Capital at Home and at School: Effects on Student Achievement

Abstract

We investigate the effects of both family and school capital on student math and reading achievement. We use the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) merged Child-Mother Data for 1992 and 1994, to which indicators of capital in the children's schools for 1993–94 and 1994–95 have recently been added. We study children who attended first through eighth grades in both 1992 and 1994, with samples of 2034 for math achievement and 2203 for reading recognition. Findings suggest that school capital effects are modest in size while family capital effects are stronger; combinations of school and family capital boost or modify additive findings. We sketch directions for future research and discuss the usefulness of analyzing school and family capital as parallel concepts.