Risk and resilience in the urban neighborhood: Predictors of academic performance among low-income elementary school children

Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, Apr 1999 by Shumow, Lee, Vandell, Deborah Lowe, Posner, Jill

Children completed measures at their schools. Researchers explained the purpose of the visit and invited the children to complete the forms. No child refused, and most appeared eager to participate, although several postponed participating until they completed an interesting classroom activity or attended a school assembly. Items were read to children to maintain their interest and to ensure that items were understood. Children were able to choose a small prize (a pencil, colored paper, or a miniature candy bar) when they completed the measures.

The research staff visited each school at the end of the school year. Children's report cards and achievement test results were provided by the school office and recorded on a form containing the child's identification number. Teacher questionnaires were left at the school with a postage-paid return envelope.

Description of Neighborhoods

Neighborhoods were defined in terms of census tracts. There are several advantages to this definition of neighborhoods. First, it has been used in much of the previous research (Brooks-Gunn et al., 1991; ChaseLansdale & Gordon,1996; Connell et al., 1994; Crane, 1991; Duncan et al., 1994), thus allowing comparison between studies. Second, census boundaries are drawn by local committees charged with the task of identifying locally perceived "neighborhoods" and neighborhoods are best identified by local reputation (Hojnacki, 1979). Third, census tracts commonly covered from six to nine square block areas in Milwaukee's inner-city areas and rarely crossed major geographic (rivers) or manmade (street thoroughfares) barriers. Thus, in these dense urban areas, census tracts approximate areas that children are likely to think of and experience as their neighborhood (Matthews, 1987b). Finally, in other research, differences in findings when neighborhoods were defined by block group versus census tract appear to be small and the use of the census tract does not appear to yield substantially different results than the block (Elliott et al., in press).

Children's addresses in 1991 and 1993, keyed to census tracts, showed that the children lived in 93 different census tracts. Data were obtained from the 1990 Census, including (a) proportion of femaleheaded households in the tract (M = 24%, SD = 0.17 during third grade, M = 24%, SD = 0.18 during fifth grade, range = 1-63%), (b) median years of education for persons over 18 years of age in the tract (M = 11.9 years, SD = 0.83 during third grade, M = 11.9 years, SD = 0.86 during fifth grade, range = 10-14.7 years), and (c) median household income within the tract (M = 22,462, SD = 8522 during third grade and 22,530 SD = 8484 during fifth grade, range = 6,904-38,438).

In addition, information was obtained from the Milwaukee Police Department regarding the number of crimes reported against persons (homicide, rape, aggravated battery, other battery, and vice) within each tract for the calendar year ending in December of both the children's third (M = 112.5, SD = 95.1) and fifth grade school years (M = 108.6, SD = 89.7).