The development of racial/ethnic and socioeconomic achievement gaps during the school years

This study examined developmental trends in academic achievement gaps between poverty and race/ethnicity groups from school entry to middle school using two large longitudinal data sets. We used time-varying effect modeling (TVEM) to estimate how the associations among race/ethnicity, poverty status, and math and reading achievement vary across continuous age from age 5 to age 15. Poor White students consistently outperformed poor Black and poor Hispanic students, with gaps widening around ages 7–8. Furthermore, we found that within-group variation increased across time, which indicated that a standardized difference in later grades translates to a larger difference in knowledge in later grades. The results highlight the importance of studying race and poverty in interaction when measuring achievement gaps.
Source: Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology - Category: Child Development Source Type: research