Fertility, IQ and School Achievement

Abstract

All Georgia children in Grades 4, 8, and 12 (250,000) were given mental ability and reading and arithmetic achievement tests in the Fall of 1971. Four demographic variables from the 1970 census, the educational expenditure per child, average daily attendance, and 12 test variables were inter-correlated. All correlations between mental ability and fertility ratios are negative. All are significant. Also, all correlations between fertility ratios and measures of school achievement are negative and significant. Per capita expenditure does not have a significant effect on school achievement at any grade level.