School Socioeconomic Status Research Articles

The reproduction of educational inequalities – do parenting and child behavioural problems matter?

The strong link between parental socioeconomic status (SES) and children’s success in school is well established. However, mechanisms that underpin this association remain a major issue in current research on social inequality. Using data from the Families in Germany Study and structural equation modelling, this study demonstrates that parenting styles and child behavioural problems explain, in part, the association between parental SES and child school grades for mathematics and German between the ages of 9 and 10. We found that parents with a low SES are more likely to be inconsistent in their parenting and to use psychological control with their children more often, these two factors being linked to child behavioural problems. Adverse parenting and behavioural problems are, in turn, associated with low school grades. Our findings also show that behavioural problems in children are associated with lower school grades independent of parenting style. These findings suggest that parenting styles and child behavioural problems and their interplay may be potential pathways that underpin the influence of parental SES on children’s school achievement.

Crossing Boundaries: Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Protecting Students from Bullying

Research supports bullying as a precursor of school violence and establishes this form of campus aggression as a public health issue. The literature that complements safe campus environments also aligns with school climate, suggesting that organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) mitigates student bullying. Employing data from 108 public elementary schools in Texas, we explore whether OCB predicts 2 facets of bullying: student bullying and teacher protection. The investigation also examines the relationships among OCB, socioeconomic status (SES), school size, and bullying. The hypothesis that OCB is negatively related to student bullying and positively related to teacher protection is supported. Moreover, correlational analysis reveals significant relationships among the variables, and regression analyses identify OCB and SES as statistically significant predictors of teacher protection of students in schools. Finally, when combined with school size, OCB and SES accounted for a significant portion of the variance in teacher protection and student bullying.

The use of questions in early years science: a case study in Argentine preschools

ABSTRACTThe use of effective questions is an essential attribute of successful early years science teaching. In this case study, we analyse the questions and dialogues generated by four preschool teachers from two schools in Buenos Aires, Argentina, of contrasting socioeconomic contexts (one privileged and one underprivileged). We looked at the implementation of two identical enquiry-based science curricular units after a two-month professional development programme. We found that teachers at the more privileged school asked an average of 22% more productive questions, i.e. those aligned with lesson goals (Martens, M. L. 1999. “Productive questions: Tools for supporting constructivist learning.” Science and Children 36 (8): 24–53. http://search.proquest.com/openview/0fbd77105695538253f998eae1d38ff4/1.pdf?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=41736). There were also significant differences between the types of questions asked, with teachers from the lower socioeconomic status school asking more ‘attention-focussing’ and fewer ‘evaluation’ questions. Qualitative analysis of the teacher-student dialogues showed that students from the privileged school were exposed to higher-quality learning experiences, despite teachers apparently performing the same activities with the same materials. Our findings highlight the importance of focussing early years science professional development efforts on questioning practices, especially for those teachers working in underprivileged settings, to foster meaningful learning opportunities for all children.

Preparing for High-Stakes Admissions Tests: A Moderation Mediation Analysis

For decades researchers have examined the effects of SAT preparation, but only recently have they begun to explore the factors that inform successful test preparation (Appelrouth & Zabrucky, 2717). In their regression analysis of the factors of successful SAT preparation, Appelrouth, Moore, & Zabrucky (2015) found significant effects of homework completion, instructional hours, practice and official testing, distribution of study, and timing of test preparation. The current study builds upon that research in constructing a functional model of SAT preparatory factors. It was hypothesized that direct and indirect relationships would exist between preparatory factors, and that some of these relationships would be moderated by student characteristics such as gender and socioeconomic status. Archival data from 1,933 students were analyzed, and significant direct relations were reported between tutoring start time and the following variables: session distribution, individual tutoring hours, group tutoring hours, homework completion, number of official tests, number of practice tests and total SAT increase. Commencing test preparation earlier yielded positive direct and indirect effects, and session distribution, individual and group tutoring hours, and official SAT and practice SAT tests all mediated the relationship between start time and SAT score increase. School type and socioeconomic status moderated the relationship between start time and individual tutoring hours, and school type also moderated the relationship between homework completion and score increase. The results of this analysis have implications for the thousands of high schools and educational entities that offer SAT coaching programs. By encouraging earlier program start times, adequate instructional hours, distribution of sessions and practice effects, administrators can create more effective SAT preparation programs to serve their college-bound students.

Segregation effects on Australian Indigenous primary school achievement

ABSTRACTAustralia and its Indigenous peoples have experienced what one commentator has called “a juxtaposition of first and third worlds”, manifest, among other aspects, in lower levels of education achievement compared with other Australians. Specifically, profound levels of educational inequality have been observed for Aboriginal Australians because of the colonial experience, and this has resulted in on-going challenges in terms of their collective histories. This paper examines the interrelationship between Indigeneity and socioeconomic status (SES) in the primary school years, and analyzes the association between a school’s location, levels of segregation, school SES and literacy and numeracy achievement. I argue that relatively high levels of school segregation and clustering structure and maintain Indigenous children’s inequality in schooling outcomes in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. Characteristics of low SES neighbourhoods and schools are examined, using 2011 Population Census and National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) data to assess the effect on reading and numeracy mean achievement levels of Year 5 students in schools across several states. Analyzes of the data demonstrate relationships between school socioeconomic composition and school segregation, and have important implications for Indigenous people in a majority of low SES communities.

B Part of It protocol: a cluster randomised controlled trial to assess the impact of 4CMenB vaccine on pharyngeal carriage of Neisseria meningitidis in adolescents

IntroductionSouth Australia (SA) has the highest notification rate of invasive meningococcal disease in Australia with the majority of cases due to serogroup B. Neisseria meningitidis is carried in the pharynx,...

Alleviating or exacerbating disadvantage: does school attended mediate the association between family background and educational attainment?

ABSTRACTOpportunities for social mobility are generated by education systems designed to alleviate the effects of social origin by providing equality of opportunities and resources. The persistence of the strong association between socioeconomic status (SES) and child’s educational achievement and attainment suggests that social origin continues to play an integral role in the educational outcomes of successive generations of Australians. Sociologists draw on a range of theoretical perspectives to explain this association including Bourdieu’s cultural and social capital theories. Using data collected by the Longitudinal Survey of Australian Youth 2009 (LSAY09) project, I examine the associations between student SES, school SES and two outcome variables: Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) score and university enrolment. The results indicate that low SES students attending high SES schools perform better on PISA tests than low SES students attending low SES schools. After controlling for PISA score, low SES students were less likely than their high SES peers to enrol at university. Furthermore, students attending low SES schools were less likely than their peers attending high SES schools to enrol at university, net of their individual SES and their PISA scores.

Akademik Öz-yeterlik Arttırma: Erken Ergenler Arasında Uygulanmış Bir Müdahale Programının Etkinliği

This research presents findings of a brief intervention study designed to promote academic self-efficacy and academic motivation among early adolescent students recruited from a low to middle socio-economic status school in Turkey. The intervention consisted of social-cognitive strategies adapted from self-efficacy literature, including self-evaluation and verbalization, modeling, imaginal experience, effort feedback, social persuasion, and coping strategies. The effectiveness of the intervention was tested using a pretest-posttest control design among 157 students (82 boys, 75 girls; Mage = 13.17, SD = .99). Students completed questionnaires including demographic information, academic self-concepts (only in pretests), academic self-efficacy and motivation 7 weeks apart before and after the intervention. The effectiveness of the intervention was tested with 2 (time: pretest/posttest) X 2 (group: control/experimental) X 2 (gender: boy/girl) mixed-design ANOVA tests. While girls did not benefit from the intervention, boys in the intervention group, but not in the control group, displayed increases in most of the positive outcomes over time. Practical implications highlighting the need to consider the role of gender and socio-cultural differences in the implementation of motivational strategies among early adolescents are discussed.

The role of attachment relationship in adolescents\u2019 problem behavior development: a cross-sectional study of Kenyan adolescents in Nairobi city

BackgroundThere is a significant link between insecure attachment and the development of psychopathology in adolescence. We investigated the relationship between adolescent attachment styles and the development of emotional and behavioral problems among adolescents in Kenya. We also examined the modifying influence of socio-economic-status (SES).MethodOne hundred and thirty-seven adolescents who were attending two schools participated in the study. One school (low SES school) catered for children from predominantly low-income households, while the second school (middle SES school) catered for children from predominantly middle-income households. The data were collected using three instruments: researcher designed questionnaire to obtain socio-demographic information, the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) that is designed to assess symptoms of disorder, and the Vulnerable Attachment Scale Questionnaire (VASQ) that is designed to measure attachment style.ResultsAdolescents from the low SES school had higher vulnerable attachment scores than those from the middle SES school (t(135) = − 2.5, P = 0.02). Male students had higher vulnerable attachment scores than females (P = 0.03). Adolescents who had experienced adversity in childhood had higher vulnerable attachment scores than those who had not (P < 0.00). Results from Pearson’s correlation showed moderate to strong positive correlations between attachment insecurity and emotional and behavioral problems with participants who had higher emotional symptoms (r = 0.47, P < 0.01), conduct problem score (r = 0.33, P < 0.01), hyperactivity (r = 0.26, P < 0.01) and total difficulty scores (r = 0.47, P < 0.01), experiencing significantly higher levels of attachment insecurity than those with lower scores.Conclusions and recommendationsThis study supports the notion that attachment insecurity increases the adolescents’ susceptibility to develop psychological problems.

The unobserved power of context: Can context moderate the effect of expectations on educational achievement?

There is growing evidence that shows that social context is becoming less significant in influencing educational achievements and expectations. Additionally, evidence indicates that expectations are high across the board and becoming of declining significance to educational achievement. In light of this, we reexamine and offer an alternative to the renowned linear models connecting background variables to scholarly achievement via pupils' educational expectation. Analysis of GCSE scores, using three consecutive waves of the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England, reveals that the verity of this classical claim is dependent on occupational class, ethnic origin, and school socio-economic status level. These results thus confirm an unrecognized effect of family and school background variables on achievement—not only to engender expectations but also to moderate their influence. This recognition expands and deepens understanding of inequality in educational achievement and social mobility by treating expectations as a resource and analytically distinguishing between the ability of a social group or a certain school to attain or create high expectations and their ability to capitalize on it and translate these into achievements. We find that in many cases, expectations still possess strong potential to transform into achievement, while in others they are high across the board and rather inconsequential.

School climate and physical adolescent relationship abuse: Differences by sex, socioeconomic status, and bullying

Little is known about the association between school climate and adolescent relationship abuse (ARA). We used 2011–2012 data from surveys of California public school students (in the United States of America) who were in a dating relationship in the last year (n = 112 378) to quantify the association between different school climate constructs and physical ARA. Fifty-two percent of students were female, and all students were in 9th or 11th grade (approximately ages 14–17). Over 11% of students reported experiencing physical ARA in the last year. Increased school connectedness, meaningful opportunities for participation, perceived safety, and caring relationships with adults at school were each significantly associated with lower odds of physical ARA. Increased violence victimization and school-level bullying victimization were associated with higher odds of physical ARA. These school climate-ARA associations were significantly moderated by student sex, school socioeconomic status, and school-level bullying victimization. School climate interventions may have spillover benefits for ARA prevention.

Built environment associates of active school travel in New Zealand children and youth: A systematic meta-analysis using individual participant data

Abstract This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the associations between active travel to school and the neighbourhood built environment in children and youth by systematically identifying and collating data from New Zealand studies. Data from five studies involving 2844 children and youth aged 6–19 years were included in the meta-analysis. Data on participant demographics and school characteristics were obtained from each study, and built environment features within 400 m and 1 km buffers around home were calculated in a consistent manner using geographic information systems. A one-step individual participant data meta-analysis was performed in SAS. Using stepwise logistic regression, age, school socioeconomic status, distance to school, dwelling density and intersection density (400 m and 1 km buffers) were taken forward from bivariate analyses into a multiple variable model. Active travel to school was positively associated with intersection density (p

Health-related Measures of 6- and 10-year-old Irish Primary School Children by Sex and School Socio-economic Status

Health-related Measures of 6- and 10-year-old Irish Primary School Children by Sex and School Socio-economic Status

Demographic Characteristics Related to Motor Skills in Children Aged 5-7 Years Old

Background: Motor skill is important to young children’s overall well-being. However, there has been a paucity of work examining the demographic characteristics on young children’ motor skill. Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in motor skills across socio-economic status (SES) and grade levels in elementary school children. Method: Participants were 651 kindergarten to 2nd grade children (mean age = 6.2 ± 0.9 years; 305 girls, 346 boys) recruited from two low SES schools and another two high SES schools. Selected motor skill items were measured using the Test for Gross Motor Development-3rd Edition (TGMD-3) instrument. Data were collected once at each school during physical education class and recess period. A 4 × 3 × 2 × 2 Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) test was employed to examine the differences among grade, SES, ethnicity, and sex on TGMD-3 scores. Results: There were significant main effects for grade (Wilks’ lambda = 0.34, F (2, 1274) = 229.6, p &lt; 0.001) and SES (Wilks’ lambda = 0.70, F (2, 637) = 136.3, p &lt; 0.001). Follow-up tests revealed statistically significant differences between grades on locomotor, object control and overall TGMD-3, with the 2nd graders displaying highest mean scores, followed by 1st graders and kindergarteners. Follow-up tests suggested that high SES children displaying statistically significant higher mean scores than low SES students on all motor skill variables. Conclusion: Older children demonstrated higher motor competence levels, and those with high SES displayed higher motor skill levels than lower SES children.

Qualitative insights into the relationship between socioeconomic status and students’ academic achievement goals

Recent research using quantitative methodologies and an emerging social psychological theory of socioeconomic status (SES) has found an association between students’ SES and their academic achievement goals. As a new area of research in the achievement goal tradition, there has been little investigation of the contextual influences upon particular goal orientations in divergent SES contexts. To explore these influences, focus groups were conducted with 24 secondary school students aged 16–17 years attending a high and a low SES school in New South Wales, Australia. These teenagers were approaching a ‘developmental deadline’ which required immediate decisions about future work and education pathways. As such, they could be experiencing a period of heightened contextual influences. Directed content analysis of the focus groups observed the broad distinctions in achievement goals seen in previous quantitative studies. However, the analysis elucidated some of the ways in which norms and values in different SES contexts influenced the adoption of particular goal orientations. In some cases, the same orientation had markedly different contextual influences stemming from students’ SES backgrounds. From these exploratory findings, we argue for further research into the factors which influence the adoption of different achievement goals by students from different SES backgrounds.

Synthetic and Other Drug Use among High School Students: The Role of Perceived Prevalence, Access, and Harms

ABSTRACTBackground: Synthetic and other drugs have become available to teens, yet little is known about risk factors of use. Objective: To examine adolescent use of one class of synthetic drugs and its association with perceptions about its prevalence, access, and risk of substance use. Methods: Adolescents from a convenience sample of 104 middle and high schools (N = 59,218) participated in an anonymous survey to assess school climate and substance use in 2013–2014. Multilevel logistic regression examined the association between risk for synthetic and other drug use, perceptions of substance use, and school-level characteristics. Results: Results indicated that 2,407 (4.3%) students reported synthetic and other drug use in the past 30 days. A large proportion of youth perceived drugs to be problematic at school but underestimated the harms associated with drug use. Participants also perceived tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and prescription drugs are easy to obtain. Risk factors for synthetic and other drug use included the perception that substance use was a large problem at school, ease of access to drugs, and limited harm associated with drug use. School enrollment and socio-economic status of students reduced odds of drug use. Similar trends were found regarding marijuana use. Conclusion/Importance: Synthetic and other drug use is an emerging public health concern. Many youth identified substances as problematic and easily accessible in their schools but underestimated their potential harms. Health and education professionals need to increase effective education around substance use, including common risk factors for synthetic drug use.

The impact of school SES composition on science achievement and achievement growth: mediating role of teachers’ teachability culture

ABSTRACTPrevious studies have shown that schools’ socioeconomic-status (SES) composition has an impact on the academic performance of pupils. Less attention has been given to the explanation of this effect. This study examined whether the teachability culture among the school staff (teachers’ collective beliefs about how teachable their pupils are) mediated the school SES effect on science achievement and achievement growth. Multilevel analyses were conducted with data from 1,761 pupils and 1,255 teachers across 66 primary schools in Flanders. First, the analyses indicated that there was a positive association between school SES composition and teachability culture: Even after controlling for cognitive ability and performance of pupils, there was a more pessimist culture in socioeconomically disadvantaged schools. Second, the association between school SES and academic performance was explained/mediated by the teachability culture. However, no school effects or mediation effects were found for achievement growth as the covered period of academic growth was too short.

The costs and calorie content of à la carte food items purchased by students during school lunch.

School environments influence student food choices. À la carte foods and beverages are often low nutrient and energy dense. This study assessed how much money students spent for these foods, and the total kilocalories purchased per student during the 2012–2013 school year. Six elementary and four intermediate schools in the Houston area provided daily food purchase transaction data, and the cost and the calories for each item. Chi-square analysis assessed differences in the number of students purchasing à la carte items by grade level and school free/reduced-price meal (FRP) eligibility. Analysis of covariance assessed grade level differences in cost and calories of weekly purchases, controlling for FRP eligibility. Intermediate grade students spent significantly more on à la carte food purchases and purchased more calories (both p < 0.001) than elementary school students. Lower socioeconomic status (SES) elementary and intermediate school students purchased fewer à la carte foods compared to those in higher SES schools (p < 0.001). Intermediate school students purchased more à la carte foods and calories from à la carte foods than elementary students. Whether the new competitive food rules in schools improve student food selection and purchase, and dietary intake habits across all grade levels remains unknown.

Family and school socioeconomic status as predictors of tobacco and e-cigarette use in adolescents: a study from a perspective of material, human, and social capital

Family and school socioeconomic status as predictors of tobacco and e-cigarette use in adolescents: a study from a perspective of material, human, and social capital

Relationship between 25 hydroxyvitamin D and lipid profile in Lebanese school children.

Limited information is available regarding the association of vitamin D and lipid profile in pediatric populations. The objective of this cross-sectional study is to determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in a large sample of Lebanese schoolchildren and to evaluate the relationship between vitamin D and lipid profile. 969 Lebanese schoolchildren (505 boys and 464 girls) aged 8-18years were recruited from 10 schools of different socioeconomic status (SES). Non-fasting total cholesterol, triglycerides and HDL-Cholesterol (HDL-C) were measured. Non-HDL-C was calculated. The prevalence of 25(OH)D deficiency (level below 20ng/ml) is 56.6% (48.1% in boys, 65.7% in girls). There is no significant relationship between 25(OH)D levels and age. 25(OH)D is inversely correlated with BMI in the total population, and in boys and girls (p<0.0001, p=0.001 and p=0.001, respectively) and is higher in children from high SES schools and during the summer season (p<0.0001 in both cases). 25(OH)D is inversely correlated with triglycerides and non-HDL-C in the total population and in boys and girls (p<0.0001 for all), and positively correlated with HDL-C in the total population and in boys but not in girls (p=0.001, p<0.0001 and p=0.1, respectively). In a multilinear regression analysis, in the overall population, 25(OH)D is independently associated with sex, season, school's SES, BMI, triglycerides and non-HDL-C. In boys, the association with BMI and season is non-significant. An independent relationship is observed between 25(OH)D and cardiometabolic risk factors in the pediatric Lebanese population Further studies are needed to evaluate the long-term consequences of this relationship.