Research alert: Science achievement gaps start as early as kindergarten?
Paul L. Morgan George Farkas, Marianne M. Hillemeier, and Steve Maczuga, a research team coming from several American universities, analyzed statistical education data obtained on a national sample of 7,750 children, looking at the time-span in which science achievement gaps emerge and the factors connected to the observed differences.
Kindergarten-aged children's general knowledge about the world was shown to be the strongest predictor of their general knowledge in the first grade of elementary school, which then predicted their achievement in science-related subjects in the third grade. The achievement gap stabilized during elementary school and up to when the children reached their eight grade.
Of those who started kindergarten with a
low level of general knowledge, 62% and
54% later exhibited difficulties in science subjects (during the 3rd and 8th
grades, respectively). Racial and ethnic minority children were shown to be
especially vulnerable to starting kindergarten with a lower level of general
knowledge, as well as those from lower income bracket families (around 65%).
Find out more about the research here.
Read the science paper here.