The Relationships Among Achievement, Low Income, and Ethnicity Across Six Groups of Washington State Students

Executive Summary

We are pleased to provide this technical report on the relationships among student achievement, income, and ethnicity as the first publication for Washington educators by the Washington School Research Center. The questions addressed by these analyses are important considerations for all of us concerned with improving education in the state of Washington. Media reports that highlight the different achievement levels of various ethnic groups of children are common. These differences are a source of great concern among community groups, and rightfully so. Yet, those of us who work with data and statistics on a regular basis are acutely aware of the dangers inherent in reporting group achievement results that consider only one characteristic for creating those groups.

Factors affecting student achievement are varied and complex, and failure to consider multiple factors may lead to erroneous or simplistic answers to very complicated questions. In this report, professors Abbott and Joireman address the question of differences in school level achievement depending on the ethnic composition of the student population, so often reported in the media, while at the same time considering the income levels of the students' families. They begin this effort with a brief review of research conducted elsewhere on this topic, and conclude that previous research has shown that "income is generally a better predictor of student achievement than ethnicity."

Using aggregate school 3rd & 6th grade ITBS test scores for 1999 and 2000, 4th grade WASL scores for 1999 and 2000, and 7th grade WASL scores for 1999 for all schools in the state, Abbott and Joireman examine the relationships among these scores and the percentage of students receiving free or reduced lunch at the school, and the various percentages of students comprising a variety of ethnic groups. Using a statistical procedure called multiple regression, they are able to determine the relative importance of these latter two variables in determining the schools' achievement levels. Their findings? "Across a variety of grades and tests, our results support the conclusion that low income explains a much larger percentage of the variance in academic achievement than ethnicity."

Abbott and Joireman do not say that ethnicity is unimportant or unrelated to achievement, but low income appears to be a much more influential factor. They conclude that, "the relationship between ethnicity and academic achievement is mostly indirect: ethnicity relates to low income and low income relates to academic achievement . . ." In other words, low income is the stronger predictor of school achievement, and nonwhite families are over-represented among the low incomes. These findings suggest therefore, that schools with predominately white, low income populations have achievement levels more in common with schools with nonwhite, low income populations than they do with schools with white, high income populations. Conversely, the achievement levels of schools with high income student populations more closely resemble other schools with high income student bodies irrespective of their ethnic composition.

Educators throughout the state, indeed throughout the country, are striving to raise the achievement levels of all students. A student's ethnicity is often an observable student characteristic that is frequently viewed as a determinant of that student's achievement level. However, these and other results suggest that it is the effects of poverty that play a much larger role in a student's chance for success in school, and it is those effects that educators and policy makers should consider first as prevention, intervention, and remedial programs are designed.

Jeffrey T. Fouts Executive Director
Washington School Research Center

full report (PDF Download)

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