A new study investigated whether the characteristics of neighborhoods and their schools influence the academic success of middle school students. The researchers, Sophia Catsambis* and Andrew Beveridge, combined data from parent and student surveys and mathematics achievement tests in the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 with data on students’ residential locations from the U.S. Census. They conducted simultaneous analysis of the effects of families, schools, and neighborhoods on student math achievement.
Neighborhoods were categorized by characteristics that may pose behavioral and educational risks for students, such as the percent of people living below the poverty level, dropped out of high school, unemployed, in female-headed households, and the median family income. They found that living in “high-risk” neighborhoods and attending high-poverty schools are both directly related to lower levels of students’ mathematics achievement. These relationships persist even after accounting for the social background characteristics of individual students.
Living in "high-risk" neighborhoods also influences parents’ behaviors. Parents who live in such neighborhoods tend to have lower educational expectations for their children, provide fewer out-of-school learning opportunities for them, and participate less in parent-teacher organizations than do similar parents who live in “low risk” neighborhoods.
The data suggest that, to some degree, parents may overcome neighborhood disadvantages associated with student achievement by frequently communicating with their children, closely monitoring their activities, and providing them with extra learning opportunities. Although more research is needed to fine-tune these analyses, this study points to the importance of including neighborhood characteristics in educational research and in school programs that aim to improve the academic success of disadvantaged students.
From: Catsambis, S. & Beveridge, A. A. (2001). Does Neighborhood Matter? Family, Neighborhood and School Influences on Eighth-Grade Mathematics Achievement” Sociological Focus, 34 (4): 435-457.
*Dr. Catsambis is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships at Johns Hopkins University.