Informal social ties predict school achievement better than formal civic memberships do.

Evidence

Unexpectedly, the level of informal social capital in the state is a stronger predictor of student achievement than is the level of formal institutionalized social capital. In other words, level of social trust in a state and the frequency with which people connected informally with one another (in card games, visiting with friends, and the like) were even more closely correlated with educational performance than was the amount of time state residents devoted to club meetings, church attendance, and community projects. — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 1054

Categorization

• XREF: Complicates the implied preference for formal institutions in earlier chapters; pairs with the observation that bridging informal contact matters more than bonding formal membership. — connects to: Parents low in formal schooling can still provide high social capital for children’s education — Coleman, SocialCapitalCreation-1988, 146; Social capital in the surrounding adult community lowers student dropout rates. — Coleman, SocialCapitalCreation-1988, 198; Correlated social capital and child outcomes may share hidden confounding causes. — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 1044 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Social capital in the surrounding adult community lowers student dropout rates. #corroborates (0.85) — Coleman, SocialCapitalCreation-1988, 198
• Correlated social capital and child outcomes may share hidden confounding causes. #complicates (0.85) — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 1044
• Parents low in formal schooling can still provide high social capital for children’s education #corroborates (0.80) — Coleman, SocialCapitalCreation-1988, 146
• Communal social capital shapes children’s development beyond family resources. #corroborates (0.80) — Coleman, SocialCapitalCreation-1988, 176