The paper defines students according to their demographics and background:

- students of a certain socioeconomic status, gender, and/or ethnicity may have an advantage over other students of a different background
- students in this paper were considered good or poor readers depending on family background, gender, ethnicity

University of California, Berkeley

As the title of the paper states, who is experiencing the Matthew Effect? Discussion of the concept in the article starts with the problem that previous studies of this phenomenon have summarized the students involved as either skilled or unskilled readers, who may experience an advantage or disadvantage in later education. However, this is a limited perspective as to which students go through the Matthew Effect, as no consideration was made regarding the students' background. The solution is to define poor and advantaged students based on certain aspects of the students' background.



Matthew Effects for Whom- How to Define Poor/Rich Students

Morgan, P. L., Farkas, G., & Hibel, J. (2008). Matthew Effects for Whom?. Learning disability quarterly : journal of the Division for Children with Learning Disabilities, 31(4), 187–198.

Matthew Effects for Whom- Citation Reference

The results of the study indicated that children who were indicated as advantaged in reading skills (less likely to suffer from learning disabilities) did not show any greater performance results compared to students of other groups. However, those students identified as most at risk of learning disabilities and of lower reading skills suffered in reading performance over time, indicating a one-sided Matthew Effect. These results suggest that those who are disadvantaged in reading and learning skills should be identified early on and undergo an intensive program that addresses this discrepancy in reading skills and comprehension that will prevent a potential cycle of decreasing performance over time.

Matthew Effect for Whom- Results

Matthew Effects for Whom- Student Demographics 

According to the paper, a poor student compared to an advantaged student is defined by the following:

- students likely to suffer from learning disabilities include: boys, Hispanic or black minorities, families from low SES backgrounds
- students considered to be advantaged in reading skills: girls, Asian minorities, families from high SES backgrounds

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