Higher Student Mobility Research Articles

Sustaining school improvement in a high-need school

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how Robbins ES has sustained high academic performance over almost 20 years despite several changes in principals.Design/methodology/approachThe paper analyzed longitudinal data based on: state-level academic and demographic data; two earlier studies of the school; and recent interviews with teachers, the principal, and parent leaders.FindingsThe analyses of these longitudinal data revealed four ongoing factors were responsible for sustained academic performance: high expectations, distributed leadership, collective responsibility for student performance, and data-based decision making. However, challenges that persistently confront Robbins staff include limited resources (e.g. technology and library materials), high mobility rate, and some cases of unsupportive parents.Originality/valueThis study adds to understanding how high-need urban schools can sustain high academic performance in spite of changes in principals, shifting community demographics, and high student mobility.

School-Based Survey Participation: Oral Health and BMI Survey of Ohio Third Graders

During the 2009-2010 school year, the Ohio Department of Health conducted a statewide oral health and body mass index (BMI) screening survey among 3rd grade children. This marked the fifth school-based survey regarding the oral health of Ohio children since 1987. At 50%, the participation rate of the 2009-2010 oral health and BMI survey was at the lowest level ever experienced. This study aimed to identify the factors associated with participation rates in a school-based survey. A stratified, random sample of 377 schools was drawn from the list of 1,742 Ohio public elementary schools with third grade students. All third grade children in the sampled schools with parent or guardian consent received an oral health screening and height/weight measurement by trained health professionals. Participation rates at the school level were then combined with data on school characteristics and survey implementation. Predictors of school form return, participation, and refusal rates were assessed by generalized linear modeling (GLM). High student mobility and larger school size were associated with lower form return (p=0.000 and p=0.001, respectively) and lower participation rates (p=0.000 and p=0.005, respectively). Surveying in the fall or spring (as opposed to winter) significantly decreased form return (p=0.001 and p=0.016, respectively) and participation rates (p=0.008 and p=0.002, respectively), while being surveyed by internal staff (versus external screeners) significantly increased form return (p=0.003) and participation rates (p=0.001). Efforts to increase participation should focus more on schools with higher student mobility and larger size. Additionally, participation could be improved by using internal staff and surveying during winter.

Twice considered: Charter schools and student achievement in Utah

A relatively small state, Utah presents an interesting case to study charter schools given its friendly policy environment and its significant growth in charter school enrollment. Based on longitudinal student-level data from 2004 to 2009, this paper utilizes two approaches to evaluate the Utah charter school effectiveness: (a) hierarchical linear growth models with matched sample, and (b) general methods of moments with student-fixed effects regressions. Both methods yield consistent results that charter schools on average perform slightly worse as compared to traditional public schools, a result that is primarily affected by the low effectiveness and high student mobility of newly opened charter schools. Interestingly, when charter schools gain more experience they become as effective as traditional public schools, and in some cases more effective than traditional public schools. This research has implications for local and state charter school policies, particularly policies that avoid “start-up” costs associated with new charter schools.

Student Migration Potential: The Case of Bulgarian Students in Key University Subjects

In the present conditions of globalization, lack of human capital and demographic imbalance, the cross-border student mobility is a particularly sensitive factor that plays a significant role in the process of international intellectual migration. The high student mobility and flexibility put the need of systematic and targeted research of the migration potential of the highly educated young population, especially in the countries with not very attractive socio-economic conditions. The option of the mobility development into a brain drain is a very sensitive choice for many countries, including Bulgaria. In this sense, the knowledge of the attitudes, objectives, motives and expectations of the potential highly educated labour force should be an integral part of maintaining an adequate and sufficiently flexible migration policy for the highly qualified specialists in the sending country. This policy should follow the direction towards the brain gain and brain circulation.

Using evaluation data to strike a balance between stakeholders and accountability systems

AbstractA district evaluator in a large Texas district examines new challenges arising since implementation of No Child Left Behind, relating to (1) navigating competing requirements in state and federal accountability systems; (2) evaluating effectiveness of sanctions districts are required to address; (3) using scientifically based research (SBR) to select effective programs and interventions; and (4) initiating SBR given high student mobility, inefficient data‐management systems, and competing priorities of local schools. This chapter details these challenges for district‐level evaluators and highlights how they can implement processes that strike a balance between supporting decision making and conducting rigorous evaluation. © Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Strategies and Resources for Enhancing the Achievement of Mobile Students

Because studies reveal a relationship between high student mobility and low academic achievement, school administrators are faced with the challenge of raising academic achievement in an era of increased student mobility. Wide variations in state requirements create additional difficulties for mobile students, who tend to be disadvantaged in other ways. Exemplary programs, such as those used in Department of Defense schools, are successful models for replication; and organizations provide resources for easing transitions and raising achievement of mobile students.

Building a Partnership to Evaluate School‐Linked Health Services: The Cincinnati School Health Demonstration Project

ABSTRACT: The Cincinnati School Health Demonstration Project was a 3‐year collaboration that evaluated school‐linked health services in 6 urban elementary (kindergarten to eighth grade) schools. Partners from the Cincinnati Health Department, Cincinnati Public Schools, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, and The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati wanted to determine if levels of school‐linked care made a difference in student quality of life, school connectedness, attendance, emergency department use, and volume of referrals to health care specialists. School nurses, principals and school staff, parents and students, upper‐level managers, and health service researchers worked together over a 2.5‐year period to learn about and use new technology to collect information on student health, well‐being, and outcome measures. Varying levels of school health care intervention models were instituted and evaluated. A standard model of care was compared with 2 models of enhanced care and service. The information collected from students, parents, nurses, and the school system provided a rich database on the health of urban children. School facilities, staffing, and computer technology, relationship building among stakeholders, extensive communication, and high student mobility were factors that influenced success and findings of the project. Funding for district‐wide computerization and addition of school health staff was not secured by the end of the demonstration project; however, relationships among the partners endured and paved the way for future collaborations designed to better serve urban school children in Cincinnati.

Building a Partnership to Evaluate School-Linked Health Services: The Cincinnati School Health Demonstration Project

The Cincinnati School Health Demonstration Project was a 3-year collaboration that evaluated school-linked health services in 6 urban elementary (kindergarten to eighth grade) schools. Partners from the Cincinnati Health Department, Cincinnati Public Schools, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, and The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati wanted to determine if levels of school-linked care made a difference in student quality of life, school connectedness, attendance, emergency department use, and volume of referrals to health care specialists. School nurses, principals and school staff, parents and students, upper-level managers, and health service researchers worked together over a 2.5-year period to learn about and use new technology to collect information on student health, well-being, and outcome measures. Varying levels of school health care intervention models were instituted and evaluated. A standard model of care was compared with 2 models of enhanced care and service. The information collected from students, parents, nurses, and the school system provided a rich database on the health of urban children. School facilities, staffing, and computer technology, relationship building among stakeholders, extensive communication, and high student mobility were factors that influenced success and findings of the project. Funding for district-wide computerization and addition of school health staff was not secured by the end of the demonstration project; however, relationships among the partners endured and paved the way for future collaborations designed to better serve urban school children in Cincinnati.

"It's a Way of Life for Us": High Mobility and High Achievement in Department of Defense Schools

This article focuses on the academic performance of students in a system characterized by high student mobility: the U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) school system. Some observers contend that the high achievement among highly mobile students in DoDEA schools is a function of the middle-class family and community characteristics of these students. We believe that such a view is overly simplified. We argue that DoDEA schools simultaneously the right and things right, including the way individual schools-and the system-respond to high student mobility rates. The debate among scholars continues regarding the degree to which an array of economic, social, cultural, psychological, and institutional factors influence student achievement. Most agree that differences in students' performance on standardized tests are related to a set of school conditions and family characteristics, including student mobility (Alexander & Entwisle, 1996; Jencks & Phillips, 1998; Natriello, McDill, & Pallas, 1990). High student mobility or transience may create disruptions and distractions that negatively impact classroom environments, limit instructional continuity, and diminish student engagement. The instability often associated with high student mobility adversely affects family life and school life. How should school systems take account of these conditions in ways that promote student engagement and lead to high academic performance? This article focuses on the academic performance of students in a system characterized by high student mobility: the U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) school system. This study, conducted by researchers at the Peabody Center for Education Policy at Vanderbilt University, was designed to provide a descriptive analysis of DoDEA schools that have demonstrated high minority student achievement and high achievement overall, as measured by the 1998 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP; see Table 1). This is not a comparative study, nor do we make any claims of causality about the effects of school environment and family characteristics on student achievement. The study focuses on a set of systemwide governance structures, school conditions, instructional policies, teacher characteristics, and administrative practices that are related to a school's capacity to produce student learning (Cohen & Ball, 1999; Cohen & Spillane, 1992; Corcoran, 1995; Ferguson, 1998). We also explore school climate to examine whether or not DoDEA schools reflect the properties of communally organized schools that research suggests produce higher achievement (Bryk (C) Driscoll, 1988; Bryk, Lee, (C) Holland, 1993; Coleman (C) Hoffer, 1987). METHOD We visited 15 middle schools located in 10 school districts across the United States, Germany, and Japan (five domestic districts and five overseas districts). The schools in our study reflect the average minority student enrollment for the Department of Defense Dependent Schools (DoDDS) and Department of Defense Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools (DDESS) systems, although some schools in the study reflect a higher-than-average minority enrollment. We deliberately selected schools that vary somewhat in size, mobility rates, installation deployment and training patterns, pay and rank composition of parents, and in the percentage of children eligible for free and reduced lunch. This selection decision produced a group of schools that reflects the depth, range, and diversity of DoDDS and DDESS schools. Approximately 130 interviews were completed over the course of the four-month data collection period. We conducted in-depth interviews with the principal and language arts teachers at each school. At each district, military commanders and liaisons, curriculum specialists, assistant superintendents, and the superintendent were interviewed. Our interest focused on issues of financial supports, resource allocation, personnel recruitment and selection, teacher quality, accountability, leadership styles, program diversity, and academic policy priorities. …

Student Mobility and Local School Improvement in Chicago

In the typical Chicago elementary school, only 50% of its students remain enrolled in the school over a three-year period. Residential changes account for the majority of these moves, but over two-fifths are school-related. Many students move within a small network of schools connected by geography, racial/ethnic composition, and poverty. Chicago's Staying Put project aims to increase awareness of the impact of mobility through parent brochures explaining rights and responsibilities, as well as support materials for teachers and administrators. A Comprehensive Community Schools initiative, with broader aims, opens school buildings beyond the school day and extends resources to families ranging from medical care to other social services. The standard portrait of school life consists of a group of students assembled each fall to learn together for the next nine months. Teachers support and evaluate students' progress throughout the year. Evidence of the students' growth and achievement contributes to planning for and the transition to the following year. For the urban administrator and teacher, though, this portrait is chaotic. Students are mobile-entering and exiting throughout the year. Schools are too often unstable places where the movement of students penetrates the central aspect of their work-the interaction of teachers and students around learning. The potential consequences of student mobility are numerous. They range from the immediate, such as interruption of students' learning as they change schools, to the less obvious, including disruption of classroom routines and school planning over time. Viewed from this perspective, student mobility creates a complex matrix of issues that span student achievement, classroom instruction, and school organization. Surprisingly, however, the topic tends to fade from the policy agenda as discussion turns toward reform initiatives and school restructuring. Mobility becomes a background condition to which schools must adjust rather than a policy concern that may need to be addressed directly-either at the school or district level. Data from the Chicago Public Schools provides a specific context to explore these issues, and their implications should be instructive for other moderate-to-large urban (and increasingly suburban) districts (see Kerbow, 1996, for detailed analysis). POTENTIAL DISRUPTION OF CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION In the typical Chicago elementary school, only 50% of its students are still enrolled in the school after a three-year period (Kerbow, 1996). In more extreme cases, as few as one-third of the same students remain in the school. These schools, in many ways, are no longer the same organizations. They may have the same physical building and same grade-level structure, but their most essential feature-the student body-has almost completely changed. Schools and school districts, however, generally do not look at the longitudinal trends related to student turnover. Their focus is immediate-where to place the five new students this week or how to deal with the behavioral issues of a new student who is disrupting a classroom. As school life progresses, the potential long-term consequences of these immediate concerns are often blurred. Although schools address new students' needs in different ways, often absent is a systematic approach that might be considered an organizational response. Almost by default, the majority of the responsibility falls to the classroom teacher. The new arrivals are accompanied by limited information about their past performance or current needs. Teachers cope in various ways to the high levels of student instability in classrooms. For instance, teachers increase review of materials for the benefit of the new student. Slowing down the curricular pace, however, decreases the opportunity to learn for all students, not only those who are changing schools. In fact, for the Chicago schools with higher student mobility, compared to more stable schools, the curricular pace in math begins to slow progressively. …

School Personnel's Perceptions of Effective Programs for Working with Mobile Students and Families

Interviews with 18 participants (principals, counselors, social workers) from 18 schools in 7 urban districts were used to examine elementary school interventions perceived to address the challenges related to high student mobility. Intervention/program descriptions were also obtained from observations and written documents. In examining these interventions, we used a framework focused on the antecedents of mobility, its effects on school processes, and its consequences for students and families. The results indicated that schools experiencing high mobility had a diverse network of programs that provided the following curricular and extracurricular services: academic support, personal development of students, family support, and activities that established strong affiliations between families and schools. Many school personnel believed that these interventions addressed either the causes or effects of mobility. Directions for future research are discussed.