School uniformity yields high marks

DSN Retailing Today, May 3, 2004

While educators and parents have long assumed the many benefits inherent in school uniforms, there has been a lack of hard data supporting this ideology. However, new research indicates the premise that uniforms not only keep children looking neat and presentable, but they also carry a positive impact on a host of other areas. The result: expansion of preexisting uniform programs and implementation of uniform programs in new districts, all driving growth in what is now a staple retail business. The schools' universally warm reception to uniform programs is not only continuing to grow the market for product, but schools are also diversifying the uniform product that they offer going forward.

Uniforms are typically part of comprehensive educational reform programs instituted across the country, which are prompted by more stringent regulations, including the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act. These new requirements demand that school districts raise average achievement levels on an annual basis. The new research shows that uniforms are an important component of these programs.

In the study, three public school districts in divergent regions were placed under the microscope. These were Denver, Baltimore and Aldine, Texas, a suburb of Houston.

Researchers utilized four criteria to determine whether or not there had been improvements in a particular district: a "coherent school reform strategy that includes school uniforms"; geographic diversity; accessibility to administrators and school staff; and the successful implementation of a school uniform policy.

An independent research firm headed by consultant Dr. Scott Joftus, Ed. D., conducted the study while leading school uniform manufacturer French Toast funded the effort. Joftus, a recognized expert in the field, has also performed research for organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the District of Columbia Public Schools and the Council of Chief State School Officers, the McKenzie Group and the Alliance for Excellent Education.

"All of the schools we studied indicated a vast preference for school uniforms, based on the improved levels of performance and academic achievement," Joftus said. "They were 'uniformly' in favor of their decision to implement them and consider them a key part of their educational reform programs."

Though previous studies had backed the idea that school uniforms hold a broad range of consumer benefits, the last major studies conducted by firms, including the NPD Group, date back two years or more. A 1996 study by the U.S. Department of Education found that after Long Beach, Calif., adopted uniforms--one of the first districts to do so--elementary and middle school crime decreased by 36%, weapons offenses decreased 50%, assault and battery dropped 34%, and vandalism fell 19%.

The new research validates that these findings remain consistent across a number of school districts nationally, illustrating that uniforms work in a number of climates.

"This study offers additional evidence that school uniforms can be a very effective element of school reform policies," said Dr. Carl Cohn, former superintendent of the Long Beach Unified School District, which was the first school district to require uniforms in grades K-8. "School uniform policies bring a sense of order and discipline to the classroom environment and help students focus on why they're there: to learn."

The new study's sponsor, French Toast, also produces children's casual wear under the Lollytogs brand. "We wanted to sponsor a study on school uniforms because it had been a while since any such research had been done, and to validate not just what was happening with our business, but with the business as a whole," said Gigi Perkins, marketing coordinator for French Toast Official Schoolwear.

Five overarching findings emerged from the study regarding implementing a school uniform policy. These were gathered via a methodology consisting dominantly of interviews with educators in these districts, all well versed with educational reform.

Aside from concluding that uniforms can help improve school safety, the research also showed that academic achievement rose, all consistently across the school districts studied. "Violence is down, and academic achievement is up," thanks to implementations of school uniform policies, according to an administrator of Baltimore's CEO's district. School administrators are also pleased that "the affordability of school uniforms versus everyday clothing contributes to wide acceptance of the adoption of such a policy," Joftus noted.

In addition, research found that uniforms help ease competition among students, leveling the playing field and concerns about fitting in.

School administrators overwhelmingly determined that all of the aforementioned factors improved test scores and academic performance in all of the districts canvassed.

Accordingly, the Aldine district was recently named one of five national finalists for the Broad Foundation Award for Urban Education, a prestigious annual award for the most outstanding urban school district, with a cash award of $1 million. The school's administrators credited this honor partially to the implementation of a uniform program. Whether in an urban or suburban market, school systems have made uniforms part of new, higher standards that educators are striving to maintain.