Journal article
Academic achievement of homeless and highly mobile children in an urban school district: longitudinal evidence on risk, growth, and resilience
Development and psychopathology, Vol.21(2), pp.493-518
2009
DOI: 10.1017/S0954579409000273
PMID: 19338695
Abstract
Longitudinal growth trajectories of reading and math achievement were studied in four primary school grade cohorts (GCs) of a large urban district to examine academic risk and resilience in homeless and highly mobile (H/HM) students. Initial achievement was assessed when student cohorts were in the second, third, fourth, and fifth grades, and again 12 and 18 months later. Achievement trajectories of H/HM students were compared to low-income but nonmobile students and all other tested students in the district, controlling for four well-established covariates of achievement: sex, ethnicity, attendance, and English language skills. Both disadvantaged groups showed markedly lower initial achievement than their more advantaged peers, and H/HM students manifested the greatest risk, consistent with an expected risk gradient. Moreover, in some GCs, both disadvantaged groups showed slower growth than their relatively advantaged peers. Closer examination of H/HM student trajectories in relation to national test norms revealed striking variability, including cases of academic resilience as well as problems. H/HM students may represent a major component of "achievement gaps" in urban districts, but these students also constitute a heterogeneous group of children likely to have markedly diverse educational needs. Efforts to close gaps or enhance achievement in H/HM children require more differentiated knowledge of vulnerability and protective processes that may shape individual development and achievement.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Academic achievement of homeless and highly mobile children in an urban school district: longitudinal evidence on risk, growth, and resilience
- Creators
- Jelena Obradović - University of Minnesota, USA. jelena.obradovic@ubc.caJeffrey D LongJ J CutuliChi-Keung ChanElizabeth HinzDavid HeistadAnn S Masten
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Development and psychopathology, Vol.21(2), pp.493-518
- Publisher
- United States
- DOI
- 10.1017/S0954579409000273
- PMID
- 19338695
- ISSN
- 0954-5794
- eISSN
- 1469-2198
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 2009
- Academic Unit
- Psychiatry; Biostatistics
- Record Identifier
- 9984003961802771
Metrics
19 Record Views