Inequality in Reading and Math Skills Forms Mainly before Kindergarten: A Replication, and Partial Correction, of "Are Schools the Great Equalizer?"

Autor/inn/en	von Hippel, Paul T.; Workman, Joseph; Downey, Douglas B.
Titel	Inequality in Reading and Math Skills Forms Mainly before Kindergarten: A Replication, and Partial Correction, of "Are Schools the Great Equalizer?"
Quelle	In: Sociology of Education, 91 (2018) 4, S.323-357 (35 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0038-0407
DOI	10.1177/0038040718801760
Schlagwörter	Reading Skills; Mathematics Skills; Equal Education; Research Methodology; Scores; Achievement Tests; Early Childhood Education; Reading Achievement; Mathematics Achievement; Achievement Gap; Racial Differences; Socioeconomic Status; Standardized Tests; Preschool Education; Family Influence; Children; Ethnicity; Kindergarten; Grade 1; Grade 2; Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Reading skill; Lesefertigkeit; Mathmatics achievement; Mathematics ability; Mathematische Kompetenz; Research method; Forschungsmethode; Achievement test; Achievement; Testing; Test; Tests; Leistungsbeurteilung; Leistungsüberprüfung; Leistung; Testdurchführung; Testen; Early childhood; Education; Frühkindliche Bildung; Frühpädagogik; Leseleistung; Mathmatics sikills; Mathematical ability; Rassenunterschied; Socio-economic status; Sozioökonomischer Status; Standadised tests; Standardisierter Test; Pre-school education; Vorschulerziehung; Child; Kind; Kinder; Ethnizität; School year 01; 1. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 01; School year 02; 2. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 02
Abstract	When do children become unequal in reading and math skills? Some research claims that inequality grows mainly before school begins. Some research claims that schools cause inequality to grow. And some research--including the 2004 study ''Are Schools the Great Equalizer?''--claims that inequality grows mainly during summer vacations. Unfortunately, the test scores used in the Great Equalizer study suffered from a measurement artifact that exaggerated estimates of inequality growth. In addition, the Great Equalizer study is dated and its participants are no longer school-aged. In this article, we replicate the Great Equalizer study using better test scores in both the original data and a newer cohort of children. When we use the new test scores, we find that variance is substantial at the start of kindergarten and does not grow but actually shrinks over the next two to three years. This finding, which was not evident in the original Great Equalizer study, implicates the years before kindergarten as the primary source of inequality in elementary reading and math. Total score variance grows during most summers and shrinks during most school years, suggesting that schools reduce inequality overall. Changes in inequality are small after kindergarten and do not replicate consistently across grades, subjects, or cohorts. That said, socioeconomic gaps tend to shrink during the school year and grow during the summer, while the black-white gap tends to follow the opposite pattern. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01