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

Among the research on the Matthew Effect in education, there have been several studies on its existence regarding differences in reading skills starting from children of an early age. The article titled "Matthew Effects for Whom?" asks the question what kind of children are at risk for experiencing this phenomenon and being at an advantage or disadvantage compared to other students. The study was designed to look at children of certain demographics from kindergarten to third grade, whose reading skills were assessed through the Reading Test that covered several aspects of reading comprehension.

University of California, Berkeley

The presence of Matthew effects in education can be partially accounted for by individual differences in reading ability from an early age, but the Matthew effect also contributes to reading ability itself. This can be seen when children who are already good readers tend to get even better, while children who initially struggle with reading tend to fall even further behind. These differences compound with time, and eventually initial difficulty with reading leads to generalized cognitive deficits and overall lower academic achievement, contributing to the Matthew effect in education. 

Reading Abilities and the Matthew Effect in Education

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

A key factor in determining a child's level of reading achievement is the amount of reading experience. More reading experience contributes to vocabulary growth, and vocabulary development facilitates reading comprehension, an example of reciprocal causation. This reciprocal causation leads to the rise of Matthew effects: children who have strong vocabularies and reading skills read more, and continue to improve their vocabularies/reading skills, whereas children with weak vocabularies and poorer reading skills will read less, hindering the development of their vocabularies/reading skills.

Reciprocal Causation in Reading Achievement underlies Matthew Effects

To elaborate on a point made by the previously linked node, the idea of a student's reading skill affecting their later vocabulary growth is an example of the Matthew Effect in education. The paper discussed in the following nodes involves a research study that looks at the influence of reading skill as a variable for vocabulary growth by assessing 4th grade students in word-reading skills and oral vocabulary knowledge and then looking at their progress through continued assessments in the 8th and 10th grade. Although the paper surmises that early reading skills can be an influence that exemplifies the Matthew Effect, it also looks into what kind of Matthew Effect can emerge as a result of this difference in reading skills (whether high or low) for students.

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