High Achievers From Low Socioeconomic Backgrounds: The Critical Role of Disciplinary Climate and Grit

• In Event: Roundtable Session 14
  In Roundtable Session: The Interplay of Math, Science, and Literacy II

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine whether disciplinary climate and grit predicted low-SES students’ high achievement in mathematics and science with a representative sample of 15-year-old students in the United States. Our analysis using a two-level logistic hierarchical linear model (HLM) indicated both measures were significantly associated with low-SES students’ high achievement in math and science. Low-SES students who perceived themselves as more persistent (having more grit) and whose classrooms had better disciplinary climates were much more likely to be high achievers. This finding provides supplemental evidence to the existing limited number of case studies which suggested achievement gaps could be narrowed. In conclusion, we discuss what implications this study offers for future educational research and policy.

Authors

• Haigen Huang, Miami University - Oxford

• Hao Zhu, University of Missouri - Columbia