Low Socioeconomic Status Students Research Articles

Race, Sex, Socioeconomic Status, and Mathematics

Many black students, female students, and students of low socioeconomic status do not achieve up to their potential in mathematics. A model to explain group differences in performance is presented. Relationships are described among several groups of variables, including societal influences, school mathematics curricula, teacher attitudes, student attitudes and achievement-related behavior, classroom processes, and student achievement. Relevant research results are included, along with suggestions for future research to test the model.

Achievement level, social class, and the self-concepts of mildly handicapped children.

To illustrate the effects of socioeconomic status (SES) and within classroom academic standing on the self—concepts of mildly handicapped children, self—concept scores were collected on 169 elementary school children who divided their school day between special classes and the educational mainstream. The sample was divided into four groups based on SES (high or low) and level of academic achievement in comparison to other handicapped classmates (high or low). High achievers reported higher self—concept scores than low achievers and low SES students had higher self—concept scores than high SES children. The results are interpreted in terms of the influence of social comparison groups on children's perceptions of their own competence. The results suggest that mildly handicapped children from high SES levels who remain inadequate academically in comparison to their special—class peers have self—concepts significantly lower than those of all other students.

Youths' Outlook on the Future: An English Replication

Gillespie and Allport's (1955) 10-country survey of college students' view of the future was replicated (Kleiber & Manaster, 1972) in Texas, compari~lg outlooks over rime and differentiating activists and nonactivists. The present study rcspl~catcs the Texas study at an English university, at which 348 upper division students (80% male) completed the reported objective items of the original Gillespie-Allport quehrionnalre in class. The sample divided equally, as it had in Texas, between activist (N = 164) students who had participated in demonstrations, ecc. and nonactivists (N = 184) . Comparisons significant differences between activiscs and nonactiviscs in each country as well as the over-all significant differences between the country samples were undertaken. The nonactivists in both countries were enthusiastic about their futures than the activists, and the U.S. sample was much positive than the U.K. sample. While the U.S. and U.K. students desired and expected equally high prestige occupations, the standard of living thus attained was seen as much higher than that of their family of origin the U.K. students. This reflects greater upward mobility associated with univetsiry attendance in the U.K. or low socio-economic status students at this U.K. university. The majority of both samples desired that solution to the problem of international relations be worked out through world government, however, the majority of the U.S. students expected nationalism and the majority of U.K. students expected regionalism to be the mode solution. Significantly activists than nonactivists in both countries, though majorities in both samples, thought that another world war would lead to the destruction of civilization. It had been hypothesized and found in the Texas study that this would relate to greater encouragement of aggressive behavior in childhood among the actlvlsts. This did not appear the U.K. sample as almost no encouragement of aggressive behavior was reported. Activists in the U.S. had less desire religious orientation than nonactivists, while in the U.K. this was true only because the female nonactivists were higher than the others in this desire. Ovcr-all the desire religious orientation was mu& lower in the U.K. sample. Over 65% of the U.S. students, but only 40% of the U.K. srudents, would give greater emphas~s to the concept of democracy by the people rather than for the people. Both samples almost unanimously desire greater racial equality but 82% of the U.S. sample and 65 % of the U.K. sample expect to see it. The U.S. activist sample was characterized as more (Kleiber & Manaster, 1972, p. 232) than the nonactivist sample. Although the activists were not pessimistic than the nonactivists in the U.K., the entire U.K. sample appears less hopeful the future than the U.S. sample.

Factorial Structure of Intelligence: Cross-Cultural Study of Two Israeli Samples

This study assessed the structure of intelligence among socially disadvantaged students and compared the structure of intelligence of a socially disadvantaged sample with that exhibited by a sample of high social status. The Hebrew translated version of the Lorge-Thorndike Intelligence Test, Level A Form 1, which has already been validated upon an Israeli sample of Western origin and high status was administered to a sample of students of Eastern origin and low socio-economic status. A matrix of product-moment correlations, computed between the subtest scores, was analyzed using the principal components solution. Results indicate very clearly that in large part what is being measured by the five subtests is one general factor which may be conveniently labeled “cognitive ability.” The search for a somewhat different presentation of the results led to a varimax rotation of five factors. Two factors were observed; it was suggested that the first be called a school-learning factor and that the second factor be called abstract thinking. While the general “cognitive ability” factor was found for both Israeli samples, the specific factorial structures differ considerably.

Some Factors Associated with Academic Suspension of Students at Pahlavi University

A survey of all students suspended for academic reasons during the academic years of 1971–72 and 1972–73 uncovered 198 students (160 males and 38 females). The over-all mean of the high school grade point average of the group was significantly lower than that of average university students. The rate of attrition was the same for both sexes. Most subjects were admitted to the university immediately after high school graduation and were majoring in sciences, agriculture, and social sciences; 95% were freshmen and sophomores. The percentages of students of lower socio-economic status were rather high. Approximately 80% of the group were members of large families.

Academic Achievement and Attendance in an Open School

The purpose of this study was to compare students' achievement and attendance in an open school setting with those in a traditional setting. 80 fourth grade students of low socio-economic status were randomly selected, 40 from an open school and 20 from each of two traditional schools in rural Madison County, Georgia. The Iowa Tests of Basic Skills served as a measure of academic achievement. Reading, language, mathematics, and composite scores as well as the number of days absent were obtained. Analysis of variance showed significant but mixed findings: differences in total language ( p < .01), total mathematics ( p < .01), and total composite ( p < .05) favored the open school and 1 traditional school but more total days absent ( p < .01) were reported for the two traditional schools. Percentage of variance accounted for was 15% or less for academic scores, 24% for attendance. Implications for further research were discussed.