Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T01:19:26.980Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

10 - School Environments and the Diverging Pathways of Students Living in Poverty

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 September 2009

By
Penny Hauser-Cram ,
Marji Erickson Warfield ,
Jennifer Stadler  and
Selcuk R. Sirin
Edited by
Aletha C. Huston  and
Marika N. Ripke
Penny Hauser-Cram
Affiliation:
Professor, Lynch School of Education, Boston College
Marji Erickson Warfield
Affiliation:
Social Scientist for the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University
Jennifer Stadler
Affiliation:
Regional Director of the Citizen Schools, Boston
Selcuk R. Sirin
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor of Applied Psychology, New York University
Aletha C. Huston
Affiliation:
University of Texas, Austin
Marika N. Ripke
Affiliation:
University of Hawaii, Manoa
Get access

Summary

Over the last decade researchers have reported consistently that children differ in their pre-academic skills at the beginning of kindergarten and that those differences are often related to their family's socioeconomic status (SES) and, to a lesser extent, their ethnicity (Lee & Burkam, 2002; Stipek & Ryan, 1997). Our education system should provide the necessary schooling so all children can succeed academically, but there is evidence that the school experiences of children living in poverty differ from those living in middle-income families (e.g., Entwisle & Alexander, 1998; Greenberg, Lengua, Coie, & Pinderhughes, 1999). Yet we know little about the various paths children from low-income families take from the time they enter school through middle childhood. Do children's diverging pathways relate only to their characteristics and skills at school entry or do they also relate to the school environment?

SCHOOL FACTORS RELATED TO ACHIEVEMENT

Schools can be characterized in relation to their structure and climate (Ma, 2001). Structural characteristics usually include school size, location, and the socioeconomic status and ethnicity of students served. School climate is the general character of a school and includes collegiality and community, academic standards, and communication between administrators, teachers, students, and parents. Hoy, Hannum, and Tschannen-Moran (1998) posit that “personality is to individual what climate is to organization” (p. 337). Although the relation of structure and climate to student performance has been established in middle and high schools, it has been examined infrequently in elementary schools (Caldas & Bankston, 1997; Ho & Willms, 1996; Ma, 2001).

Type
Chapter
Information
Developmental Contexts in Middle Childhood
Bridges to Adolescence and Adulthood
 , pp. 198 - 216
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abt Associates, Inc. (1997). Prospects: Final report on student outcomes. Cambridge, MA: Author.
Abidin, R. R. (1995). Parenting Stress Index (3rd ed.). Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.Google Scholar
Adler, P. A., & Adler, P. (1998). Peer power. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.Google Scholar
Alexander, K. L., Entwisle, D. R., & Horsey, C. S. (1997). From first grade forward: Early foundations of high school drop-out. Sociology of Education, 70, 87–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allington, R., Guice, S., Michelson, N., Baker, K., & Li, S. (1996). Literature-based curricula in high poverty schools. In Graves, M., Broek, P., Taylor, B. (Eds.), The first R: Every child's right to read (pp. 73–96). New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
Baker, J., Terry, T., Bridger, R., & Winsor, A. (1997). Schools as caring communities: A relational approach to school reform. School Psychology Review, 26, 586–602.Google Scholar
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman.Google Scholar
Bender, B. G. (1995). Are asthmatic children educationally handicapped?School Psychology Quarterly, 10, 274–291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronson, M. B. (2000). Self-regulation in early education. New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Brooks-Gunn, J., & Duncan, G. J. (1997). The effects of poverty on children. The future of children: Children and poverty, 7(2), 55–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burhans, K. K., & Dweck, C. S. (1995). Helplessness in early childhood: The role of contingent worth. Child Development, 66, 1719–1738.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Caldas, S., & Bankston, C. (1997). Effect of school population socioeconomic status on individual academic achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(5), 269–277.Google Scholar
Chall, J. S. (1996). Stages of reading development (2nd ed.). Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt, Brace.Google Scholar
Dunn, L. M., & Dunn, L. M. (1981). Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised. Circle Pines, NM: American Guidance Service.Google Scholar
Entwisle, D. R., & Alexander, K. L. (1998). Facilitating the transition to first grade: The nature of transition and research on factors affecting it. The Elementary School Journal, 98(4), 351–361.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Entwisle, D. R., Alexander, K. L., & Olson, L. S. (1997). Children, schools, and inequality. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Esposito, C. (1999). Learning in urban blight: School climate and its effect on the school population of urban, minority, low-income children. School Psychology Review, 28(3), 365–377.Google Scholar
Finn, J. D. (1989). Withdrawing from school. Review of Educational Research, 59, 117–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finn, J. D., & Rock, D. A. (1997). Academic stress among students at risk for school failure. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82, 221–234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fordham, S., & Ogbu, J. U. (1986). Black students' school success: Coping with the “burden of acting White.”Urban Review, 18, 176–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Furrer, C., & Skinner, E. (2003). Sense of relatedness as a factor in children's academic engagement and performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95, 148–162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goddard, R. D., Sweetland, S. R., & Hoy, W. K. (2000). Academic emphasis of urban elementary schools and student achievement in reading and mathematics: A multilevel analysis. Educational Administration Quarterly, 3(5), 683–702.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greenberg, M. T., Lengua, L. J., Coie, J. D., & Pinderhughes, E. E. (1999). Predicting developmental outcomes at school entry using a multiple-risk model: Four American communities. Developmental Psychology, 35(2), 403–417.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hauser-Cram, P., Sirin, S. R., & Stipek, D. (2003). When teachers' and parents' values differ: Teachers' ratings of academic competence in children from low-income families. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95(4), 813–820.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hauser-Cram, Warfield M. E., Shonkoff, J. P., & Krauss, M. W. (2001). Children with disabilities: A longitudinal study of child development and parent well-being. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 66(3, Serial No. 266).Google ScholarPubMed
Ho, E. S., & Willms, J. D. (1996). Effects of parental involvement on eightgrade achievement. Sociology of Education, 69, 126–141.Google Scholar
Hoy, W. K., Hannum, J., & Tschannen-Moran, M. (1998). Organizational climate and student achievement: A parsimonious and longitudinal view. Journal of School Leadership, 8, 336–359.Google Scholar
Hoy, W. K., & Sabo, D. J. (1998). Quality middle schools: Open and healthy. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.Google Scholar
Jimmerson, S. R. (1999). On the failure of failure: Examining the association between early grade retention and education and employment outcomes during late adolescence. Journal of School Psychology, 37, 243–272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, P., Livingston, M., Schwartz, R. A., & Slate, J. R. (2000). What makes a good elementary school? A critical examination. Journal of Educational Research, 93(6), 339–345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kahlenberg, R. D. (2001). All together now: Creating middle-class schools through public school choice. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.Google Scholar
Ladd, G. W., Birch, S. H., & Buhs, E. S. (1999). Children's social and scholastic lives in kindergarten: Relation spheres of influence?Child Development, 70(4), 1373–1400.CrossRef
Lambert, N., & McCombs, B. (Eds.). (1998). How students learn: Reforming schools through learner-centered education. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lankford, H., Loeb, S., & Wyckoff, J. (2002). Teacher sorting and the plight of urban schools: A descriptive analysis. Education Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 24(1), 37–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, V. E., & Burkam, D. T. (2002). Inequality at the starting gate: Social background differences as children begin school. Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute.Google Scholar
Ma, X. (2001). Stability of school academic performance across subject areas. Journal of Educational Measurement, 38(1), 1–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marks, H. M. (2000). Student engagement in instructional activity: Patterns in elementary, middle, and high school years. American Educational Research Journal, 37(1), 153–184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mullis, I., Campbell, J., & Farstrup, A. (1993). NAEP 1992 Reading report card for the nation and the states: Data from the national and trial state assessments. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.Google Scholar
National Center for Education Statistics (1999). Teacher quality: A report on the preparation and qualifications of public school teachers (#NCES 1999-080). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.
National Reading Panel (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction (Publication No. 00-4769). Washington, DC: National Institutes of Health.
National Research Council, Committee on the Prevention of Reading Difficulties in Young Children (1998). Reading difficulties in young children. Washington, DC: Author.
National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine (2000). From neurons to neighborhoods. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Newachek, P. W., & Halfon, N. (2000). Prevalence, impact, and trends in childhood disability due to asthma. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 154, 287–293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newmann, F. M. (Ed.). (1992). Student engagement and achievement in American secondary schools. New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
Newmann, F., & Associates (1996). Authentic achievement: Restructuring schools for intellectual quality. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Phillips, M. (1997). What makes schools effective? A comparison of the relationships of communitarian climate and academic achievement and attendance during middle school. American Educational Research Journal, 34(4), 633–662.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raudenbush, S., & Bryk, A. (2002). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods (2nd ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Schafer, J. L. (1997). Analysis of incomplete multivariate data. New York: Chapman & Hall.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanovich, K. E., & Cunningham, A. E. (1993). Where does knowledge come from? Specific associations between print exposure and information acquisition. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85, 211–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stipek, D. J. (2002). Motivation to learn: Integrating theory and practice. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.Google Scholar
Stipek, D. J. (2004). Teaching practices in kindergarten and first grade: Different strokes for different folks. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 19, 548–568.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stipek, D. J., & Mac Iver, D. (1989). Developmental change in children's assessment of intellectual competence. Child Development, 60, 521–538.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stipek, D. J., & Ryan, R. H. (1997). Economically disadvantaged preschoolers: Ready to learn but further to go. Developmental Psychology, 33, 711–723.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J. S. (2002). Introduction. In Wigfield, A. and Eccles, J. S. (Eds.), Development of achievement motivation (pp. 1–11). San Diego: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Woodcock, R. W., & Johnson, M. B. (1990). Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery-Revised. Allen, TX: DLM Teaching Resources.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×