Monitoring Educational Equity (2019) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
3 Contextual Influences on Educational Outcomes: Families and Neighborhoods
3 Contextual Influences on Educational Outcomes: Families and Neighborhoods
Pages 41-50
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 41... ...
This "brain science" or psychosocial framework connects childhood and adolescent learning outcomes with the brain's responses to chronic stress and some forms of adversity; it includes a causal model based on neuro chemistry, physiology, neuroanatomical plasticity, epigenetics, and related fields (Cantor et al., 2018; Osher et al., 2018)
|
From page 42... ...
Financial Resources One of the most important resources families can have is sufficient income. Adequate income allows families to live in a safe, unpolluted neighborhood, have access to good schools, not worry about having enough money to pay the rent or having to move frequently -- and possibly change schools -- when rents increase, be able to afford preventative visits to the doctor, and be able to withstand emergencies.
|
From page 43... ...
. Changes in family employment or living situations (including homelessness)
|
From page 44... ...
, which lie within the category of social determinants of health. Often, these challenges accumulate, increasing the risk of school failure and other adverse life outcomes (Educational Testing Service, 2013)
|
From page 45... ...
. In general, wealthier families are more likely to be able to afford materials, experiences, and services that support their children's development, such as books, computers, family educational activities, enrichment activities outside the home, and tutoring (Garrett, Ng'andu, and Ferron, 1994)
|
From page 46... ...
. The historical legacy of racism, discrimination, and exclusion has disproportionately affected black children, who are more likely to experience precarious economic circumstances because they have grown up without familial wealth to rely on in times of crisis.
|
From page 47... ...
To the extent that high-poverty contexts limit educational opportunities and high-income contexts expand opportunities, segregation will exacerbate inequalities in educational opportunity and outcomes. Indeed, racial differences in exposure to economically disadvantaged schoolmates are linked to achievement gaps, and these achievement gaps are larger in more segregated school systems (Condron et al., 2013; Reardon, 2016; Reardon, Kalgorides, and Shores, 2019)
|
From page 48... ...
But as we discuss in Chapter 5, evidence suggests that the schools available in their neighborhoods tend to be less strong, at least on some dimensions -- such as more novice teachers, fewer rigorous course offerings, and climates that do not support student learning -- than the schools available to families with more means. SAFETY, TRAUMA, AND CHRONIC STRESS The accumulation of family and neighborhood risks detailed above is associated with increased occurrences of adverse childhood experiences and trauma, including child maltreatment and exposure to domestic and intimate partner violence in the families.
|
From page 49... ...
The collection of potentially useful opportunities suggested by research is quite broad. Apart from obvious material examples, such as free lunches, the list includes caring adults, supportive peer relationships, mental health services, culture-informed pedagogy, and trauma-informed disciplinary and instructional strategies.
|
From page 50... ...
In the chapters that follow, we focus on indicators of measurable student outcomes that may be influenced by family and neighborhood contextual factors, but we do not propose indicators of contextual factors themselves. Future efforts to target the root causes of disparities in student outcomes would require more direct measures of those family and neighborhood factors.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.