Neighborhood Schools Research Articles

Landasan Penyelenggaraan Pendidikan Inklusi di Sekolah Alam Tangerang

Education is a basic right of every Indonesian citizen, including those with special needs. Inclusive education is an educational service system that requires children with special needs to attend neighborhood schools in regular classes with their peers. In Indonesia, especially in primary schools, it has not been accompanied by a vision of education that is not based on an inclusive ethos that prioritizes diversity and equality in educational attainment. Inclusive education is an approach that aims to change the education system by removing barriers that can prevent all students from fully participating in education. The type of research used is a qualitative research method in the form of questions and answers with a case study approach to carry out observations by interviewing. The results obtained in this study were based on the location of the natural school in Cipondoh, Tangerang city, so it was found in the interview that there were several children with special needs in the school with a population of 11 students with one teacher supervisor in each class so that ABK students got a good focus on learning. So that inclusive education is needed in every school to provide opportunities for children with special needs.

Examining the association between neighborhood conditions and school readiness across low and highly segregated school attendance boundaries

Neighborhood characteristics are well documented determinants of adolescent and adult health and well-being. One such neighborhood characteristic heavily explored in K-12 research is the role of residential segregation on educational outcomes. Surprisingly, little is known about how community conditions, as well as racial segregation, relate to children’s early school readiness. This is a critical gap in the field as children’s school readiness is a significant marker of school success, both in the short and long term. Thus, this study aimed to address this gap through examining statewide school readiness data and neighborhood opportunity resources related to early childhood development. Student-level readiness data from 84,720 kindergarteners collected through the 2019 Virginia Kindergarten Readiness Program were used to determine whether a student demonstrated school readiness skills. Community conditions surrounding a school were constructed using geospatial mapping of the 2015 School Attendance Boundary (SAB) Survey and Child Opportunity Index 2.0. This study then explored the role of neighborhood segregation in a SAB with student’s school readiness with three separate approaches (entropy, exposure, and share of racial/ethnic groups). A series of logit regression models were used to examine the relationship between community resources and the likelihood a student was school-ready and whether this relationship varied across low and highly segregated SABs. Results indicated that a student in a higher resourced community was more likely to be school ready than a similar student in a lower resourced community. Distribution of students by race/ethnicity across neighborhood resource levels was uneven. Specifically, Black and Hispanic children are overrepresented in lower resourced communities, and White and Asian children overrepresented in higher resourced ones. Further, in two out of three measures of segregation, results show significant variation between neighborhood resources and school readiness likelihood across different levels of segregation. Consistently, students within a more segregated (and particularly Segregated Black or Hispanic) SAB were more sensitive to changes in community resources than those in less segregated SAB. Program and policy implications are discussed.

Association of Attending a High-Performing High School With Substance Use Disorder Rate and Health Outcomes in Young Adults

Interventions directly targeting social factors, such as education, may have the potential to greatly improve health. To examine the association of attending a high-performing public charter high school with rates of substance use disorder and physical and mental health. This cohort study used the random school admissions lottery system of high-performing public charter high schools in low-income neighborhoods of Los Angeles, California, to examine the health outcomes of students who applied to at least 1 of 5 of these high schools. Participants attended 147 different high schools and were randomly selected from those who won the admissions lottery (intervention group) and those who were placed on a waiting list (control group). Participants were surveyed at the end of grade 8 through transition into grade 9 and then from grade 10 through 3 years after high school completion (at age 21 years). Surveys were conducted from March 2013 through November 2021. Attendance at a high-performing public charter high school. Self-reported alcohol use disorder and cannabis misuse, delinquent behaviors, physical and mental health, and body mass index. Of the 1270 participants at baseline (mean [SD] age, 14.2 [0.47] years; 668 female individuals [52.6%]). The control group included 576 individuals (45.4%), and 694 individuals (54.6%) were in the intervention group. Both groups were similar in almost all characteristics at baseline, and the median (IQR) follow-up was 6.4 (6.0-6.7) years. Participants attending a high-performing public charter high school had a 53.33% lower rate of hazardous or dependent alcohol use disorder compared with those in the control group (5.43% vs 11.64%; difference, -6.21% [95% CI, -11.87% to -0.55%]; P = .03). Among male participants, the intervention group had a 42.05% lower rate of self-reported fair or poor physical health (13.33% vs 23.01%; difference, -9.67% [95% CI, -18.30% to -1.05%]; P = .03) and a 32.94% lower rate of obesity or overweight (29.28% vs 43.67%; difference, -14.38% [95% CI, -25.74% to -3.02%]; P = .02) compared with the control group. Among female participants, attending a high-performing public charter high school was associated with worse physical health outcomes (30.29% vs 13.47% reporting fair or poor health; difference, 16.82% [95% CI, 0.36% to 33.28%]; P = .045) and higher rates of overweight or obesity (52.20% vs 32.91%; difference, 19.30% [95% CI, 3.37% to 35.22%]; P = .02) at age 21 years. Few differences in mental health outcomes were observed. Adjusting for educational outcomes did not significantly change these findings. Results of this study suggest that attending a high-performing public charter high school was associated with lower rates of substance use disorder independent of academic achievement. Physical health and obesity outcomes were also better but only for young men; the intervention group had worse physical health outcomes among young women for unclear reasons. Schools are a potent social determinant of health and an important target for future health interventions.

The necessity for up-scaling resource mobilization for implementation of competency based curriculum at basics education level

School resources comprise of necessary materials both financial and human. A growth towards evidence-based allocation and utilization of school resources is affected by inadequate capacity of the school managers, ministry of education, parents and non-governmental organizations. Inadequate teaching and learning resources limits individual schools’ strength to make judicial decisions on equitable trade-offs in education resource demand, supply and consumption. This paper sought to identify the locally available resources for utility in competency-based- curriculum implementation; ways of improving the available resources for enhancing teaching and learning; and analyze factors militating against effective mobilization and utilization of resources at basic education level. Online surveys were used in collecting secondary data. Stratified sampling technique was used in obtaining data from journals, internet, textbooks and research reports. The findings showed that the rural urban migration factors significantly affect trained teachers from arid and semi- arid areas by moving away from their local homes to towns in search for jobs. When learners fail to interact adequately with trained teachers, the consequences are dire resulting to poor acquisition of competencies by learners. The paper established that more than 70% of the teachers teaching at Kakuma Refugee Camp were not sensitive to learner’s plights. Furthermore, 60% of the tutors at Kakuma Refugee Camp are untrained in pedagogical and andragogical skills necessary for giving instructions in competency-based-curriculum. The critical mass of activities under CBC including disciplines such as arts, music, and sports all creates new opportunities of supply chains that present avenues for partnering with organizations that support basic education activities. The paper established that the cost of needed materials and trainings for improving implement the CBC was expensive and therefore; action research could explore avenues for economies of scale by sharing materials, orders and coordinating purchases between and among neighbourhood schools. In conclusion, the national and County government’s department of preprimary and basic education should generate guidance on the use of alternative and low-cost materials for teaching so as to alleviate the persistence shortages of teaching resources.

School Absenteeism and Neighborhood Deprivation and Threat: Utilizing the Child Opportunity Index to Assess for Neighborhood-Level Disparities in Passaic County, NJ

Leveraging publicly available data about schools” absenteeism from the New Jersey Department of Education, the present study examined how neighborhood-level resource deprivation and violent crime related to chronic absenteeism in Passaic County's elementary, middle, and high schools. Results highlighted geographic disparities in Passaic County, New Jersey, whereby predominantly racial/ethnic, under-resourced, communities of color have significantly greater levels of resource deprivation and threat. Additionally, greater neighborhood-level resource deprivation and neighborhood violent crime were associated with higher rates and trajectories of absenteeism across three academic school years. These findings highlight the importance of considering neighborhood context in absenteeism prevention programs.

A joint analysis of school neighbourhoods’ exposure to urban environment factors in Greater London

A joint analysis of school neighbourhoods’ exposure to urban environment factors in Greater London

Correlates of perceived success of health-promoting interventions in elementary school.

School-based health-promoting interventions (HPIs) aim to support youth development and positively influence modifiable lifestyle behaviours. Identifying factors that contribute to or hinder the perceived success of HPIs could facilitate their adaptation, improve implementation and contribute to HPI sustainability. The objective of this study was to identify factors in three domains (school characteristics, characteristics of the HPI and factors related to planning and implementing the HPI) associated with perceived success of HPIs among school principals in elementary schools. Data were drawn from Project PromeSS, a cross-sectional survey of school principals and/or nominated staff members in a convenience sample of 171 public elementary schools in Quebec, Canada. School board and school recruitment spanned three academic school years (2016-2019). Data on school and participant characteristics, HPI characteristics, variables related to HPI planning and implementation and perceived success of the HPI were collected in two-part, structured telephone interviews. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize schools and study participants. Twenty-eight potential correlates of perceived HPI success were investigated separately in multivariable linear regression modelling. Participants generally perceived HPIs as highly successful. After controlling for number of students, language of instruction, school neighbourhood and school deprivation, we identified five correlates of perceived success, including lower teacher turnover, higher scores for school physical environment, school/teacher commitment to student health, principal leadership and school being a developer (vs. adopter) of the HPI. If replicated, these factors should be considered by HPI developers and school personnel when planning and implementing HPIs in elementary schools.

An investigation of kindergarten educator reported barriers and concerns and school neighbourhood composition in Ontario, Canada.

ObjectivesThe COVID-19 pandemic has not impacted everyone equitably, including children (e.g., Li et al., 2021). The objective of this study was to explore the association between school neighbourhood composition and kindergarten educator-reported barriers and concerns regarding children’s learning during the first wave of COVID-19 related school closures in Ontario, Canada. ApproachIn the spring of 2020, we collected data from Ontario kindergarten educators in an online survey on their experiences and challenges with online learning during the first round of school closures. We asked educators whether they experienced a number of barriers to learning and concerns about returning to school in the Fall. We linked the educator responses to 2016 Canadian Census variables based on the school postal code. Poisson regression analyses were used to determine if there was an association between neighbourhood composition and the number of barriers and concerns reported by kindergarten educators. ResultsEducators (n = 2569; 74.2% kindergarten teachers, 25.8% early childhood educators; 97.6% female) who taught at schools in neighbourhoods with lower median income reported a greater number of barriers to online learning (e.g., students' lack of access to electronic devices) and concerns regarding the return to school in the fall of 2020 (e.g., concerned about differences in how much students learned during the school closures). Educators also reported a greater number of concerns regarding the return to the classroom in neighbourhoods with a greater proportion of single-parent families. ConclusionOur study confirms that the educational impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic may not have been felt equitably even by kindergarten children, as educators teaching in schools in lower SES neighbourhoods reported both more barriers to online learning, and more concerns about returning to the classroom in September 2020.

The trajectory of inclusive beliefs in beginning teachers

Inclusive education is supported by the belief that all students belong and are valued members of their neighborhood school communities. Teachers must possess beliefs that support inclusion before they are able to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to implement effective inclusive practice. Using The Beliefs About Learning and Teaching Questionnaire (BLTQ), 396 participants were followed for 4 years, from their initial year in preservice teacher education through to their second year of teaching to determine the trajectory of the development of inclusive beliefs. Distinct groups were identified. Those who began with lower inclusive beliefs that tended to decrease over time were more likely to be male. Those who began with higher inclusive beliefs that remained stable were more likely to be in the elementary panel and have greater professional experience. In addition, those with higher inclusive beliefs were more likely to have greater personal experience and weeks on practicum when they began their first course in inclusive education. Results are discussed with respect to teacher education for inclusive education.

Influence of Parent-Child Conflict on Psychological Distress among Chinese Adolescents: Moderating Effects of School Connectedness and Neighborhood Disorder.

Previous empirical studies have found that not all adolescents showed a high level of psychological distress when facing parent–child conflict, which implies that there could be some additional moderating variables in this pair association. School connectedness and neighborhood disorder have been regarded as possible moderators of this relationship, but empirical evidence is lacking. The participants in this study included 971 students from two middle schools (grades 7–9) and two high schools (grades 10–12) and their parents in the City of Y, Shanxi Province, in mainland China. The PROCESS macro was used to conduct the moderation analysis. The results revealed that both school connectedness and neighborhood disorder significantly moderated the association of parent–child conflict with adolescent psychological distress. These findings highlighted the significance of increasing school connectedness and decreasing neighborhood disorder to alleviate adolescent psychological distress, thereby contributing to related policies and interventions.

Characterizing food environments near schools in California: A latent class approach simultaneously using multiple food outlet types and two spatial scales

It is challenging to evaluate associations between the food environment near schools with either prevalence of childhood obesity or with socioeconomic characteristics of schools. This is because the food environment has many dimensions, including its spatial distribution. We used latent class analysis to classify public schools in urban, suburban, and rural areas in California into food environment classes based on the availability and spatial distribution of multiple types of unhealthy food outlets nearby. All urban schools had at least one unhealthy food outlet nearby, compared to seventy-two percent of schools in rural areas did. Food environment classes varied in the quantity of available food outlets, the relative mix of food outlet types, and the outlets’ spatial distribution near schools. Regardless of urbanicity, schools in low-income neighborhoods had greater exposure to unhealthy food outlets. The direction of associations between food environment classes and school size, type, and race/ethnic composition depends on the level of urbanicity of the school locations. Urban schools attended primarily by African American and Asian children are more likely to have greater exposures to unhealthy food outlets. In urban and rural but not suburban areas, schools attended primarily by Latino students had more outlets offering unhealthy foods or beverages nearby. In suburban areas, differences in the spatial distribution of food outlets indicates that food outlets are more likely to cluster near K-12 schools and high schools compared to elementary schools. Intervention design and future research need to consider that the associations between food environment exposures and school characteristics differ by urbanicity.

Developing an equitable measure of parent engagement in early childhood education for urban schools

This study evaluated the validity of the Parent Engagement in Early Childhood Education (PEECE) Survey as an equitable measure of parent engagement in early childhood education that would address limitations of existing parent-report measures for use in urban schools in high poverty neighborhoods. We examined the PEECE Survey factor structure; item difficulty; discrimination; measurement invariance; and associations with children’s kindergarten readiness, school absenteeism, and teachers’ ratings of parent engagement among 304 parents of kindergarteners (74% mothers, 68.4% African American, 63.2% single parents, 59.2% low-income). Factor analyses revealed 3 PEECE Survey factors: Knowledge/Expectations, Trust/Communication, and Home-based Engagement (factor reliabilities ranged from 0.63 to 0.85). There was minimal evidence of differential item functioning by parent and child characteristics. PEECE subscale scores were significantly positively associated with kindergarten readiness and teacher ratings of parent’s engagement; and significantly negatively related to kindergarten absenteeism. Subscale scores did not differ by parents’ income level, marital status, or education or by child gender; African American parents reported higher scores on Knowledge/Expectations. Results suggest the 25-item PEECE Survey is a valid and equitable measure of parent engagement, capturing behaviors and perspectives that are feasible for parents with limited incomes and resources and linked to indicators of children’s early academic success.

Towards healthy school neighbourhoods: A baseline analysis in Greater London.

Creating healthy environments around schools is important to promote healthy childhood development and is a critical component of public health. In this paper we present a tool to characterize exposure to multiple urban environment features within 400m (5-10min walking distance) of schools in Greater London. We modelled joint exposure to air pollution (NO2 and PM2.5), access to public greenspace, food environment, and road safety for 2,929 schools, employing a Bayesian non-parametric approach based on the Dirichlet Process Mixture modelling. We identified 12 latent clusters of schools with similar exposure profiles and observed some spatial clustering patterns. Socioeconomic and ethnicity disparities were manifested with respect to exposure profiles. Specifically, three clusters (containing 645 schools) showed the highest joint exposure to air pollution, poor food environment, and unsafe roads and were characterized with high deprivation. The neighbourhood of the most deprived cluster of schools had a median of 2.5ha greenspace, 29.0µg/m3 of NO2, 19.3µg/m3 of PM2.5, 20 fast food retailers, and five child pedestrian crashes over a three-year period. The neighbourhood of the least deprived cluster of schools had a median of 21.8ha greenspace, 15.6µg/m3 of NO2, 15.1µg/m3 of PM2.5, 2 fast food retailers, and one child pedestrian crash over a three-year period. To have a school-level understanding of exposure levels, we then benchmarked schools based on the probability of exceeding the median exposure to various features of interest. Our study accounts for multiple exposures, enabling us to highlight spatial distribution of exposure profile clusters, and to identify predominant exposure to urban environment features for each cluster of schools. Our findings can help relevant stakeholders, such as schools and public health authorities, to compare schools based on their exposure levels, prioritize interventions, and design local policies that target the schools most in need.

A Longitudinal Cohort Study of Participation in the Boys & Girls Clubs of Winnipeg

IntroductionOut-of-school or after-school programs are designed to support healthy behaviours, boost academic achievement and strengthen social skills. The Boys and Girls Clubs of Winnipeg (BGCW) in Manitoba, Canada, have been offering out-of-school programs to children and adolescents in low-income neighbourhoods for more than 40 years. Many BGCW participants face considerable risk of poor health, social and educational outcomes due to challenges they experience at home, in school and in their communities. ObjectiveWe examined whether BGCW participation among children and adolescents aged 5-18 is associated with improved school outcomes and lower risk of justice system encounters and adverse health outcomes. MethodsWe linked de-identified data on BGCW participation for children and adolescents born 1987-2010 to administrative data from the healthcare system, education system, and social services in the Population Research Data Repository, Manitoba Centre for Health Policy. The exposure group (n = 8,990$) included children and adolescents who visited BGCW at least once from 2005—2016. The comparison group (n = 69,980) comprised children and adolescents matched on school year and neighbourhood who had never participated in BGCW. ResultsParticipation in BGCW was significantly associated with better scores in grade 3 numeracy and grade 7 student engagement assessments. The risk of justice system encounters among adolescents (aged 12—17) dropped as the frequency of BGCW participation increased, as did justice system encounters among young adults (aged 18—24) who had participated in BGCW as adolescents. The likelihood of teen pregnancy among female adolescents (aged 13—19) and sexually transmitted infections among adolescents (aged 13—19) also declined as the frequency of participation in BGCW increased. ConclusionsThe findings suggest that participation in BGCW is associated with positive outcomes for children and adolescents in multiple domains and despite socioeconomic and family challenges faced by many in this population.

Adolescents’ School Travel and Unhealthy Snacking: Associations with School Transport Modes, Neighbourhood Deprivation, and Body Weight

Active transport to and/or from school (ATS), alone or combined with motorised transport, provides an opportunity to increase adolescents’ physical activity levels to prevent obesity. However, travel through and exposure to an unhealthy food environment en route to school may have unintended consequences, specifically unhealthy snacking. This study examined the association between adolescents’ unhealthy snack food/soft drink purchases/consumption during the journey to and from school and their school transport modes, neighbourhood deprivation, and body weight. Adolescents (n = 660, age: 15.3 ± 1.3 years, 51.7% female) from 11 schools in the Otago region, New Zealand, completed an online survey and anthropometry. Data were analysed using χ2 test and logistic regression. Overall, 36.7% of adolescents purchased/consumed unhealthy snack foods and 25.9% purchased/consumed soft drinks at least once during their weekly school trips. ATS and mixed transport users reported more frequent unhealthy snack food/soft drinks purchases/consumption on the way to school than motorised transport users. Neighbourhood deprivation, but not body weight, was positively associated with unhealthy snack food/soft drink purchases/consumption during the school journey. Our findings highlight the importance of considering not only travel mode shift but also the obesogenic environment and unhealthy food/drinks purchases/consumption during adolescents’ school journeys, particularly in lower socio-economic areas, to prevent obesity.

Barriers to Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) Implementation Before and After COVID-19: A Qualitative, Collective Case Study

ObjectivesSFSP, as a federal food assistance program, could ensure that children have sufficient nutritious food during summer. According to a 2016 USDA report, only 0.4–0.6% of eligible children participated in this program in Nebraska, which makes for one of the lowest SFSP participation rates in the U.S. This study aims to better understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted SFSP implementation in urban and rural settings across the state. MethodsIn this qualitative, collective case study, we conducted eight structured zoom interviews with three SFSP state agencies (two rural and one urban) and five SFSP sponsors (three rural and two urban) in the state of Nebraska who worked in SFSP in summers of 2019 and 2020. Two project team researchers independently coded interview transcripts following an inductive qualitative thematic analysis and used NVivo software to sort and organize the themes. ResultsInterviews revealed that the following themes of barriers in implementing SFSP before the COVID-19 pandemic were: 1) lack of enough transportation to get kids to the meal sites, 2) SFSP staff shortage, 3) federal restrictions on getting schools qualified to run the SFSP, 4) time limitation and issues around starting a new program, 5) not having superintendents on board, and 6) reconstructing and remodeling the meal sites. Specific themes related to issues amplified by COVID were: 1) lack of transportation for food delivery in rural areas, 2) keeping up with COVID adjustments, and 3) meal preparation and food storage problems. Interestingly, most interviewees mentioned that COVID adjustments of SFSP made it easier to run the program by removing the requirements of physical meal sites for children and decreasing the 50% threshold, which allowed more schools to run the summer meals. ConclusionsInsights from this study may inform the development of policies that expand food access to vulnerable families. On the organizational level, this includes providing participating kids and their parents with both meal distribution options - meal sites and delivery options - during summer. On the policy level, this calls for revising the eligibility of SFSP by decreasing the threshold level from 50% to 30% to allow more schools in low-income neighborhoods to participate. Funding SourcesInternal faculty funding.

Association between Objective and Perceived Measures of School Neighbourhood Built Environments and Active Transport to School in New Zealand Adolescents

Association between Objective and Perceived Measures of School Neighbourhood Built Environments and Active Transport to School in New Zealand Adolescents

Adolescents' Perceptions of School Neighbourhood Built Environment for Walking and Cycling to School

Adolescents' Perceptions of School Neighbourhood Built Environment for Walking and Cycling to School

Adolescents' perceptions of school neighbourhood built environment for walking and cycling to school

Walking is a more common transport mode to school than cycling among adolescents in many countries worldwide. Adolescents' and their parents' have different perceptions of walking versus cycling to school. This study compared adolescents' perceptions of school neighbourhood built environment characteristics for walking versus cycling to school. Adolescents familiar with their school neighbourhoods (n=411; age: 15.0 ± 1.2 years; male: 31.3%) from six secondary schools in Dunedin, New Zealand completed an online survey about their travel to school and perceptions of their school neighbourhood environments for walking and cycling to school. Overall, 32.8% of adolescents walked to school, and only 1.2% cycled. More adolescents reported sufficient footpaths than cycle paths (77.9% vs 42.3%) in their school neighbourhoods. Compared to walking, adolescents reported that their school neighbourhood environments provided less support for cycling to school, including fewer crossings/signals for cyclists versus pedestrians (52.8% vs 69.3%), fewer street lights (cycling vs walking; 57.9% vs 70.3%) and fewer destinations within easy cycling versus walking distance from their school (65.5% vs 50.4%) (all p<0.05). Active transport users perceived lower traffic volume, higher traffic speed, and fewer hilly streets along the walking and cycling routes to school than motorised and mixed transport users (all p<0.05). Future active transport interventions in school neighbourhoods need to be tailored to address walking- and/or cycling-specific barriers, including built environment and traffic safety in a local context.

Citizen science and the potential for mobility policy – Introducing the Bike Barometer

In this paper, we report on a citizen science pilot project involving adolescents who digitize and assess their daily home-to-school routes in different school neighborhoods in Flanders (Belgium). As part of this pilot project, a web-based platform, called the “Bike Barometer” (“Fietsbarometer” in Dutch) was developed. We introduce the tool in this paper and summarize the insights gained from the pilot. From the official launch of the platform in March until the end of the pilot in June 2020, 1,256 adolescents from 31 schools digitized 5657 km of roads, of which 3,750 km were evaluated for cycling friendliness and safety. The added value and potential of citizen science in general and the platform in particular are illustrated. The results offer detailed (spatial) insights into local safety conditions for Flanders and for specific school neighborhoods. The potential for mobility policy is twofold: (i) the cycling friendliness and traffic flows in school environments can be monitored over time and (ii) the platform has the potential to create local ecosystems of adolescents and teachers (both considered citizen scientists here) and policymakers. Two key pitfalls are identified as well: the need for a critical mass of citizen scientists and a minimum level of commitment required from local policymakers. By illustrating the untapped potential of citizen science, we argue that the intersection between citizen science and local policymaking in the domain of mobility deserves much more attention.