Examining Gaps in Mathematics Achievement Among Racial-Ethnic Groups, 1972-1992

Berends, Mark; Lucas, Samuel R.; Sullivan, Thomas D.; Briggs, Ronald

doi:10.7249/mg255

Cited by 21 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 79 publications

(129 reference statements)

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“…The research was prompted by concerns over a reduction in the uptake of the physical sciences post-16 and especially in higher education (HE), and interest in ways of encouraging the study of science by students from less prestigious socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds. Such concerns are not unique to the UK (Berends et al 2005, Fullarton et al 2003, Khoury and Voss 1985, Yang 2003. Using large-scale official datasets we show that participation and attainment in science are stratified by socio-economic status (SES).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

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The impact of socio‐economic status on participation and attainment in science

Gorard

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2009

Studies in Science Education

104

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In this paper we combine the findings from two recent studies relating to participation and attainment in school science -a re-analysis of existing official data for England ) and a review of wider international research evidence in the literature relevant to the UK . Although the secondary data are drawn mainly from England, the comprehensiveness of these datasets, together with our inclusion of a review of international studies on maths and science participation (such as Wobmann 2003, Marks 2007, provides a useful reference point for an international audience. The research was prompted by concerns over a reduction in the uptake of the physical sciences post-16 and especially in higher education (HE), and interest in ways of encouraging the study of science by students from less prestigious socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds. Such concerns are not unique to the UK (Berends et al 2005, Fullarton et al 2003, Khoury and Voss 1985, Yang 2003. Using large-scale official datasets we show that participation and attainment in science are stratified by socio-economic status (SES). Students from poorer families are less likely to take sciences at post-16 than many other subjects, and those who do are then less likely to obtain grades high enough to encourage further study of the subject.No conclusive evidence has been found to explain this satisfactorily. Plausible reasons suggested in the literature include the relative scarcity of local opportunities putting off those who do not wish to study away from home, or the perceived time demands of studying science, and so the difficulties of combining part-time study and part-time work for those needing to continue earning while studying. Direct support from professional parents may also lead to greater participation in post-16 science for students from higher SES. Perhaps the simplest explanation is that participation in science at any level is often predicated upon success at the previous educational stage. There are clear differences in science attainment at age 16 between students of differing backgrounds, which could explain the subsequent differential participation. However, these differences are not dissimilar to those for all subjects. The largest gap presented in the paper is between students eligible and not eligible for free school meals (FSM). We also show that these patterns appear early in the life of children. At ages 7 and 11, attainment in the three core subjects (English Maths and Science) is negatively related to living in an area of deprivation. The paper ends with a discussion of suggestions for research, policy and practice, emerging from this review of the evidence.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…And so on. Another limitation of their study was that they could only use parental educational attainment as a measure of family background as their dataset does not include family measures such as parent income, occupational status and other family characteristics (Berends et al 2005).…”

Section: Parental Influencementioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of socio‐economic status on participation and attainment in science

Gorard

See

2009

Studies in Science Education

104

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“…Although decomposing the gaps in blackwhite achievement into changes in families and schools is a complex exercise (Berends et al 2005;Grissmer et al 1998), we believe that our analyses make important contributions. For instance, similarly to Cook and Evans, we used methods that allowed us to examination changes in mean levels of family and school characteristics and changes in the relationships, or coefficients, of these characteristics to students' achievement.…”

Section: Families Schools and Gaps In Test Scoresmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…The sophomore cohort was followed up two years later when the students were seniors (HS&B:82). Although we previously analyzed the 1980 senior cohort (HS&B:80), our descriptive and multivariate analyses of the effects of family and school measures on students' achievement revealed no significant differences between the 1980 and 1982 senior cohorts (see Berends et al 2005). For the sake of parsimony and presentation, we thus present the 1972, 1982, 1992, and 2004 comparisons when we examine how the trends in the mathematics gap related to changes in family and school measures.…”

Section: High School and Beyondmentioning

confidence: 94%

How Changes in Families and Schools Are Related to Trends in Black-White Test Scores

2008

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Through several decades of research, a great deal has been written about trends in black-white test scores and the factors that may explain the gaps in different subject areas. Only a few studies have examined the changing relationships between gaps in students' test scores and family and school measures in nationally representative data over several periods. This article builds on this previous work and addresses some of its limitations by analyzing nationally representative data in 1972, 1982, 1992, and 2004 that provide consistent measures of high school seniors' mathematics achievement and several school and family measures. Together, these databases for four cohorts of high school seniors provide the opportunity to analyze associations between the gaps in black-white test scores and changes in family background and school characteristics (in terms of both changes in means and coefficients). The analyses reveal positive changes for black students relative to white students between 1972 and 2004, such as improvement in some socioeconomic family background characteristics. Yet, some school conditions (racial/ethnic and socioeconomic composition) did not improve for black students, and despite some beneficial changes, inequalities persist.

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“…We adopted this approach because the traditional Oaxaca decomposition cannot be used with nonlinear models (e.g., logistic or probit regressions). Linear probability models have been used in other decomposition studies and allow for ease of interpretation 23. With linear models, the mean value of each health behavior for each racial/ethnic group is a simple function of the estimated regression coefficients and the mean values of the individual- and neighborhood-level independent variables.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Racial/Ethnic Differences in US Health Behaviors: A Decomposition Analysis

Dubowitz

Heron²,

Basurto‐Dávila³

et al. 2011

am j health behav

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Objective-To quantify contributions of individual sociodemographic factors, neighborhood socioeconomic status (NSES) and unmeasured factors to racial/ethnic differences in health behaviors for Non-Hispanic (NH) Whites, NH Blacks, and Mexican-Americans. Methods-We used linear regression and Oaxaca decomposition analyses.Results-Although individual characteristics and NSES contributed to racial/ethnic differences in health behaviors, differences in responses individual characteristics and NSES also played a significant role.Conclusions-There are racial/ethnic differences in the way that individual-level determinants and NSES affect health behaviors. Understanding the mechanisms for differential responses could inform community interventions and public health campaigns that targeted to particular groups.

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Examining Gaps in Mathematics Achievement Among Racial-Ethnic Groups, 1972-1992

Cited by 21 publications

References 79 publications

The impact of socio‐economic status on participation and attainment in science

The impact of socio‐economic status on participation and attainment in science

How Changes in Families and Schools Are Related to Trends in Black-White Test Scores

Racial/Ethnic Differences in US Health Behaviors: A Decomposition Analysis

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