SAT Scores and Family Income

Paper Summary:

The paper argues that students from affluent families are far more likely to have achievement-focused home environments than students from families where incomes are modest or very low. The paper relates how parents of wealth send their children to better, private schools, often in the race to keep up with their exclusive society. The paper examines the interesting African-American vs. Caucasian-American dynamics and the regional differences in SAT scores. The paper also notes the misleading use of SAT data that can provide unreliable statistics.

From the Paper:

"There are many sets of data that show higher levels of family income - and higher education levels in families, which directly relate to income - result in higher SAT scores for that family's children. Those will be presented in this paper. But first, as to the question of why I think the way I do, and what my argument is, it has been my observation that students from families of affluence are far more likely to have achievement-focused home environments than students from families where incomes are modest or very low."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Basten, Jay; Cole, John; Maestas, Ricardo; & Mason, Catherine. "Redefining the Virtuous Cycle:Replacing the Criterion of Race with Socioeconomic Status in the Admission Process inHighly Selective Institutions." Association for the Study of Higher Education. 1997, 22-27.
• Black Enterprise. "Knowing the Score: Blacks and SATS." 23.5, p. 65. 1992. Retrieved June 20,2006, from Academic Search Premier.
• Fejoku, Caroline Gay. "Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) Results, 1997-1998. MeasuringUp: E&R Report No. 99.11." Wake County Public Schools System; Department of Evaluation & Research. 1998.
• Hall, Douglas. "The Truth About New Hampshire's SAT Scores." New Hampshire Center forPublic Policy Studies & Institute for Policy and Social Science Research. 1999. Retrieved June 20, 2006, from http://www.unh.edu/nhcpps/education/sat/satscore.html.
• IES National Center for Educator Statistics. "Digest of Education Statistics 2004: College-Bound Seniors [2003-2003]." Retrieved June 19 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d04/tables/dt04_130.asp.

More papers on SAT Scores and Family Income:

• Argumentative Essay # 132148 : "Family Income and SAT Scores"
• Argumentative Essay # 102273 : "Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SAT)"
• Term Paper # 142128 : "Multiculturalism in Marriage and Family Counseling"

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