Annotated Bibliography

Socioeconomic Status and Academic Achievement

Christina Rice and Wendy Samples

FRER 7130 Educational Research

Georgia Southern University

April 23, 2017

Wendy Samples

Our group annotated bibliography is on socioeconomic status and academic achievement.

I could easily find five articles on the topic; however, my last article was difficult to understand.
It was a research study completed in Europe. The verbiage was difficult to comprehend. I
decided to look for a different article. I struggled to find the last article. My group partner and I
worked well together. One of the things we did was create a google docs shared file; therefore,
we could read each other’s annotation and make constructive comments to make the work better.
We also corresponded regularly through text and email. I valued her opinion and asked for help
on wording several times.

I had never read any research on the effects of socioeconomic status and academic
achievement. One of the things that surprised me was the number of research articles that state
socioeconomic status has a negative effect on academic achievement. I was excited to read the
article entitled “Parenting Practices and Children’s Academic Success in Low-SES Families.”
This article made me feel hopefully that not matter what the socioeconomic status of a student
they can still be successful with parental help.

Reading 10 research articles on the effects socioeconomic status and academic

achievement, made me evaluate my own situation and others around me. I personally lived in a
single-family household and received reduced lunch in elementary school. I refused to let my
mom complete the reduced lunch form in high school because I didn’t want my friends to notice.
I spent time reflecting on what made my situation different from the research. For me, my
motivation to do well academically was watching my mother struggle financially. I knew that I
didn’t want to struggle financially as an adult. I felt that by getting a college education, it would
help me provide for my family. I also have a very smart two-year-old foster daughter. She will
be leaving us next month to go to a home with extremely low socioeconomic status. I pondered
how can I help make things different for her as she starts school.

Christina Rice

We chose socioeconomic status and academic achievement for our group project because
many teachers can relate to this topic. Finding the articles was not difficult and I was surprised
to see that several of them were rather short only being about 5-6 pages long. I am use to
reading articles that are significantly longer. Having short articles made them a little simpler to
comprehend although I still find many terms that I do not understand. I had a great partner to
work with. She created and shared a Google doc with me, so we could work simultaneously on
the project. We were able to ask one another questions and proofread each other's work for
mistakes.

I have read other things that pertained to socioeconomic status and academic achievement
and have personally experienced it within the classroom. The article I enjoyed reading the most
was “Growth Mindset Tempers the Effects of Poverty on Academic Achievement”. So many
young people and adults have fixed mindset instead of a growth mindset. Within our district we
use a program called “7 Mindsets” and each lesson relates to having that growth mindset.
Students cannot help the fact that they may come from a low socioeconomic household, but the
article proved that students from any background can be successful by having the growth
mindset. A young person’s mindset is a choice unlike their socioeconomic status.

I feel as though everyone needs a little perspective at times to bring things back into
focus. This topic that we chose gave me that much needed perspective. Sometimes I get
wrapped up in my own life and I get frustrated with students by the end of the school year. I
forget the fact that many of those students come from low socioeconomic backgrounds, single
parent homes, or grandparents are raising them. The articles showed me that those students can
still be successful in school and their future regardless of background. I appreciate my partner
sharing her personal story in the reflection. She is a great example of academic success and is
helping others become that as well.
Amato, Paul, Patterson, Sarah & Beattie, Brett. (2015). Single-parent households and children’s

educational achievement: A state-level analysis. Social Science Research, 53, 191-202.

doi: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2015.05.012

The article pointed out that many studies have been done on single parent households and
a student’s academic achievement. Those studies concluded that this type of household does
impact academic success. The researchers wanted to go beyond this and see if single parent
households had a negative impact on education at the state level and not just the individual level.
A quantitative research method was used. They used statistics to analyze and break down scores
for each state from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The sample
consisted of a large population of single parent households rather than a small selective sample.
The statistical methods used for these variables concluded that the test scores of children living
in a single parent household does not affect the population scores. However the study did show
that since the increase of single parent households over the last couple decades, less of these
students are scoring at the advanced level.

Bakker, Joep, Denessen, Eddie, & Brus-Laeven Marië. (2007). Socio-economic background,

parental involvement and teacher perceptions of these in relation to pupil achievement.

Educational Studies, 33 (2), 177-192. doi: 10.1080/03055690601068345

The focus of this study is twofold. Researchers want to study the association between
teacher perception of parental involvement and the association between teacher perception and
pupil achievement. The sample size consisted of 60 teachers and 218 parents. Data was collected
in the form of parent questionnaires, teacher questionnaires, and student achievement scores.
Analysis of variance and regression were performed to test these relationships. The analysis
showed that parents rate their school involvement higher than the teacher perceived the
involvement. The analysis also showed that teachers perceived parents with higher educational
levels to have more school involvement. The researchers conclude that teacher perception of
parent involvement based on socioeconomic status does influence student achievement.

Claroa, Susana, Pauneskub, David, & Dweckb, Carol. (2016). Growth mindset tempers the

effects of poverty on academic achievement. Proceedings of the National Academy of

Sciences, 113 (31), 8664-8668. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1608207113

Research has shown that socioeconomic status (SES) is a predictor of academic

achievement. This study set out to determine if a growth mindset could be an indicator of
academic achievement regardless of SES. The data was based on empirical research.
Researchers surveyed a sample of 10th graders and the schools they attended to see if there was a
growth mindset present with the students and within the individual schools. Parents were
surveyed regarding their family income. Standardized test scores were used to determine the
student’s academic achievement. All variables were logged into a table. A graph and chart were
used to divide the family’s incomes into groups while showing test scores and the presence or
absence of a growth mindset. The results stated that while SES is a large contributor to academic
achievement, a growth mindset can counterbalance a lower family income to improve test scores.

Coe, Dawn, Peterson, Thomas, Blair, Cheryl, Schutten, Mary & Peddie, Heather. (2013).

Physical fitness, academic achievement, and socioeconomic status in school-aged youth.

Journal of School Health, 83 (7), 500-507. doi: 10.1111/josh.12058

Sedentary lifestyles have steadily increased over the years and researchers wanted to
determine if there was a connection between a student’s fitness level and their academic
achievement. Once the connection was determined, the researchers examined if a student’s
socioeconomic status (SES) shaped this connection. The research method used a large sample of
participants and quantitative data to determine an association between academic achievement
and fitness levels. The FITNESSGRAM was used to determine fitness levels, standardized test
scores showed academic achievement, and the number of participants who had free and reduced
lunch determined SES. Statistics and percentiles were used to show the data. The researchers
concluded that there is a relationship between physical fitness and academic achievement.
Socioeconomic status had little effect on fitness levels but did influence academic achievement.

Johnston, William. (2017). Assessing the benefits of a rising tide: Educational attainment and

increases in neighborhood socioeconomic advantage. Social Science Research, 62,

335-349. doi: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2016.08.015

The study’s purpose was to show an association between students living in

neighborhoods that are growing versus neighborhoods that are declining and the academic
achievement of these students. The researchers studied quantitative data from the National
Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (NLSAH) to determine the level of academic
achievement for the two groups and to conclude if there are any differences among races.
NLSAH provided a census on the sample population. Home surveys were conducted over a
period of eight years following the census data. The variables from the census and surveys were
organized into charts and graphs. The results concluded that neighborhoods who are
economically improving or were already advantaged have a higher graduation rate and more
overall years spent in school. The research did not find any disparities among races within the
same type of neighborhood.
Mayo, Aziza & Siraj, Iram. (2015). Parenting practices and children’s academic success in

low-SES families. Oxford Review of Education, 41(1), 47-63. doi:

10.1080/03054985.2014.995160

The researchers of this study are interested in understanding why and how some parents
and children from low socioeconomic status families overcome the disadvantages associated
with low socioeconomic status. A mixed method research consisted of quantitative data and
qualitative data. Quantitative data was used to determine the students’ achievement level. The
sample size included randomly selected families from low socioeconomic status. Twenty
families with children that were considered to have academic achievement levels above average
and 15 families with children that were considered to have poor academic achievement levels
were asked to participate. Qualitative data in the form of interviews and observations with
parents and children was collected. The researchers concluded that despite the disadvantages of
low socioeconomic status these parents found ways to help their children become academically
successful.

Ready, Douglas D. (2010). Socioeconomic disadvantage, school attendance, and early

cognitive development: The differential effects of school exposure. Sociology of

Education, 83, 271-286. doi: 10.1177/0038040710383520

This study was conducted to show a correlation between absenteeism and cognitive
development among students in kindergarten and first grade. The researchers investigated how
well different socioeconomic groups performed in literature and math and how those
performances are related to school attendance. Twenty-four children were chosen from each
school in a group of counties that contained about 1,000 public and private schools. Several
steps were then used to select the final group to research. Cognitive assessments were given to
each of the children. The assessments measured various literature and mathematics skills.
Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze these results. The results of the study showed
a relationship between socioeconomic status and absentee rates, an achievement gap between
different social classes, and that the cognitive attainment gap widens further during the summer
months when children are not in school.

Stull, Judith C. (2013). Family socioeconomic status, parent, expectations, and a child’s

achievement. Research in Education, 90, 53-67. doi: 10.7227/RIE.90.1.4

The purpose of this study is to examine factors outside of school that impact academic
achievement. Researchers study the relationship between a family’s socioeconomic status and
their educational expectations on their children. They also explore the direct and indirect effects
of socioeconomic status on the child’s educational achievement. Achievement data was collected
from 22,000 kindergarten students nationally. Phone interviews were conducted with parents,
where researchers asked about their educational expectations. Data was collect from the teachers
and school administrators. Descriptive analysis and regressive analysis of the data was
performed. The analysis revealed that parents with higher socioeconomic status have higher
educational expectations for their children. Researchers concluded that socioeconomic status has
both a direct and indirect effects on academic achievement. This research will help policymakers
make decisions that will improve the achievement of children with low socioeconomic status.

Tobin, Kerri J. (2016). Homeless students and academic achievement: Evidence from a large

urban area. Urban Education, 51 (2), 197-220. doi: 10.1177/0042085914543116

Since homelessness is a problem that affects children, the purpose of this study is to
determine if housing status predicts academic achievement. This study analyzes whether
students experiencing homelessness have lower academic achievement than students from low
socioeconomic status. The researchers analyzed test scores from students in Grades 3-5 in two
urban school district. Correlational analysis was performed on the independent variable
homelessness and the dependent variable test scores. This study concluded that both
homelessness and low socioeconomic status produce students with low academic achievement.
They determine that there is no significant difference between homelessness and low
socioeconomic status students and academic achievement. The researchers explain this by stating
that homelessness is usually temporary.

Tsai, Ming-Hsueh & Liu, Fu-Yu. (2013). Multigroup structural equation approach: Examing the

relationship among family socioeconomic status, parent-child interaction, and

academic achievement using TASA samples. International Journal of Intelligent

Technologies and Applied Statistics, 6 (4), 353-373. doi: 10.6148/IJITAS.2013.0604.03

The researchers of this study want to determine if socioeconomic status is a major factor
affecting student achievement as determined by previous research. The purpose of this study is to
examine the relationship between socioeconomic status, parent-child interaction, and academic
achievement. The researchers studied previous literature on the topic of socioeconomic status
and student achievement. Researchers completed correlational analysis on data from the Taiwan
Assessment of Student Achievement database. To check reliability and validity AMOS 20.0 and
Maximum likelihood analysis was performed. The analysis showed a positive correlation
between socioeconomic status, parent-child interaction, and academic achievement. The
correlational analysis also showed, that the higher socioeconomic status and the greater the
parent-child interaction the greater the student achievement level.