Students in Suburbs Outpace Others in Math
American kids attending schools in the suburbs are doing better in math than their peers in urban and rural areas, according to a new study by researchers at the University of New Hampshire (UNH).
The findings, published this summer by the university’s Carsey Institute, are based on an analysis of data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, a nationally representative study of more than 22,000 children between 1998 and 2006.
Researchers used the data to determine whether math achievement differed based on a school’s geographic and socioeconomic setting, as well as by region of the country and racial and ethnic groups.
Among their findings:
• rural and urban kindergartners have slightly lower math achievement levels than their suburban peers;
- the average increase in math achievement from kindergarten to grade 8 is lower for rural and urban students than for suburban students – a gap that increases over time;
- differences in math achievement are better for suburban kids living in the Northeast, South and Midwest, but not necessarily in the West; and
- the achievement gap between rural, urban and suburban students is larger among Asian and Native American students than among white, African-American and Hispanic students.
- Researchers also found that Asian and white students scored highest in math among all races and ethnicities and that students from a higher socioeconomic background did better overall.
Emphasizing that developing strong math skills early on is important for all students, the researchers note that rural schools don’t always have access to the same level of federal education funding as urban and suburban schools. Further, they state, low salaries, threats of school consolidation and the geographic isolation of many rural areas make it difficult to attract highly qualified teachers, particularly in mathematics.
Read the complete study at www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/publications/IB-Graham-Math-Achievement-K-8.pdf.
