In-School and Out-of-School Factors That Build Student Achievement

Role of Family Background and Neighborhood Safety

Our multivariate analysis in Exhibit 2 shows that once variations in students' in-school and out-of-school experiences were fully accounted for, then family background (ethnicity and socioeconomic status) alone contributed relatively little to variations in student achievement (9 percent). Parent perceptions of community and neighborhood safety similarly explained a relatively small amount of the difference in students' test scores (10 percent), after taking into consideration activity-focused school factors and out-of-school factors. Essentially, family background factors do not appear to be independently or primarily responsible for variations in student achievement levels. Rather, student achievement scores on standardized tests are most consistently and powerfully associated with the behaviors of students, teachers, and parents, as described in earlier sections of this paper.