Measures and References: References: Socioeconomic Status

Return to References: Socioeconomic Status factor page.

Measures

Numerous measures exist to gain a full picture of a student's learning strengths and challenges. Following are examples of measures used to assess this Learner Factor. These measures should be administered and interpreted by experienced professionals.

SES Measurements: (American Psychological Association, 2007): Several measurements can be used when determining SES. Typically, household income, parent education, and occupation are all considered. Sometimes researchers choose to use a student's individual SES, but they may also use an aggregated SES based on the school the student attends.

References

Aikens, N. L., & Barbarin, O. (2008). Socioeconomic differences in reading trajectories: The contribution of family, neighborhood, and school contexts. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(2), 235-251.

American Psychological Association. (2015) Measuring Socioeconomic Status and Subjective Social Status.

Anderson, N. J., Graham, S. A., Prime, H., Jenkins, J. M., & Madigan, S. (2021). Linking quality and quantity of parental linguistic input to child language skills: A metaanalysis. Child Development, 92(2), 484-501.

Bagley, E. J., Kelly, R. J., Buckhalt, J. A., & El-Sheikh, M. (2015). What keeps low-SES children from sleeping well: the role of presleep worries and sleep environment. Sleep Medicine, 16(4), 496-502.

Bandura, A., Barbaranelli, C., Caprara, G. V., & Pastorelli, C. (1996). Multifaceted impact of selfefficacy beliefs on academic functioning. Child Development, 67(3), 1206-1222.

Basch, C. E. (2011). Vision and the achievement gap among urban minority youth. Journal of School Health, 81(10), 599-605.

Becker, N., Vasconcelos, M., Oliveira, V., Santos, F. C. D., Bizarro, L., Almeida, R. M. D., ... & Carvalho, M. R. S. (2017). Genetic and environmental risk factors for developmental dyslexia in children: Systematic review of the last decade. Developmental Neuropsychology, 42(7-8), 423-445.

Biemiller, A. (2001). Teaching vocabulary: Early direct, and sequential. American Educator, 25(1), 24-28.

Boss, E. F., Niparko, J. K., Gaskin, D. J., & Levinson, K. L. (2011). Socioeconomic disparities for hearingimpaired children in the United States. The Laryngoscope, 121(4), 860-866.

Bradley, R. H., & Corwyn, R. F. (2002). Socioeconomic status and child development. Annual Review of Psychology, 53(1), 371-399.

Brunelle, K., Abdulle, S., & Gorey, K. M. (2020). Anxiety and depression among socioeconomically vulnerable students with learning disabilities: Exploratory meta-analysis. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 37(4), 359-367.

Chen, E., Matthews, K. A., & Boyce, W. T. (2002). Socioeconomic differences in children's health: how and why do these relationships change with age?. Psychological Bulletin, 128(2), 295.

Désert, M., Préaux, M., & Jund, R. (2009). So young and already victims of stereotype threat: Socio-economic status and performance of 6 to 9 years old children on Raven's progressive matrices. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 24, 207-218.

El-Sheikh, M., Bagley, E. J., Keiley, M., Elmore-Staton, L., Chen, E., & Buckhalt, J. A. (2013). Economic adversity and children's sleep problems: Multiple indicators and moderation of effects. Health Psychology, 32(8), 849.

Evans, G. W. (2004). The environment of childhood poverty. American Psychologist, 59(2), 77.

Farah, M. J., Shera, D. M., Savage, J. H., Betancourt, L., Giannetta, J. M., Brodsky, N., … E.K., Hurt, H. (2006). Childhood poverty: specific associations with neurocognitive development. Brain Research, 1110, 166-174.

Ferguson, H. B., Bovaird, S., & Mueller, M. P. (2007). The impact of poverty on educational outcomes for children. Paediatrics & Child Health, 12(8), 701-706.

Fernald, A., Marchman, V. A., & Weisleder, A. (2013). SES differences in language processing skill and vocabulary are evident at 18 months. Developmental Science, 16(2), 234-248.

Foster, M. A., Lambert, R., Abbott-Shim, M., McCarty, F., & Franze, S. (2005). A model of home learning environment and social risk factors in relation to children's emergent literacy and social outcomes. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 20(1), 13-36.

Gardner-Neblett, N., & Iruka, I. U. (2015). Oral narrative skills: Explaining the language-emergent literacy link by race/ethnicity and SES. Developmental Psychology, 51(7), 889-904.

Golinkoff, R. M., Hoff, E., Rowe, M. L., Tamis‐LeMonda, C. S., & Hirsh‐Pasek, K. (2019). Language matters: Denying the existence of the 30millionword gap has serious consequences. Child development, 90(3), 985-992.

Greenwood, C. R., Schnitz, A. G., Carta, J. J., Wallisch, A., & Irvin, D. W. (2020). A systematic review of language intervention research with low-income families: A word gap prevention perspective. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 50, 230-245.

Guinote, A., Cotzia, I., Sandhu, S., & Siwa, P. (2015). Social status modulates prosocial behavior and egalitarianism in preschool children and adults. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(3), 731-736.

Harrison, L. A., Stevens, C. M., Monty, A. N., & Coakley, C. A. (2006). The consequences of stereotype threat on the academic performance of White and non-White lower income college students. Social Psychology of Education, 9, 341-357.

Hart, B., & Risley, T. R. (1995). Meaningful differences in the everyday experience of young American children. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing.

Hartanto, A., Toh, W. X., & Yang, H. (2019). Bilingualism narrows socioeconomic disparities in executive functions and selfregulatory behaviors during early childhood: Evidence from the early childhood longitudinal study. Child Development, 90(4), 1215-1235.

Hipp, J. R. (2007). Income inequality, race, and place: Does the distribution of race and class within neighborhoods affect crime rates?. Criminology, 45(3), 665-697.

Hirsch, E.D., & Moats, L. C. (2001). Overcoming the language gap. American Educator, 25(2), 8-9.

Hoff, E. (2013). Interpreting the early language trajectories of children from low-SES and language minority homes: Implications for closing achievement gaps. Developmental Psychology, 49(1), 4-14.

Justice, L. M., & Ezell, H. K. (2001). Word and print awareness in 4-year-old children. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 17(3), 207-225.

Justice, L.M., & Ezell, H.K. (2002). Use of storybook reading to increase print awareness in at-risk children. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 11(1), 17–29.

Kaefer, T., Neuman, S. B., & Pinkham, A. M. (2015). Pre-existing background knowledge influences socioeconomic differences in preschoolers' word learning and comprehension. Reading Psychology, 36(3), 203-231.

Le Menestrel, S., Duncan, G., & National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2019). A Demographic Portrait of Child Poverty in the United States. A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty.

Lee, D. B., Assari, S., Miller, A. L., Hsieh, H. F., Heinze, J. E., & Zimmerman, M. A. (2019). Positive parenting moderates the effect of socioeconomic status on executive functioning: a three-generation approach. Journal of Child and Family studies, 28, 1878-1885.

Lewis-Morrarty, E., Dozier, M., Bernard, K., Terracciano, S. M., & Moore, S. V. (2012). Cognitive flexibility and theory of mind outcomes among foster children: Preschool follow-up results of a randomized clinical trial. Journal of Adolescent Health, 51(2), S17-S22.

Li-Grining, C. P. (2007). Effortful control among low-income preschoolers in three cities: Stability, change, and individual differences. Developmental Psychology, 43(1), 208.

Lupien, S. J., King, S., Meaney, M. J., & McEwen, B. S. (2000). Child's stress hormone levels correlate with mother's socioeconomic status and depressive state. Biological psychiatry, 48(10), 976-980.

Malecki, C. K., & Demaray, M. K. (2006). Social support as a buffer in the relationship between socioeconomic status and academic performance. School Psychology Quarterly, 21(4), 375.

Marshall, E. C., Meetz, R. E., & L'erin, L. H. (2010). Through our children's eyes—The public health impact of the vision screening requirements for Indiana school children. Optometry-Journal of the American Optometric Association, 81(2), 71-82.

Mathiarasan, S., & Hüls, A. (2021). Impact of environmental injustice on children's health—interaction between air pollution and socioeconomic status. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(2), 795.

Mistry, R. S., Vandewater, E. A., Huston, A. C., & McLoyd, V. C. (2002). Economic wellbeing and children's social adjustment: The role of family process in an ethnically diverse lowincome sample. Child Development, 73(3), 935-951.

Mollborn, S., Lawrence, E., James-Hawkins, L., & Fomby, P. (2014). When do socioeconomic resources matter most in early childhood? Advances in Life Course Research, 20, 56-69.

Monks, H., Mandzufas, J., & Cross, D. (2022). The impact of poverty on the developing child: A narrative review. Life Course Centre Working Paper, (06).

Noble, K. G., McCandliss, B. D., & Farah, M. J. (2007). Socioeconomic gradients predict individual differences in neurocognitive abilities. Developmental Science, 10, 464-480.

Noble, K. G., Norman, M. F., & Farah, M. J. (2005). Neurocognitive correlates of socioeconomic status in kindergarten children. Developmental Science, 8(1), 74-87.

Noble, K. G., Wolmetz, M. E., Ochs, L. G., Farah, M. J., & McCandliss, B. D. (2006). Brain–behavior relationships in reading acquisition are modulated by socioeconomic factors. Developmental Science, 9(6), 642-654.

Palacios-Barrios, E. E., & Hanson, J. L. (2019). Poverty and self-regulation: Connecting psychosocial processes, neurobiology, and the risk for psychopathology. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 9.

Perkins, S. C., Finegood, E. D., & Swain, J. E. (2013). Poverty and language development: Roles of parenting and stress. Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience, 10(4), 10-19.

Pettit, G. S., Bates, J. E., & Dodge, K. A. (1997). Supportive parenting, ecological context, and children's adjustment: A sevenyear longitudinal study. Child Development, 68(5), 908-923.

Pressley, M., Wharton-McDonald, R., Allington, R., Block, C. C., Morrow, L., Tracey, D., ... Woo, D. (2001). A study of effective first-grade instruction. Scientific Study of Reading, 5(1), 35-58.

Ramey, C. T., Campbell, F. A., Burchinal, M., Skinner, M. L., Gardner, D. M., & Ramey, S. L. (2000). Persistent effects of early childhood education on high-risk children and their mothers. Applied Developmental Science, 4(1), 2-14.

Reynolds, A. J. (1994). Effects of a preschool plus follow-on intervention for children at risk. Developmental Psychology, 30(6), 787.

Roubinov, D. S., Hagan, M. J., Boyce, W. T., Adler, N. E., & Bush, N. R. (2018). Family socioeconomic status, cortisol, and physical health in early childhood: the role of advantageous neighborhood characteristics. Psychosomatic Medicine, 80(5), 492.

Roy, A. L., McCoy, D. C., & Raver, C. C. (2014). Instability versus quality: Residential mobility, neighborhood poverty, and children's self-regulation. Developmental Psychology, 50(7), 1891.

Russell, A. E., Ford, T., & Russell, G. (2015). Socioeconomic associations with ADHD: Findings from a mediation analysis. PLoS ONE, 10(6), 1–16.

Santiago, C. D., Wadsworth, M. E., & Stump, J. (2011). Socioeconomic status, neighborhood disadvantage, and poverty-related stress: Prospective effects on psychological syndromes among diverse low-income families. Journal of Economic Psychology, 32(2), 218-230.

Sarsour, K., Sheridan, M., Jutte, D., Nuru-Jeter, A., Hinshaw, S., & Boyce, W. T. (2010). Family socioeconomic status and child executive functions: The roles of language, home environment, and single parenthood. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 17, 120–132.

Schwab, J. F., & Lew‐Williams, C. (2016). Language learning, socioeconomic status, and childdirected speech. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, 7(4), 264-275.

Shah, P. E., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Spinelli, M., Ozor, J., Weeks, H. M., McCaffery, H., & Kaciroti, N. (2023). Ecological contexts associated with early childhood curiosity: Neighborhood safety, home and parenting quality, and socioeconomic status. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 986221.

Shah, P. E., Weeks, H. M., Richards, B., & Kaciroti, N. (2018). Early childhood curiosity and kindergarten reading and math academic achievement. Pediatric Research, 84(3), 380-386.

Sheldon, S. B., & Epstein, J. L. (2005). Involvement counts: Family and community partnerships and mathematics achievement. The Journal of Educational Research, 98(4), 196-207.

Simpson, A., Enticott, J. C., & Douglas, J. (2017). Corrigendum to: Socioeconomic status as a factor in Indigenous and non-Indigenous children with hearing loss: analysis of national survey data. Australian Journal of Primary Health, 23(2), 208-208.

Sirin, S. R. (2005). Socioeconomic status and academic achievement: A meta-analytic review of research. Review of Educational Research, 75(3), 417-453.

Smith, B., Zhang, J., Pham, G. N., Pakanati, K., Raol, N., Ongkasuwan, J., & Anne, S. (2019). Effects of socioeconomic status on children with hearing loss. International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology, 116, 114-117.

Spencer, B., & Castano, E. (2007). Social class is dead. Long live social class! Stereotype threat among low socioeconomic status individuals. Social Justice Research, 20, 418-432.

Sperry, D. E., Sperry, L. L., & Miller, P. J. (2019). Reexamining the verbal environments of children from different socioeconomic backgrounds. Child Development, 90(4), 1303-1318.

Starkey, P., & Klein, A. (2000). Fostering parental support for children's mathematical development: An intervention with Head Start families. Early Education and Development, 11(5), 659-680

Steenari, M. R., Vuontela, V., Paavonen, E. J., Carlson, S., Fjällberg, M., & Aronen, E. T. (2003). Working memory and sleep in 6-to 13-year-old schoolchildren. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 42(1), 85-92.

Sylva, K., Melhuish, E., Sammons, P., Siraj-Blatchford, I., & Taggart, B. (2004). The effective provision of pre-school education (EPPE) project technical paper 12: The final report-effective pre-school education.

Taylor, B. M., Pearson, D. P., Clark, K., & Walpole, S. (2000). Effective schools and accomplished teachers: Lessons about primary-grade reading instruction in low-income schools. The Elementary School Journal, 101(2), 121-165.

Troller-Renfree, S. V., Costanzo, M. A., Duncan, G. J., Magnuson, K., Gennetian, L. A., Yoshikawa, H., Halpern-Meekin, S., Fox, N., & Noble, K. G. (2022). The impact of a poverty reduction intervention on infant brain activity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(5), e2115649119.

Weissman, D. G., Hatzenbuehler, M. L., Cikara, M., Barch, D. M., & McLaughlin, K. A. (2023). State-level macro-economic factors moderate the association of low income with brain structure and mental health in US children. Nature Communications, 14(1), 2085.

Yamaoka, Y., & Bard, D. E. (2019). Positive parenting matters in the face of early adversity. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 56(4), 530-539.