BIO

Hello Everyone! My name is Noelle Foster and I'm from Long Island, NY. I joined the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program with the hopes of gaining research experience and exploring different passions. With the goal of building and inclusive society, I have worked under Dr. Rose Skepple to understand the foundations required to create an equitable educational environment. From a young age, I recognized disparities across the education community among me and my peers. The resource differential is an evident hinderance. Here, I was given the change to highlight the important measures for improving the quality of student education, while also growing my own foundation to advocate for positive change in the future!

The Impact of Low Socioeconomic Status on the Quality of Education

Abstract

According to the American Psychological Association, low socioeconomic status (or low SES) defines a reduced access to resources as compared to higher class backgrounds and is commonly associated with poor education, unemployment, and correlated negative outcomes. Relatively, an achievement gap exists between high and low-income students. This deficit is attributed to a lack of financial and educational resources, familial and psychosocial factors, and equity variables existing beyond the classroom. The research presented will use these attributions to measure the impact of originating from a low SES background on the quality of education. This is necessary for drawing attention to the achievement gap and recognizing the need for equitable education. While there are variables that impact low-SES students differently, such as levels of parental engagement, the school system plays a larger role. There has been prior research into the roles of impactful education factors. Among these, the most pivotal scholastic engagements stem from teacher quality and available resources and programs. Given this, a case study was conducted on three low-income university students to identify what factors aided in their post-secondary educational success as university students.

Keywords: achievement gap, education, socioeconomic status