The association between neighbourhoods and educational achievement, a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Jaap Nieuwenhuis,Pieter Hooimeijer

doi:10.1007/s10901-015-9460-7

Abstract

Many studies have examined the effects of neighbourhoods on educational outcomes. The results of these studies are often conflicting, even if the same independent variables (such as poverty, educational climate, social disorganisation, or ethnic composition) are used. A systematic meta-analysis may help to resolve this lack of external validity. We identified 5516 articles from which we selected 88 that met all of the inclusion criteria. Using meta-regression, we found that the relation between neighbourhoods and individual educational outcomes is a function of neighbourhood poverty, the neighbourhood’s educational climate, the proportion of ethnic/migrant groups, and social disorganisation in the neighbourhood. The variance in the findings from different studies can partly be explained by the sampling design and the type of model used in each study. More important is the use of control variables (school, family SES, and parenting variables) in explaining the variation in the strength of neighbourhood effects.

Highlights

The past two decades have seen an ongoing increase in the number of studies that investigate whether and how the neighbourhood in which people reside affects their socioeconomic opportunities in life, of which educational achievement is one example
Using meta-regression, we found that the relation between neighbourhoods and individual educational outcomes is a function of neighbourhood poverty, the neighbourhood’s educational climate, the proportion of ethnic/migrant groups, and social disorganisation in the neighbourhood
The meta-analysis of neighbourhood social disorganisation is shown in Table 5, where we find a negative overall effect on educational achievement, a result that is much smaller when the sample size increases

Summary

Introduction

2012; Galster 2008; van Ham et al 2012, 2013) This subject has gained attention from policy makers in both Europe and the USA, resulting in a variety of neighbourhoodbased policies founded on the idea that neighbourhood characteristics have an impact on residents (Blasius et al 2009). Regardless of this widespread attention, uncertainty still exists about how a neighbourhood influences its residents, there is some degree of consensus that interactions amongst residents are an important neighbourhood characteristic that influences the individuals in the neighbourhood (Galster 2012; Jencks and Mayer 1990). We will describe how the four characteristics relate to different neighbourhood mechanisms

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Conclusion