Originally Posted by JonLaw
Originally Posted by aculady
I'll point out that the SAT uses a definition of "low income" that is perhaps overly broad for accurately assessing the impact of poverty on achievement: they define "low income" as having a family income less than $30,000/year, and that limits its usefulness.

My rural-ish psychiatrist brother-in-law uses $40,000/year as his informal cutoff below which he expects an increase in psychological problems due to lack of money.

I won't argue that financial stress goes up below that threshold. I think it's fairly obvious. But it doesn't negate my point, that the SAT data lumps disparate income groups together in ways that may distort the relationship of poverty and race to test scores.

Last edited by aculady; 02/18/12 06:40 PM.