School learning environments, play important roles in students’ lives. But when do these relationships form? Previous research on middle school students has identified a strong association between student socio-demographics, school characteristics, and achievement. Yet, few studies have investigated the origins of these associations. This study investigated whether associations exist in a large sample of much younger 4th and 5th grade students, typically ages 9 through 11, from a Midwest urban school district. Results show socio-demographic differences in perception, in particular race, sex, and economic status, are less pronounced at earlier ages; indicating socio-demographic associations tend to emerge in middle and high school. Special education is a notable exception. Younger students’ perceptions of the learning environment are associated with achievement at this age shedding light on the origin of the links between socio-demographics and perceptions of learning environments.

学校的学习环境，在学生的生活中发挥着重要作用。但这些关系什么时候形成呢？之前对中学生的研究已经发现，学生的社会人口特征、学校特征和成绩之间存在着密切的联系。然而，很少有研究调查这些关联的起源。这项研究调查了来自中西部城市学区的大量年轻的四年级和五年级学生（通常年龄为 9 至 11 岁）中是否存在关联。结果显示，认知上的社会人口差异，特别是种族、性别和经济地位，在早期年龄不太明显；表明社会人口统计关联往往出现在初中和高中。特殊教育是一个明显的例外。年轻学生对学习环境的看法与该年龄段的成绩相关，这揭示了社会人口统计与学习环境看法之间联系的起源。