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Version 1.1 – Updated August 2021

Socioeconomic status

Overview

  • Influence: Socioeconomic status
  • Domain: Home
  • Sub-Domain: Physical influences
  • Potential to Accelerate Student Achievement: Potential to accelerate
  • Influence Definition: Socioeconomic status is generally used to refer to an individual or family’s rank in the interrelated hierarchies of wealth, power, and social prestige.

Evidence

  • Number of meta-analyses: 16
  • Number of studies: 1,097
  • Number of students: 4,375,736
  • Number of effects: 4,206
  • Effect size: 0.51

Meta-Analyses

Meta-Analyses
Journal Title Author First Author's Country Article Name Year Published Variable Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Effect Size
Psychological Bulletin White USA A meta-analysis of service learning research in middle and high schools 1982 Socioeconomic status and achievement 101 0 620 0.66
Journal of Research in Science Teaching Fleming & Malone USA The relationship of student characteristics and student performance in science as viewed by meta-analysis research 1983 Student characteristics and science achievement 273 0 21 0.54
Daliaz 1994 Availability of resources in the home 67 47,001 9 0.50
Review of Educational Research Sirin USA Socioeconomic Status and Academic Achievement: A Meta-Analytic Review of Research 2005 Relation between SES and achievement 58 129,914 307 0.61
Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders Letourneau, Duffet-Leger, Levac, Watson, & Young-Morris Canada Socio-economic status and child development: A meta-analysis 2011 Socioeconomic status and achievement 7 665 7 0.35
Alberta Journal of Educational Research Tan Hong Kong Examining cultural capital and student achievement: Results of a meta-analytic review 2017 Cultural capital 41 685,393 155 0.32
The Factors Effecting Student Achievement Ciftci & Cin Turkey The Effect of Socioeconomic Status on Students’ Achievement 2017 Socioeconomic status 66 159,315 66 0.90
The Journal of Experimental Education Harwell, Maeda, Bishop, & Xie USA The surprisingly modest relationship between SES and educational achievement 2016 Socioeconomic status and achievement 45 0 2,610 0.37
Intelligence Strenze Estonia Intelligence and socioeconomic success: A meta-analytic review of longitudinal research 2007 Socioeconomic status and achievement 86 145,632 58 0.65
School Effectiveness and School Improvement van Ewijk, Reyn, & van & Sleegers Netherlands Peer Ethnicity and Achievement: A Meta-Analysis into the Compositional Effect 2010 Peer socioeconomic status on achievement 30 0 30 0.32
Psychological Bulletin Sackett, Kuncel, Arneson, Cooper, & Waters USA Does socioeconomic status explain the relationship between admissions tests and post-secondary academic performance? 2009 SES on Univ entrance and GPAs 41 155,191 41 0.93
Neuroethics Publications Lawson, Hook, & Farah USA A meta-analysis of he relationship between socioeconomic status and executive function performance among children 2018 Socioeconomic status on executive functioning 25 8,760 25 0.32
Review of Educational Research Kim, Cho & Kim USA Socioeconomic status and academic outcomes in developing countries: A meta-analysis. 2019 Socioeconomic status in developing countries 49 2,828,216 49 0.06
Educational Psychology Review. Liu, Peng, & Luo China The relation between family socioeconomic status and academic achievement in China: A meta-analysis. 2019 Socioeconomic status in China 78 215,649 78 0.50
Journal of Housing and the Built environment Nieuwenhuis & Hooimeijer Netherlands The association between neighborhoods and educational achievement,: A systematic review and meta-analysis. 2016 Neighborhood SES 88 0 88 1.01
Educational Research Review Rodriguez-Hernandez, Cascallar, & Kyndt Belgium Socio-economic status and academic performance in higher education: A systematic review 2020 SES in higher education 42 0 42 0.12
TOTAL/AVERAGE 1,097 4,375,736 4,206 0.51

Confidence

The Confidence is the average of these four measures, each divided into five approximately equal groups and assigned a value from 1 to 5 based on the following criteria:

  • Number of Meta-analyses
    • 1 = 1
    • 2 = 2–3
    • 3 = 4–6
    • 4 = 7–9
    • 5 = 10+
  • Number of Studies
    • 1 = 1–10
    • 2 = 11–50
    • 3 = 51–200
    • 4 = 201–400
    • 5 = 400+
  • Number of Students
    • 1 = 1–2,500
    • 2 = 2,501–10,000
    • 3 = 10,000–20,000
    • 4 = 20,000–100,000
    • 5 = 100,001+
  • Number of Effects
    • 1 = 1–100
    • 2 = 101–300
    • 3 = 301–600
    • 4 = 601–1,200
    • 5 = 1,200+
Confidences
Number of Meta-Analyses Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Overall Confidence
Confidence Factor 5 5 5 5 5
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