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Cited by 859School Choice and PerformanceIntergenerational and Educational Inequality StudiesEarly Childhood Education and Development

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 47 of the 47 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Are Schools the Great Equalizer? Cognitive Inequality during the Summer Months and the School Year

Downey, Douglas B., von Hippel, Paul T., Broh, Beckett A.·2004·American Sociological Review
DOI 10.1177/000312240406900501
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Abstract

How does schooling affect inequality in cognitive skills? Reproductionist theorists have argued that schooling plays an important role in reproducing and even exacerbating existing disparities. But seasonal comparison research has shown that gaps in reading and math skills grow primarily during summer vacation, suggesting that non-school factors (e.g., family and neighborhood) are the main source of inequality. Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten Cohort of 1998–99, this article improves upon past seasonal estimates of school and non-school effects on cognitive skill gains. Like past research, this study considers how socioeconomic and racial/ethnic gaps in skills change when school is in session versus when it is not. This study goes beyond past research, however, by examining the considerable inequality in learning that is not associated with socioeconomic status and race. This “unexplained” inequality is more than 90 percent of the total inequality in learning rates, and it is much smaller during school than during summer. The results suggest, therefore, that schools serve as important equalizers: nearly every gap grows faster during summer than during school. The black/white gap, however, represents a conspicuous exception.

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Show all 47 references

Research works printed but not linked: 8

  1. 10.2307/2286454 · DOI
  2. 10.2307/1130611 · DOI
  3. Karweit Nancy, 1997, Summer Learning: Achievement Profiles of Prospects First Graders
  4. National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, 2002, User's Manual for the ECLS-K Longitudinal Kindergarten-First Grade Public-Use Data Files and Electronic Codebook
  5. Raghunathan T. E., 2001, IVEware: Imputation and Variance Estimation Software
  6. Reardon Sean F., 2003, “Sources of Educational Inequality: The Growth of Racial/Ethnic and Socioeconomic Test Score Gaps in Kindergarten and First Grade.”
  7. Rock Donald A., 2002, “Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 1998–99 (ECLS-K), Psychometric Report for Kindergarten Through First Grade.”
  8. Walberg Herbert J., 1984, Phi Delta Kappan, 65, 397

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Metadata

Authors
Downey, D. B., von Hippel, P. T., & Broh, B. A.
Affiliations
The Ohio State University (US)
Corresponding author
Downey, Douglas B.
ORCID
Venue
American Sociological Review
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2004-10
Volume
69
Issue
5
Pages
613-635
ISSN
  • 0003-1224 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-8271
DOI
10.1177/000312240406900501
OpenAlex
W2036711930
Cited by
853
References
47
Citations by year
2026: 19 · 2025: 29 · 2024: 36 · 2023: 37 · 2022: 70 · 2021: 48 · 2020: 59 · 2019: 53 · 2018: 36 · 2017: 45 · 2016: 52 · 2015: 58 · 2014: 53 · 2013: 54 · 2012: 44
FWCI
53.61
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
American Sociological Review (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Education › School Choice and Performance
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies
  • Social Sciences › Education › Early Childhood Education and Development
Keywords
cognitive inequality, summer learning loss, black-white gap, learning rate, early childhood education

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