The Widening Academic Achievement Gap Be

The Widening Academic Achievement Gap Between the Rich and the Poor: New Evidence and Possible Explanations Reardon

 The gap appears to have grown at least partly because of an increase in the association between family income and children’s academic achievement for families above the median income level: a given difference in family incomes now corresponds to a 30 to 60 percent larger difference in achievement than it did for children born in the 1970s. (2)

 may be in part a result of increasing parental investment in children’s cognitive development.

An ironic consequence of the regularity of this pattern is that we tend to think of the relationship between socioeconomic status and children’s academic achievement as a sociological necessity, rather than as the product of a set of social conditions, policy choices, and educational practices. (3)

Four possible explanations for why the income achievement gap is widening:

1. Income disparity is widening (what it means to be in 90th percentile vs 10th percentile is more extreme)
2. Family investment patterns have changed; high-income parents invest more in cognitive development of their kids
3. Income now more strongly correlated with other socioeconomic characteristics of families (Like wealth?)
4. Social forces amplify income disparity (such as school quality; political power to control placement of parks, etc)

Lareau: “concerted cultivation"