{"id":1703,"date":"2023-07-13T19:33:40","date_gmt":"2023-07-13T19:33:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/?p=1703"},"modified":"2026-02-24T15:08:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T15:08:19","slug":"evidence-matters-making-the-grade-can-an-early-start-lead-to-a-better-finish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/evidence-matters-making-the-grade-can-an-early-start-lead-to-a-better-finish\/","title":{"rendered":"Evidence Matters | Making the Grade: Can an Early Start Lead to a Better Finish?"},"content":{"rendered":"

July 13, 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n

As we highlighted in our last post<\/a>, when we interpret school report card ratings, it is important that we consider the ways in which various factors\u2014including the overall socioeconomic status (SES) of a school\u2019s population\u2014may be affecting a school\u2019s scores. What further skews school ratings\u2014and inequitable outcomes\u2014is the amount of access to out-of-school support and learning opportunities that students from different SES backgrounds have.<\/p>\n

Data consistently show that students from low SES backgrounds are more likely to lag behind<\/a> their more advantaged peers academically; they also are less likely to graduate from college<\/a>. While trends in the data point to disparities in achievement, research<\/a> has shown that these discrepancies are due to gaps in opportunities, rather than differences in ability. Educational researcher Gloria Ladson-Billings<\/a> has argued that students from impoverished backgrounds experience fewer opportunities\u2014both inside and outside of school\u2014due to differences in their families\u2019 educational experiences, health status, geographic location, and economic mobility opportunities, among other factors.<\/p>\n

As researchers and policymakers have examined ways to help narrow the opportunity gap, one solution has repeatedly demonstrated positive effects: access to quality early childcare and education. A study<\/a> published in 2021 by the Society for Research in Child Development suggests multiple benefits of quality early learning experiences, including reduced disparities between low- and higher-income children\u2019s educational attainment and financial earnings later in life. Multiple studies have indicated that students from low SES households are less likely to develop foundational skills for reading acquisition<\/a>, but access to quality early learning environments that promote language and literacy growth has been shown to positively influence<\/a> these students\u2019 future reading achievement.<\/p>\n

But while early childhood education offers possibilities for narrowing the achievement gap, it isn\u2019t the only enrichment opportunity that factors into children\u2019s overall educational outcomes. Research<\/a> has shown that afterschool and summer learning opportunities also play a significant role in student success. Economically disadvantaged students experience greater regression during the summer months, sometimes falling several months behind their more advantaged peers. The ability to participate in both summer and afterschool learning programs has been shown to positively affect<\/a> academic and social outcomes for low income students, often increasing the likelihood that these students will achieve academic success in future years. While efforts should focus on preventing the achievement gap from developing to begin with, offering additional educational opportunities once students begin school can also be beneficial.<\/p>\n

As school leaders and policymakers continue to look for ways to more fairly assess the performance of individual schools, addressing the SES opportunity gap will be an important piece of the puzzle. Considering approaches that may be implemented before students begin their first day of Kindergarten is vital; however, it is equally important that opportunities are offered to students both during and after the school day once they begin their school careers. In laying the groundwork for a more equitable school assessment process, we must address the gaps between each student\u2019s starting line.<\/p>\n

Because poverty is a complex problem, mitigating its effects on our most vulnerable students\u2014and their schools\u2014will require creative and multifaceted solutions. In our final two posts we will examine how we can move towards a more equitable school ratings process through policies and programs that point us toward increased opportunities for all students.<\/p>\n

Read the next post in this series: Making the Grade: The Quest for Quality Measures<\/a><\/p>\n

Other posts in this series:<\/p>\n

Evidence Matters | Making the Grade: A Series on the Complexities of School Report Cards<\/a><\/p>\n

Evidence Matters | Making the Grade: The Socioeconomic Achievement Gap<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Kelly Gregory is the Riley Institute\u2019s Director for Public Education Partnerships and Projects and previously taught for 11 years in South Carolina public schools. She holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in Psychology and a master\u2019s degree in Special Education. She also holds a National Board certification as an Exceptional Needs Specialist. She can be reached at kelly.gregory0@furman.edu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

July 13, 2023 As we highlighted in our last post, when we interpret school report card ratings, it is important that we consider the ways in which various factors\u2014including the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":300,"featured_media":1705,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[50,48],"class_list":["post-1703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-public-education","tag-applied-public-policy","tag-furman-innovation-lab"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/300"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1703"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2308,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1703\/revisions\/2308"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}