Frequent school moves hurt low-income childrens' math scores

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-10/apa-fsm100715.php

Public Release: 8-Oct-2015
Frequent school moves hurt low-income childrens' math scores
Attention, cognitive skills also impaired after several school moves
American Psychological Association

Low-income students who change schools frequently are at risk for lower math scores and have a harder time managing their behavior and attention in the classroom than similar students who stay in the same school, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.

Children who experienced fewer school transitions over a five-year period, demonstrated greater cognitive skills and higher math achievement in early elementary school, relative to their counterparts who changed schools frequently. This research, which involved children enrolled in the Chicago public school system, held true even after taking into account children's cognitive and math skills during Head Start preschool programs. It was published in the APA journal Developmental Psychology.

"Simply stated, frequently changing schools is a major risk factor for low-income children's school success," said the study's lead author, Allison Friedman-Krauss, PhD, of New York University.

On average, children in the study scored in an acceptable range on standardized math tests in fourth grade. However, children who moved frequently were predicted to score, on average, 10 points lower than (or over eight months behind) their peers who did not change schools frequently, placing them at greater risk of not meeting state math standards, the authors wrote.

"Although moving once or twice may not be extremely detrimental to the development of children who are already at risk, moving almost every year during elementary school increased the probability that students would face more difficulty in the long run," said co-author C. Cybele Raver, PhD, a professor of applied psychology at New York University. "This suggests the need for policies at the state, district and school levels to prevent school changes and to support students, families and teachers when children do change schools."

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