. As shown in this

research, wealthier students have a higher advantage in school, and poorer students have less of

an advantage. This inequality not only widens the gap between the rich and poor, but it also can

tremendously affect student's future. Wealth has a high correlation to parenting behavior, home

environment, and the self esteem of children. Students in families of the lower class often live in

less wealthy neighborhoods, so they all attend the same school. So, the child can often times be

attending a failing school. When these students are put in the mindset that they aren’t capable of

academic excellence they will not feel the need to go above their preconceived expectations

placed on them by their parents, teachers, and society as a whole. More wealth creates more

opportunity for students to reach academic achievement.