Scholastic achievement

Children’s academic success is extremely important in building the groundwork for their future success in life and the community at large. Through their essay, “Impact of Family Income on Child Ability,” Gordon Dahl and Lance Lochner highlight the different factors that, in their opinion, have a significant impact on children’s academic achievement. The authors of this article are primarily interested with how family income affects children’s academic ability, and they place a lot of emphasis on the Earned Income Tax Credit, a government program that assists children from low-income homes (EITC). The article targets families, government and other stakeholders that have an active role to play in supporting children education in the country. Through the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) that comes from the government, the authors seek to determine the effect of changes in this government program on the scholastic achievement of children and cognitive development. The article is addressing families so as to enlighten them on how financial capability impacts on children achievements in education. Besides, the government has a role in regulating the EITC to improve the family benefits that increase child accomplishment.

The purpose of the article is to utilize the past research on evaluating the relation between income and child triumph. Authors also carry out a survey to determine the relationship between family income and the academic achievement of children in the United States. The variable biases and measurement errors that appeared in the previous research are the basis of the article’s analysis. Thus, the writing utilizes the fixed effect instrumental variables (FEIV) in conducting an analysis of the link between income and achievement. FEIV not only bases on the current research but also evaluates the weaknesses and strengths of the previous research. Thus, the article uses a section of the last analysis to draw the relevant conclusions on child strength. Similarly, the adequate description of the new terms such as EITC and FEIV enhances the readers’ capability in understanding the whole argument.

Analysis of facts of information in the article

A critical look at the article, reveals that the information presented by the author in this article is based on facts and it is verifiable. The author presents a survey and analyzed data based on the survey about the revelations of the relationship between the variable under consideration. Furthermore, the article contains an econometric model used to analyze the information and based on the model; one can test the results of the survey. In the same way, the authors base their analysis on the EITC that have influenced most incomes among employees. Estimation of the children’s performance on reading and mathematics might demand a relatively small figure. However, the evaluation bases on matching over 6000 children to their mothers (Dahl & Lochner, 2005). The large number gives little allowance for the omission of variables as well as the calculation errors.

Methodology and results

The method of data collection is clear and systematic because the authors did carry out a survey on more than 6,000 to come up with the data for analysis. The estimation strategy implemented in the research results to a conclusion that any increase in the family income has a corresponding rise in the child performance. The study confirms at least 3.6% increase in reading scores and 2.1% rise in mathematics scores calculated under standard deviation. Moreover, the results not only bases on estimates but analysis and evidence clearly support the conclusion. Formulas and proper substitution of variables relate to the results. For example, in the calculation of the full family income, the insertion of the federal tax codes in the estimation of the EITC benefits arises. Other procedures such as the construction of the instrumental variables are equally stepwise. The process begins with the calculation of pretax then evaluation of the predicted posts tax and finally the application of the deviations operator (Dahl & Lochner, 2005). The structured opinions, therefore, help in confirming the facts behind the conclusion of the article.

Arguments or conclusions of the Article

Authors of this article argue that there is a direct relationship between the family income and expected results of children performance in schools and cognitive development. The arguments presented in the article are clearly stated through a multi-perspective approach that authors use in analyzing numerous variables which they believe affect children outcomes in schools. The whole argument begins with an introduction on the high rates of child failure to great poverty among families. Arguments from the previous research also help the target audience to distinguish the implications of the last analysis to the current research. Eventually, the reader can understand how the variable bias and mathematical errors no longer exist in the article.

The arguments by the authors are well supported throughout the article by evidence gathered through the survey and econometric analysis results. Application of the FEIV is similarly easy to comprehend due to the use of formulae and standardized procedures. The analysis starts with modeling the impacts of family outcomes followed by construction of the instrumental variables of EITC. Finally, the research uses the identification process to confirm the efficiency of the FEIV. Thus, the correlation of the constructed instrument occurs to determine the collinear nature of the presented data. Besides, the use of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) confirms the gravity of the research. Furthermore, authors of the article clearly reveal some of the weaknesses in the past researches and various ways through which they used to avoid errors that previous researches contained. This means that the results of the survey are credible and verifiable by readers.

Suitability of writers’ style

The language used throughout the article is objective. Presentation of the previous research occurs in an unbiased manner where the authors focus not only on the limits of the previous examinations but also some of the achievements that previous studies had in their analysis. Throughout the analysis, the omission of variables and slight mathematical errors are the only weaknesses that the writers correct. Besides, the additional FEIV estimates’ section widely focuses on the low incomes. In the section, the authors do not focus on the poverty levels of the related families but only evaluates the income levels (Dahl & Lochner, 2005). Therefore, the whole article limits the effects of biased language and illustrations to the related audience.

Conclusion and Reflection

Gordon Dahl and Lance Lochner’s article explains the relationship between family income and child performance. The authors used data from more than 6000 children to evaluate the impact of revenue in reading and mathematics scores. The use of such a substantial sample size is quite important because it limits some of the sampling errors that arise due to sampling bias. Furthermore, the proper substitution of the data to formulas gives the results correlating to the assumptions in the article. Besides, the use of FEIV strategy in the analysis of EITC is a better approach in determining the impacts of income to child accomplishment. The results showed that increase in family income results to proportional increases in mathematics and reading scores.

It is also great that the article provided an assessment of past studies on the same subject which revealed the many flaws in the past studies making it necessary for this study to be conducted. From an individual perspective, the article presents all the arguments in a structured manner hence the validity of the conclusion. Besides, the application of an actual language increases the reading enthusiasm on the article contents. Additionally, the use of previous research helps the reader to understand the weaknesses and the strengths of different studies. The reading was, therefore, resourceful in understanding the link between family income and child education. The achievement of a child emerges from teaching level although the domestic background matters a lot. Thus, in line with the article’s conclusion, an increase in domestic income enhances the level of child achievement in learning. Finally, the article recognizes that there exists a research gap that future research should be carried to fill. This is important for any research article because it paves the way for similar researches to be carried in future.

References

Dahl, G. B., & Lochner, L. (2005). The impact of family income on child achievement. (No. w11279). National Bureau of Economic Research.