Ecological Transitions of U.S. Elementary School Students: Their Short– and Long–Term Educational Outlooks

In this dissertation, I identify different types of U.S. elementary school students experiencing ecological transitions and examine their characteristics. Then, I investigate the short-term and long-term educational outlooks of these ecological transition groups from birth through their 5th-grade. The main research questions are: Which are the characteristics of students experiencing each type of ecological transition? What short–term associations exist between different types of ecological transitions and students’ academic achievement during the elementary school grades? What long–term associations exist between students’ ecological transition histories and their academic achievement growth? To address these questions I used data from the public use files of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study — Kindergarten Cohort 1998 (ECLS–K 1998). I extracted five lagged (two time points at the time) analytic samples to investigate associations between ecological transitions and the grade–by–grade change in learning, and one longitudinal analytic sample to examine the links of ecological transition histories to students’ achievement growth across the elementary school grades, from kindergarten to the 5th–grade. The main results show that the characteristics of students change across types of ecological transition and, to some extent, they also change over time. Overall, movers and leavers appear more disadvantaged than stayers, structural changers and volitional changers. However, over time ‘volitional changer’ identifies a disadvantaged group of students. Academic achievement is associated with ecological transitions in the short–term but not in the long–term. Moreover, ecological transitions are positively associated with academic achievement growth in early elementary grades, whereas they are negatively linked with achievement growth in later elementary grades. Academic achievement appeared to be more closely linked to school changes than to residential moves. These findings suggest that for the general population of elementary school students, any effects of ecological transitions may be almost exclusively temporary. Educators and policy makers, however, should consider that even short–term consequences for students may result in long–term consequences for schools, when faced with a constant flow of transfer students. Families and schools should cooperate to facilitate students’ post–transition adjustment to their new settings, to encourage academic success for students and limit the negative consequences of student turnover for schools

Home moves and child wellbeing in the first five years of life in the United States

By the time they are five years old, nearly 70% of children in the United States have moved home, with a substantial minority moving more than once.  These early years are important for children’s later learning and development. Yet, there are a limited number of studies of residential mobility’s impact on young children.  The literature indicates the importance of stressful family events, unstable housing, economic hardship, and neighbourhood conditions for residential mobility and child wellbeing. But research seldom examines the impact of these dimensions simultaneously.  We used data from the first four waves of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to analyse precursors of residential mobility and the association of residential mobility with child behavior (N=2,511) and cognitive capabilities (N=2,033) at age five.  Using Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE), we find that the frequency of moving is explained by a range of stressful circumstances, including lack of parental employment, partnership transitions, paternal incarceration, unstable housing tenure, and financial hardship.  These circumstances are associated with increased likelihood of moving home even when other family and neighbourhood conditions are controlled, suggesting that moving is part of a constellation of events and changes experienced by young children.  Using OLS regression models we find that, for young children, the circumstances associated with moving residence appear to be more consequential for child wellbeing than does moving itself, even when children experience multiple moves.