Family, School, and Community Influences on Children's Achievement

Annie Georges, Columbia University

Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study this paper has two primary objectives. First, using growth curve analysis it examines how the achievement gains of children in low-income families differ according to family backgrounds, their classroom and community environments. Second, a decomposition analysis measures the extent to which a change in one of these three domains (family, classroom and community) is likely to change children's achievement when the other factors are unchanged. The results show that a significant proportion of cognitive change during the summer is influenced by the community environment and family income. Classroom environment accounts for less than the variation explained by the child's family background, especially family income.