Poverty and educational achievement in the US: A less-biased estimate using PISA 2012 data |
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Authors: | David Rutkowski Leslie Rutkowski Justin Wild Nathan Burroughs |
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Affiliation: | 1. Centre for Educational Measurement, University of Oslo, Blindern, Norway;2. School of Education, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA;3. College of Education, Michigan State University, Lansing, MI, USA |
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Abstract: | In the current paper, we employ the most recent Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data to calculate a less-biased estimate of poverty on US achievement. The PISA was specifically chosen as it is an assessment removed from a specific curriculum and instead focuses on concepts that students should know in order to participate in a global economy. Using a propensity score matching approach, our findings suggest that US students in poverty have notable educational attainment deficiencies compared to a matched group of students who are not in poverty. In other words, when we select two students who have a great deal in common but for the fact that one comes from a poverty background, the student in poverty is expected to perform nearly 28 points, or about a quarter of a standard deviation lower, on the PISA assessment. In real terms, this puts math achievement for children not in poverty on-par with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average, while children in poverty are well below the OECD average. |
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Keywords: | Education policy achievement propensity score matching poverty gap poverty and economics |
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