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Visible Learning™
Visible Learning MetaX™
Version 1.4 – Updated February 2026

Diversity of student body

Overview

  • Influence: Diversity of student body
  • Domain: School
  • Sub-Domain: School compositional effects
  • Potential to Accelerate Student Achievement: Likely to have a small positive impact
  • Influence Definition: Where there is high representation of various racial, cultural, and socio-economic students within the class or school.

Evidence

  • Number of meta-analyses: 3
  • Number of studies: 55
  • Number of students: 77,029
  • Number of effects: 333
  • Weighted mean effect size: 0.11
  • Robustness index: 3

Meta-Analyses

Meta-Analyses
Journal Title Author Article Name Year Published Variable Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Effect Size
Review of Educational Research Bowman College Diversity Experiences and Cognitive Development: A Meta-Analysis 2010 Diversity of students in college on achievement 17 77,029 58 0.10
Educational Research Review van Ewijk & Sleegers The effect of peer socioeconomic status on student achievement: A meta-analysis 2010 Increasing the share of ethnic minority students on achievement of all 13 NA 177 0.18
Review of Educational Research Mickelson, Bottia, & Lambert Effects of School Racial Composition on K–12 Mathematics Outcomes: A Metaregression Analysis 2013 Racially integrated vs. racially segregated school 25 NA 98 0.07
TOTAL/AVERAGE 55 77,029 333 0.12
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