A research report published by the University of Melbourne Graduate School of Education shows a strong link between socio-economic advantage and high student achievement.
The paper, by Dr Jenny Chesters and Prof. Anne Daly, is titled Family and school effects on educational achievement across the school career.
It examines the associations between family socio-economic status and school’s level of socio-educational advantage and students’ academic achievements. Two data-sets are compared to achieve this analysis; the Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA) data on schools, and student achievement data from the NAPLAN standardised testing program.
The report makes for very interesting reading and at only 7 pages is very concise.
Here’s an excerpt from the conclusion:
The persistence of inequality in levels of educational achievement and attainment associated with parents’ education suggests that Australian education systems are reproducing, rather than alleviating, social inequality.
