Examining the role of socio-economic status in cognitive and educational outcomes: A case for fair screening measures
Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Objectives. This study examined the impact of socio-economic status (SES)—specifically parental education, municipal quality of life, and settlement size—on Czech grade-school students’ performance in four cognitive domains (inductive reasoning, quantitative reasoning, associative memory, spatial skills), on their term-end grades in Czech, mathematics, and English, and on the likelihood of being labeled as exceptionally gifted via formal counseling-center diagnoses versus test-based screening.Sample and settings. A convenience sample of 11332 Czech primary-school children (grades 1–6; M_age = 10.32, SD = 1.05; 48.3 % girls) was tested during the 2022–2023 school year. Assessments were administered in supervised computer-room sessions using the web-based, game-based Invenio diagnostic system. Parents completed an online SES questionnaire and provided students’ most recent grades and information about officially assigned labels.Hypotheses. H1: Parental education and the overall quality of life in the school’s district predict children’s scores in inductive reasoning, quantitative reasoning, associative memory, and spatial skills tests. H2: Parental education is associated with children’s school grades, independent of their measured cognitive abilities. H3: Parental education and the overall quality of life in the school’s district predict the likelihood of children being formally labeled as high-ability learners.Statistical analyses. Pearson correlation coefficients quantified associations among SES indicators and each cognitive domain. Multiple linear regressions estimated the unique effects of parental education, municipal quality, and settlement size on IQ-standardized test scores. Logistic regressions predicted (a) the odds of achieving top grades (grade 1) in each subject and (b) the odds of formal versus screening-based gifted identification.Results. Parental education emerged as the strongest SES predictor of cognitive performance (β = .24 for inductive/quantitative reasoning; β = .21 for spatial skills; β = .12 for associative memory) and of top grades (OR = 1.62–1.77), whereas cognitive abilities yielded only modest grade effects (OR = 1.01–1.04). Spatial skills and associative memory were least sensitive to SES. Formal gifted identification odds increased approximately 2.48-fold per parental-education level (p < .001), while screening-based identification showed reduced SES bias (ORs = 1.34–2.03 across domains).Limitations. The non-representative, consent-based sample may have introduced selection bias; reliance on teacher-assigned grades lacked standardization across schools; SES was indexed by parental education and regional indicators, lacking further details of family background; municipal quality of life was tied to school location rather than each child’s home; and potential school-level influences (e.g., resource availability, teaching quality) were not examined.
Source: Ceskoslovenska psychologie
Institution: Masaryk University
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7117261086
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