Call for Conference Papers
Income, Inequality, and Educational Success:
New Evidence about Socioeconomic Status
and Educational Outcomes
May 15-16, 2012
Stanford University
We are soliciting papers for a research conference devoted to investigating the causes and
consequences of the rapid increase in socioeconomic educational achievement gaps over the last 30
years. Recent evidence demonstrates that the academic achievement gap between children from
high‐ and low‐income families has risen substantially in recent decades in the US, as has the
disparity in college completion by family income.1
Indeed, the income achievement gap is now
much larger than the black‐white achievement gap, a reversal from the pattern 50 years ago, when
black‐white educational disparities dominated socioeconomic disparities (see figure below).2
Although socioeconomic status has long
been a strong predictor of children’s
educational and social outcomes, these
trends suggest that socioeconomic
status has recently become increasingly
important in determining children’s life
chances. This conference aims to bring
together scholars from a variety of
disciplines (including Education, Child
Development, Sociology, Economics,
and Demography, for example) to
consider the causes and consequences
of these trends. A subset of the papers
presented at the conference will be
included in an edited volume.
We are interested in papers using quantitative or qualitative methods to address a variety of topics
related to the causes and consequences of the widening income achievement gap. Possible topics
include, but are not limited to, the following:
Analyses exploring whether widening socioeconomic gaps are also evident in other countries
and/or in outcomes other than test scores, such as educational attainment, socio‐emotional
skills and resources, civic engagement, social mobility, or health and mortality;
0.00
0.25
0.50
0.75
1.00
1.25
1.50
Average Difference in Standardized Test Scores
(90/10 Income Gap or Black-White Gap)
1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Cohort Birth Year
Income Gap (Math)
Income Gap (Reading)
Black-White Gap (Math)
Black-White Gap (Reading)
Trends in Race and Income Achievement Gaps, 1943-2001 Cohorts Explanations for the widening income achievement gap. These might include, for example:
o Analyses of labor market and demographic factors that affect family composition
(assortative mating, family structure, parents’ age at first birth, etc.) and the concentration
of family resources;
o Analyses of socioeconomic differences in family resources (including income and wealth,
social and kinship networks, social capital, etc.), opportunities (access to quality health care,
child care, pre‐schooling, extra‐school activities, and other factors that may affect children’s
academic and cognitive development), and investments in children’s development,
including analyses of trends in these factors that may account for the growing
socioeconomic achievement gaps;
o Analyses of the impact of social policy changes of the last 50 years (e.g., housing policy,
welfare reform, the War on Poverty, Reagan‐era social policy changes, etc.) on patterns of
socioeconomic achievement inequality;
o Analyses of the relationship between educational policies and practices (e.g., test‐based
accountability, within‐school tracking; public and private school choice; desegregation law
and policy; school finance policy; teacher preparation and hiring practices; etc.) and
socioeconomic achievement gaps.
Analyses of the consequences of socioeconomic achievement gaps on social and labor market
outcomes, including income and social inequality, patterns of social mobility, and social
network formation;
Analyses of any other factors that will shed light on the relationship between socioeconomic
status and educational outcomes.
Please submit a 3‐5 page extended abstract by Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011. The abstract should
include a description of the questions addressed in the paper, the data used, the analytic strategy,
and preliminary/expected findings. Abstracts should be submitted through the conference website,
at http://cepa.stanford.edu/conference2012. For the 12‐20 authors whose papers are selected, the
conference will pay all travel and lodging expenses and a modest honorarium. The conference will
be held May 15-16, 2012, at Stanford University. Afterwards, authors will have time to revise
and edit papers, and a selection of them will be published in an edited volume. For logistical
questions, please contact Anna Chmielewski (chmielewski@stanford.edu); for substantive
questions, please contact Sean Reardon (sean.reardon@stanford.edu).
The conference planning and advisory committee includes Sean F. Reardon (chair), Harry
Brighouse, Greg Duncan, David Grusky, Sandy Jencks, and Susanna Loeb. The conference is
sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences and the American Education Research Association,
with additional support from the Stanford Center for Education Policy Analysis and the Stanford
Poverty Center.
1
Richard Murnane and Greg Duncan (Eds.). (2011). Whither Opportunity? Rising Inequality and the Uncertain
Life Chances of Low-Income Children. New York: Russell Sage Foundation).
2
Source: Sean F. Reardon. (2011). “The Widening Academic Achievement Gap Between the Rich and the
Poor: New Evidence and Possible Explanations.” In R. Murnane & G. Duncan (ibid)
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário