Xiaofan (Chloe) Zhang & Sungmin Moon
Equality of opportunity for all
citizens is a major concern in all open societies (Roemer’s work as cited in
Woessmann, 2004). The importance of educational performance for future income
and productivity of individuals and societies has been documented by a large
literature (Bishop 1992; Card 1999). However, so many previous researches show
that the children from affluent family are more likely to succeed in school and
in life than those from poor family. A most recent research on PISA revealed
that more than 30 percent of variation in student achievement depends on their
family background (Schmidt, 2014). One of the most intuitive explanations for
this difference was that rich parents can spend more (including home resources
for their children’s study) than poor parents on their children and these
investments lead to better outcomes for their children. In other words,
students of low-status families may lack the educational environment outside of
schools and this may be a critical factor in the educational opportunity in
overcoming the achievement gap (Nonoyama-Tarumi, 2007).
One of the most accurate
predictors of student achievement is the extent of which the family is involved
in their children’s education. In terms of the effect of family on student
achievement, there are two categories (Henderson & Berla, 1994): (1)
studies on programs and interventions for family; and (2) studies on family
processes. The first category presents studies on how to assess the effects of
programs and other interventions for families with students. In other words,
this study is concerned with how to help schools work more closely with
families and support families in providing wider opportunities for young
people. The second category presents studies on the way that families behave
and interact with their children, including the relationship between parent
involvement and student achievement from the family perspective, characteristics
of families as learning environments and their effects on student performance.
Despite the long concerns about
how to overcome the learning gap between students from rich family and those
from poor family, this gap has been widened and intensified and it is getting
more and more difficult for students from poor family to get over the
difference. Researchers’ focus has been still on the relationship between
family background and student achievement rather than on what specific factors
constitute family background itself. To alleviate this trend and provide equal
opportunity for low SES students, we need to pay sufficient attention to what
constructs family background and how to measure it.
According to Nonoyama-Tarumi
(2007), six items are considered in constructing various family background (or
SES) composite indices: (1) Parental education, (2) Parental occupation, (3)
Home educational resources, (4) Home possession related to classical culture,
(5) Books at home, and (6) Wealth. Home possession related to classical culture
refers to the presence of cultural possessions, such as classical literature
and works of art at home. What is meant by wealth is among many researchers is
family possessions, structural characteristics of the home, and lifetime earnings
and purchasing power as well as the economic environment in which the child was
raised. Out of six items, a total of 3 items, such as home educational
resources, home possession related classical culture, and books at home, could
be virtually supported for low SES students by using educational technology. It
might not be perfectly substituted for actual resources but could be supplemented
to some degree and hopefully could contribute to reducing the inequality of
educational opportunity for low status students.
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