School-Level Economic Disparities in Police-Reported Crimes and Active Commuting to School

Perceived safety remains one of the main barriers for children to participate in active commuting to school (ACS). This ecological study examined the associations between the number of police-reported crimes in school neighborhoods and ACS. The percentage of active travel trips was assessed from a teacher tally survey collected from students across 63 elementary schools that were primarily classified as high-poverty (n = 27). Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to create a detailed measure of police-reported crimes during 2018 and neighborhood covariates that occurred within a one-mile Euclidean buffer of the schools. Statistical analyses included linear fixed effects regressions and negative binomial regressions. In fully-adjusted models, reported crime did not exhibit significant associations with ACS. Medium-poverty schools were indirectly associated with ACS when compared to high- and low-poverty schools in all models (p < 0.05). Connectivity and vehicle ownership were also directly associated with ACS (p < 0.05). Low- and medium-poverty schools were indirectly associated with all types of reported crime when compared to high-poverty schools (p < 0.05). Although reported crime was not associated with school-level ACS, differences in ACS and reported crime do exist across school poverty levels, suggesting a need to develop and promote safe and equitable ACS interventions.

The Role of Exposure to Neighborhood and School Poverty in Understanding Educational Attainment

Because the demographic composition of neighborhoods and schools overlaps, their effects on educational attainment are not independent of each other. Throughout the early teenage years, the timing and duration of exposure to neighborhood and school contexts can vary, advocating for a longitudinal approach when studying schooling outcomes. This study uses Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children data (N = 4502; 49% female) to examine how exposure to poverty between ages 10–16 predicts educational attainment. The results indicate that enduring exposure to neighborhood poverty relates to educational attainment, while timing does not. For school poverty, longer exposure is related to lower attainment, but earlier exposure has a stronger impact than later exposure. Adolescents who were exposed to poverty in both contexts for the full observation period had the lowest educational attainment. The findings highlight the importance of understanding when and how long adolescents are exposed to contextual poverty.

Concentrated Poverty in U.S. Schools and Adolescents’ Risk of Being Overweight

The economic segregation of U.S. schools undermines the academic performance of students, particularly students from low-income families who are often concentrated in high-poverty schools. Yet it also fuels the reproduction of inequality by harming their physical health. Integrating research on school effects with social psychological and ecological theories on how local contexts shape life course outcomes, we examined a conceptual model linking school poverty and adolescent students’ weight. Applying multilevel modeling techniques to the first wave of data (1994–1995) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health; n = 18,924), the results revealed that individual students’ likelihood of being overweight increased as the concentration of students from low-income families in their schools increased, net of their own background characteristics. This linkage was connected to a key contextual factor: the exposure of students in high-poverty schools to other overweight students. This exposure may partly matter because of the lower prevalence of dieting norms in such schools, although future research should continue to examine potential mechanisms.

Neoliberal stratification: The confounding effect of the school poverty quintile ranking system in South Africa

The South African school education landscape is distinctly uneven as it relates to school financing. The state’s attempt at differentiated funding via the quintile system is vaunted as an initiative to address the needs of poor schools. It parades as a commitment to a redress agenda. Since implementation, the socioeconomic demography has changed significantly for many schools. Some have experienced an exodus of fee-paying learners and an increase in poor learners residing in newly established informal settlements. There is limited understanding of the extent of the financial crises that these schools face. In this article we examine the financial management struggles of schools from low socioeconomic contexts. Eight schools in the Greater Durban area were purposively sampled and a series of in-depth interviews were conducted with school principals. The study revealed that principals were involved in constant struggles to manage their schools in the context of dire financial constraints. The advent of outsourcing of procurement is a distinct neoliberal move that relegates previously state functions to the ambit of the market. Profit-driven procurement agents systematically drain the public purse as they wilfully render services and supplies incommensurate with the charges they levy.

Trends in Children’s Academic Skills at School Entry: 2010 to 2017

Students’ level of academic skills at school entry are a strong predictor of later academic success, and focusing on improving these skills during the preschool years has been a priority during the past 10 years. Evidence from two prior nationally representative studies indicated that incoming kindergarteners’ math and literacy skills were higher in 2010 than 1998, but no national studies have examined trends since 2010. This study examines academic skills at kindergarten entry from 2010 and 2017 using data from over 2 million kindergarten students. Results indicate that kindergarteners in 2017 had moderately lower math and reading skills than in 2010, but that inequalities at school entry by race/ethnicity and school poverty level have decreased during this period.

Factors associated with fourth graders' music knowledge assessed by SCAAP

This study investigated factors associated with fourth graders' music knowledge assessed by the South Carolina Arts Assessment Program (SCAAP). Participants included 2,683 fourth-grade students nested within 35 elementary schools in South Carolina, United States. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to examine both the student-level factors, including gender and ethnicity, and the school-level factors, including school ranking, poverty level, and participation in SCAAP. Results indicated that students' gender, ethnicity, school ranking, and school poverty were significantly associated with students' music scores. There was a statistically significant interactive effect of gender and school ranking and poverty on students' music scores. The findings could inform music teachers, school administrators, and educational policy makers to acknowledge these factors, adopt differentiated music instructional strategies, provide resources, and support students from diverse backgrounds in order to enhance students' learning outcomes in music education.

Target for Intervention in At-Risk Children

Aim: Determine whether effects of poverty on academic achievement are mediated by effects of poverty on executive cognitive functions. Methods: Web-based classroom-administered tests assessed executive function in 5717 children grades k-8 in 40 schools, and poverty level and academic achievement for each school were drawn from US Department of Education data. Boot-strapping procedures were used to evaluate mediation by executive function of the association between poverty and academic proficiency. Results: Executive function and academic achievement were both related to school poverty (pearson r −0.50 to −0.65, p = 0.0009 to &lt;0.0001). Estimated indirect effects of poverty on reading (−0.26, 95% CI: −0.47, −0.07) and math (−0.23, 95% CI: −0.44, −0.06) through effects on executive function were significant. Controlling for executive function, effects of poverty on reading (−0.58 to −0.31) and math (−0.59 to −0.35) were diminished, indicating partial mediation of effects of poverty on reading and math via effects on executive function. Conclusion: Interventions that enhance executive function in children in impoverished and/or violent environments could mitigate damaging effects of these environments on neurocognitive and associated life and health outcomes. Without intervention, many young adults in troubled areas of the world will be ill-prepared for productive function in society.

The Roles of Teacher Expectations and School Composition on Teacher–Child Relationship Quality

Teachers provide emotional and behavioral supports essential for success in the classroom. This study examined the roles of child interpersonal skills, teacher expectations, and school racial and poverty compositions on the quality of relationships formed between teachers and children. A subsample from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten Cohort 2010–2011 data set was used to fit two-level, multivariate regression models. Findings showed children with higher interpersonal skills had lower conflict and higher closeness with teachers. High teacher expectations were associated with less conflicting relationships. At the school level, the association between teacher expectations and teacher–child conflict was moderated by the Asian and Hispanic student population, and teacher–child closeness was moderated by the Asian student population. In addition, a higher proportion of school poverty and high teacher expectations was associated with lower teacher–child conflict. Overall, findings suggest the importance of investigating teacher–child interpersonal processes within a school context.