SAT Scores and Income Inequality: How Wealthier Kids Rank Higher

5/3/2016

Read the article and answer all elements of the prompt. Be sure to include in-text citations and make sure your answer has no grammatical errors.

The article states that wealthier kids score higher on their SAT. The 3 questions I would like insight on are: 1) Why kids who have a family income of 60-80K or more are scoring above the writing, reading, and math average. 2) How does being rich or poor affect schoolwork and work ethic? 3) Explain how family income can impact a home's environment therefore impacting SAT scores

14 Comments

Jake Sandrey

5/5/2016 09:57:36 am

Kids who have a family income of $60k or more score above the average of writing, reading, and math average because the families have more money to send their kids to better schools to get better education than kids whose families don't make as much money. Being rich means you can pay for more school help and do better on your school work but since you would be given like everything your work ethic would not be as good compared to a kid who is not a wealthy as you and has to work for everything they want. If a family is rich then they are usually happy with each other and they know they have money to live on and do fun stuff with compared to kids who don't have much money at all.

Sydney

5/10/2016 08:46:32 am

Zenn Roberts

5/10/2016 08:52:59 am

Kids with parents who make 60k or more are scoring above the average because the average is set more near the low income side of scores, because the are more poorer people than there are wealthy people. If you are poor, you may need to help with family and find a job, which will decrease your school focus, where as rich kids can focus only on school. The home environment can be different depending on your income. There could be a lot of chores to do if you are poorer so there is less time to study, or you could have to work leaving less time as well, on the other hand, richer kids generally don have to do chores so they have more time to study.

Nickole Smith

5/10/2016 08:55:04 am

Kids who's family has a income of 60-80 K or more are scoring above the writing, reading, and math average is because they have more of a wide range of education also " wealthy parents can easily afford SAT prep courses to help students game the test by learning its tricks." Being rich or poor affect schoolwork and work ethic by when your rich your parents push you more to do something, while when your poor you have to work hard and study to get what you want. Family income can impact a home's environment and impact pack a SAT score by if you live in a good neighborhood or if you can afford a private school for your kid.

Sydney

5/10/2016 08:57:15 am

KIds that have a family income ranging from 60-80K score higher than average on their ACT because wealthy families can locate their kids into better neighborhoods with better schools and they can afford private school. Being wealthy affects work ethic because the parents push for good education so that theirs kids could go on to a good college and work for a high income, like their parents. Being wealthy can impact a home's environment tremendously. Wealthier families stay in better neighborhoods which will help the kids avoid outlawed behavior like drugs. Also, it is expected for the kids to succeed because their parents did.

Makyla Goring

5/10/2016 09:15:24 am

Kids whose parents make 60-80k or more are more likely to score better on tests because "Not only are the wealthiest families best equipped to pay for college, their kids on average are more likely to post the sort of scores that make admissions easy." Kids who know they are able to pay for college may try harder to achieve different goals that have to do more with academics. Rather than kids who know college is not an option really and need to focus more on helping their parents with financial situations. Being rich or poor can affect school work due to the fact that "Family wealth allows parents to locate in neighborhoods with better schools (or spring for private schools). Also "parents who are themselves college educated tend to make more money.' So by setting an example that college is important for their children richer families are starting to prep their children to strive for good test scores right from the get go. A family income also has an affect on the stress level for the child if a poor child is thinking if their bills will be paid or if they will eat that day they aren't striving for better test scores.

Carl Heide

5/10/2016 09:49:24 am

Wealthier families score higher on SAT’s because they have money to help prepare for it. The author says, “wealthy parents can easily afford SAT prep courses to help students game the test by learning its tricks”. Wealthy families also can have their kids go to the best schools such as private schools. Being rich or poor affects school work and work ethic because the the less wealthy a family is the worse the work ethic will be because of the bad influences around the poor neighborhood. Lastly, family income impacts home environment by making it a better and more comfortable place to live so kids can concentrate on their school work. The more school work and studying a student does the better his or her SAT scores are going to be.

Brittany Birk

5/11/2016 07:25:06 am

Kids who have a family income of 60-80K or more are getting better scores because their parents have the money to locate better schools and live in better neighborhoods. Richer parents also probably went to college so their may be more pressure on the kids to secede like their parents. While poorer kids may not have these privileges and not as much pressure from home to do well. Family income can impact a home environment by not having conversations on how they will get buy this month so less stress on the students when they have more money because their only problem is school while the poorer kids are worrying about lots more.

Nickole Smith

5/11/2016 08:47:54 am

Kids who's family has a income of 60-80 K or more are scoring above the writing, reading, and math average is because they have more of a wide range of education as It’s tempting to believe the disparity in results arises because wealthy parents can easily afford SAT prep courses to help students game the test by learning its tricks. Being rich or poor affect schoolwork and work ethic by being rich you can pay other people to do work or help to teach your kid how to pass a test. By being poor you have to work harder to do those thing and study more to pass a test. A family’s income can impact a home environment therefore impacting SAT scores by if the child has to help work and pay for stuff for the family, or if only one parent is making money. This makes the child focus more on trying to help the parent out more than trying to study for the SAT.

Mary Grayson

5/11/2016 08:50:50 am

There is one main reason that kids who have a family income of 60-80K or more are scoring above the math, reading and writing average. Josh Zumbrun believes that this is because wealthy families can more easily afford to live in neighborhoods with good schools (or pay for private school). When given access to a good/private school, the kids receive better and more extensive education, which in turn raises their testing scores. Being wealthy also affects work ethic, according to the article. The author argues that educated college-graduates tend to make more money. Since SAT scores are crucial to colleges, the kids therefore have more determination and drive to study and do well in school, as their parents did. The last point that the article makes is that a home's environment impacts SAT scores. Josh Zumbrun states that wealthy/successful parents tend to hold their children to higher standards than less successful, poor parents do. However, the article ends by saying that there is tremendous variation within the income categories and that being in a certain group does not bind you to those stereotypical standards.

Kyra

5/11/2016 08:52:06 am

Those who come from wealthier families are prone to scoring higher than those who come from lower classes because they are able to afford tudors, prep classes, and get the best schooling available. They are able to pay for college and are accepted easily, for they have higher scoring and money to give. As said by Wall Street Journal author, Josh Zumbron, "Given the widespread use of the SAT in college admissions, the implications are obvious: Not only are the wealthiest families best equipped to pay for college, their kids on average are more likely to post the sort of scores that make admissions easy.” Schooling makes a huge difference in the amount of money a person earns in their lifetime. The rich are already many steps ahead because it’s no question as to if they can pay for college or not.

Sophie

5/11/2016 08:57:38 am

Kids who have a family income of 60-80k or more are scoring above the writing, reading, and math average because they know more vocabulary, "The test will also dump some of the more arcane vocabulary words and the trim the range of math topics."
Being rich or poor affects school work and work ethic because people can go to poorer schools that don't care as much or maybe not teach as good as private schools and they don't get them ready to take the SAT test. The school might be not as encouraging to do good in school and it might not be as good of an environment. It also depends on the kid, some kids from poorer families might want to get out and try in school to be able to get out of town and go to college. Some wealthier students might not try as much because their parents have money. "...as long as wealthy parents can more easily access good schools, it’s hard to imagine that any test design could ever remove this gap entirely."
Family income can impact the SAT scores because families that are middle or upper class can pay for SAT prep tests. "It’s tempting to believe the disparity in results arises because wealthy parents can easily afford SAT prep courses to help students game the test by learning its tricks." Also the home's environment impacts the SAT scores because homes that use wide range of vocabulary helps with the reading, writing, and math tests. "...example of how vocabulary words can be unfair was an old analogy question that hinged on the word “regatta.” The critique is that a fairly stupid but privileged New Englander would be more likely to be familiar with the term than all but the smartest of hardscrabble Midwesterners."

Emalee Blakeslee

5/12/2016 09:34:53 am

Kids who have a family income of 60-80k or more are scoring above the writing, reading, and math averages because they are more likely to have access to better schools. Schoolwork and work ethic are affected by being rich or poor only in a sense of financial opportunity. Students who are poor can work an equal to, and in some cases, harder than a student with a higher parental income. The opposite is just as true. Family income can impact a home’s environment and in turn SAT scores because of the parent’s education and school ethic. As stated in the article, “Parents who are themselves college educated tend to make more money, and since today’s high school seniors were born in the mid-1990s, many of the wealthiest and best-educated parents themselves came of age when the tests were of crucial importance”.

Kaitlyn Gosney

5/12/2016 06:14:05 pm

Having wealthy parents usually gives them a leg up over everyone else on their education. “Students from the wealthiest families outscored those from the poorest by just shy of 400 points … not only are the wealthiest families best equipped to pay for college, their kids on average are more likely to post the sort of scores that make admissions easy.” The kids who score above the reading, writing, and math average usually have more opportunities because their family income is 60-80k or higher. The wealthy families are typically located in a neighborhood with a better school (or private or spring) giving them a better education.
When a child comes from a rich family they have to live up to their parents and meet all of their expectations. Their parents want so see them succeed as they did. However, on the other side of the table, coming from a poor family can mean one of two things. Their parents don’t care as much about the grades they are getting, or they want them to succeed more than they did themselves. A family income can impact a home’s environment because lower income families tend to live in lower income communities which are impacted by variables including sound pollution, air pollution, and violence etc.

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