In his book Freakonomics (also available through Audible), economist Steven Leavitt looks at 16 factors that might make a difference in a child's school performance and details which 8 do make a difference and which 8 don't (according to the data from one massive school performance study -- not a direct line from God).
The 16 factors are:
1. The child has highly educated parents
2. The child's family is intact
3. The child's parents have high socioecomonic status
4. The child's parents recently moved into a better neighborhood
5. The child's mother was 30 or older at the time of her first child's birth
6. The child's mother didn't work between birth and kindergarten
7. The child had low birth weight
8. The child attended Headstart
9. The chlid's parents speak English in the home
10. The child's parents regularly take her/him to museums
11. The child is adopted
12. The child is regularly spanked
13. The child's parents are involved in the PTA
14. The child frequently watches television
15. The child has many books in her/his home
16. The child's parents read to her/him every day
The ones that were shown to make a difference in the study are: 1, 3, 5, 7 (negatively correlated), 9, 11 (negatively correlated), 13, and 15.
I'd like to thank my parents for having at least 7 of the 8 (not sure about the PTA)! Leavitt also points out that the factors that seem to make the most difference are based in who the parents are, rather than what they do. I interpret this to mean that one's being is more important than one's doing.
On a side note, Leavitt also runs the numbers on popular names and distinguishes which girls and boys names are the "high end" names in various decades. I'm delighted that Rachel made a good showing on the "high end" lists (and, Mom, Sarah did also).
The book is fascinating and I recommend it with one caveat -- Leavitt is clearly ensorcelled by the power of economics and in my opinion gives the numerical data more weight that it deserves. Numbers may predict trends, but they're not great descriptors of any individual person's humanity. If you can avoid the temptation to take this book as the gospel, it's a lovely set of insights.
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