Spatial Context Matters: Socioeconomic Advantage, Competition, and Academic Performance

• In Event: AERA Graduate Student Research-in-Progress Session 5
  In Roundtable Session: Academic Performance and Schooling Outcomes: Understanding the Role of Student Perceptions, Urbanicity, and Concentrated Socioeconomic Advantage (Table 14)

Abstract

This study examines whether the spatial concentration of socioeconomic advantage among school districts benefits students from advantaged families. The study uses data from the 2021 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates and the 2020-2021 NCES Common Core of Data (CCD). A mixed-effects multiple linear regression model estimates the relationship between the spatial autocorrelation of advantaged school districts, intra-elite competition, and academic performance, controlling for per-pupil spending, funding inequality, and demographics. Findings highlight the importance of understanding spatial context, not just family background or school district, for academic performance and suggest that spatial socioeconomic clustering is a durable form of spatial inequality.

Author

• Samantha Traves, McGill University