The Effect of Socioeconomic Background on Academic Achievement

The relationship between socioeconomic status and educational outcomes has been the subject of much interest. The current research provides a unique approach to studying this relationship. Participants were chosen from one elementary school, one middle school, and one high school in rural northwestern Virginia. The variable of socioeconomic status was represented by enrollment in the free/reduced lunch program. The variable of academic achievement was represented by special education status and scores on the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) tests. Results indicated that student enrollment in the free/reduced lunch program does, in fact, appear to impact the child\u27s success in school. Students enrolled in free/reduced lunch were generally more likely to be in the special education program and were generally more likely to have failed the SOLs. Discussion of these results as well as limitations and suggestions for future research are presented