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The Role of Planning Skills in the Income–Achievement Gap
Author(s) -
Crook Stephen R.,
Evans Gary W.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.12129
Subject(s) - poverty , psychology , reading (process) , developmental psychology , academic achievement , child development , family income , low income , economic growth , demographic economics , political science , law , economics
The pervasive income–achievement gap has been attributed in part to deficiencies in executive functioning ( EF ). The development of EF is related to children's planning ability, an aspect of development that has received little attention. Longitudinal data from the N ational I nstitute of C hild H ealth and H uman D evelopment study of early child care show that early childhood poverty (1 and 24 months) is significantly related to fifth grade, math, and reading achievement ( n = 1,009). The ability to plan in G rade 3, indexed by the T ower of H anoi task, mediates the income–achievement gap in math and to a lesser extent in reading. IQ was incorporated as a statistical control throughout.