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Getting the Full Picture

July 18, 2005

A school's socio-economic status, or poverty index, has a significant and negative effect on student reading and math achievement. The poverty index includes student transience rate, percent of students receiving free and reduced lunch, and percent minority students. Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) researcher Sarah Archibald combined teacher compensation research and school finance research across 3 levels--student background characteristics, teacher characteristics, and school characteristics. Her findings suggest, among other things, that policymakers and education leaders pay more attention to a school's poverty concentration. If policymakers truly want to leave no child behind, Archibald says, they will implement plans that call for socioeconomic integration of schools.