Early socioeconomic math performance gaps grow over time, producing substantial differences by fourth grade¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · design r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2008 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2013: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Differences in math performance between socioeconomic groups grow over time, resulting in substantial achievement differences by fourth grade. → Roberto Agodini 2008

Evidence¶

Roberto Agodini 2008¶

Roberto Agodini, John Deke, Sally Atkins-Burnett, Barbara Harris, Robert Murphy. (2008). Design for the Evaluation of Early Elementary School Mathematics Curricula. Princeton, NJ: Mathematica Policy Research. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/design-for-the-evaluation-of-early-elementary-school-mathematics-curricula

q2 · i? · design · r2

The report's framing asserts that early math performance differences "grow over time", yielding "substantial differences in math achievement by the time students reach fourth grade". No effect size or statistic is printed for this claim.

"These differences grow over time, resulting in substantial differences in math achievement by the time students reach fourth grade."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• School test score averages are strongly related to the income of the families a school serves — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
• Effective teachers compound their advantage over consecutive years, and low-achieving students are disproportionately assigned to ineffective ones — related
• Higher-SES preschoolers outperform lower-SES peers on math, spatial, EF, and vocabulary measures, except the Tap Test where the difference is a non-significant trend — related