Connection Between Socioeconomic Status and School Performance

Schools with higher populations of students from low-income families may have lower achievement, but they also may have high rates of achievement growth, according to a study by the nonprofit NWEA. Study author Andy Hegedus, a NWEA research consulting director, says Every Student Succeeds Act assessments may be focusing too much on achievement and not enough on student growth. While it’s clear there is a strong connection between high poverty and low student achievement, a new analysis of growth data on MAP reading and math assessments shows a much weaker relationship between high poverty and low rates of growth, according to NWEA, the nonprofit organization that developed the assessments. The findings, have implications for how states measure school improvement under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

Hegedus, A. (2018). Evaluating the relationships between poverty and school performance. Portland, OR: NWEA. https://www.nwea.org/content/uploads/2018/10/Evaluating-the-Relationships-Between-Poverty-and-School-Performance.pdf