Does Living in Middle-Class Neighborhoods and Attending Middle-Class Schools Make a Difference?
The authors examined academic performance of elementary school students from public housing in the Albuquerque Public School System from 1981–91. Variables examined include each public housing student’s third grade percentile, the students’ personal and household characteristics, and the school’s socioeconomic status and academic level. The study asks if standardized tests are valid measures of academic performance, whether the school or the neighborhood has a greater effect on performance, and if performance is worse among students living in single-parent households.
