Income inequality and educational outcomes

Sean F. Reardon, Professor of Education, Stanford University

Income inequality among the families of school-age children in the US has grown sharply in the last 40 years. In this talk Dr. Reardon will describe his research findings from three studies that examine the relationship of income and income inequality to educational outcomes. The first focuses on trends in the 'income achievement gap' (the test score gap between children from high- and low-income families) over the last 50 years, using data from 13 nationally representative studies conducted between 1959-2009. The second investigates the relationships among income, achievement, and the selectivity of the colleges in which students enroll, using data from the high school classes of 1982, 1992, and 2004. The third study investigates the association between national income inequality levels and a country's income achievement gap, using data from 19 OECD countries in 2001-2009. Dr. Reardon will conclude the talk with some discussion of the causes and implications of patterns and trends identified in the research.

Sponsored by the Education Policy Initiative at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

• Income Inequality
• higher education
• college access
• Sean Reardon