The Impact of Socioeconomic Status on Writing Scores

A hypothetical study in statistics has led to a desire to dig a little deeper into the impact of socio economic status on writing proficiency scores of fourth graders in Florida.  The table below shows that as the percentage of students receiving free and reduced lunch increases, the FCAT 2.0 writing scores move further away from the proficient level of 3.5.  None of the counties in Florida receiving free and reduced lunch met the set level of proficiency score of 3.5.  In contrast, the mean for the population of students not receiving free and reduced lunch in each county was 3.59, which met, and exceeded the set standard of proficiency of 3.5.  

While this is not my volunteer experience, it is very interesting and relevant given the themes and topics which have emerged throughout this course.  I look forward to continued study of urban settings and the variables that set them apart and those that help them function more effectively.

Figure 1 - Descriptive Statistics
Dependent Variable:   Mean Prompt Score
FRL2	Mean	Std. Deviation	N
less than .25	3.200	.	1
.26 - .50	3.229	.1254	7
.51 - .75	3.189	.1581	46
.76 - 1	3.085	.1463	13
Total	3.173	.1563	67

Statistics
		Mean Prompt Score NFRL	Mean Prompt Score FRL
N	Valid	64	67
	Missing	3	0
Mean		3.597	3.173
Median		3.600	3.200
Mode		3.5a	3.1
Std. Deviation		.1699	.1563
Skewness		-.110	.439
Std. Error of Skewness		.299	.293
Kurtosis		.940	.685
Std. Error of Kurtosis		.590	.578
Percentiles	25	3.500	3.100
	50	3.600	3.200
	75	3.700	3.300
a. Multiple modes exist. The smallest value is shown