Socioeconomic Status And Child Cognitive Development

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The Variables Contributing to Child Cognitive Development

Socioeconomic status can be defined as “social standing of an individual or group combined with education, income and occupation” (Hedges et al., 1994). Socioeconomic status has a very strong relation to child cognitive skills. Examinations of socioeconomic status over many years show many inequalities between classes in access to resources and privilege, especially when discussing the cognitive development of children. Students of a lower socioeconomic status often face additional challenges compared to their higher socioeconomic counterparts including a less learning resources, difficult learning conditions and poor motivation that negatively affect their academic performance. (Ready, 2010) Disadvantaged children tend to start school with lower cognitive skills than more advantaged children. It has been said that depending on his or her socioeconomic status a child can have either a significant advantage or disadvantage right from the starting gate. (Ready, 2010) Research reports that differences in young children’s achievement scores in literacy and mathematics can be see at any age. (Hedges et al., 1994) Although other variables like prenatal care, parenting skills, and biological factors like genetics and illness are important to address when discussing cognitive development, socioeconomic is more visible in cognitive scores of children than any other factor by far. It will be argued that a variable that can effect the cognitive development of a child is their socioeconomic status.
There is a strong correlation between socioeconomic status and child cognitive development. The research presented in Socioeconomic Disadvantage, School Attendance, and Early Cognitive D...

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... care, genetics, and parenting skills, socioeconomics trumps and encompasses these other variables. Genetics and prenatal care and parenting skills can be overcome with some sting effort but socioeconomics, is harder to overcome but not impossible. The effect of lower socioeconomic status on achievement is difficult to ignore. Socioeconomics effect on development is so apparent that it cannot be overlooked as an important variable. Inequalities between children can easily be seen at even very young ages. It is beyond reasonable doubt that low-income children enter school academically behind advantaged peers, and that cognitive difference increases as a child goes through school. (Artiles, 2003) Based on the research found, the argument was supported as it has been seen that cognitive development relies heavily on the socioeconomic status of the child being examined.

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