Abstract
Background
Neighborhood environment for student residences has been linked to differences in academic outcomes. However, school neighborhood has not been studied as a potential additional environmental factor in academic outcomes.
Objective
The goal of this study was to explore the association between school neighborhood disorder and academic outcomes.
Method
School neighborhood physical disorder data were paired with school academic achievement and attendance data. Using regression analyses, we examined whether academic achievement and attendance were predicted using NIfETy neighborhood physical disorder scores for the 21 schools within the boundaries of Flint.
Results
Neighborhood physical disorder was significantly negatively associated with mathematics scores (β = − 7.71707, p = 0.0430425), but not with English Language Arts (ELA) scores (β = − 4.35, p = 0.13). We found a significant curvilinear relationship between neighborhood physical disorder and attendance.
Conclusions
This study supplements existing literature by focusing on neighborhood physical disorder at the school. We found evidence that school neighborhood may impact academic achievement. These findings complement previous research showing that neighborhood of residence factors, such as structural disadvantage, impact school performance. Students exposed to economically disadvantaged neighborhoods at school, regardless of where they live, may have poorer academic skills.
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Data Availability
The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study can be made available by request to flintareastudy@msu.edu.
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Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge the project's funding source: the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities award number U54MD011227 (PI: Furr-Holden). We acknowledge the following individuals and organizations whose efforts and ideas contributed to this manuscript: Samantha Cardenas, Jordan Johnson, Megan Mulheron, Neletha Skelton and the NIfETy field data collection team.
Funding
The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities award number U54MD011227.
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All authors contributed to study design and manuscript generation. Material preparation, data acquisition, and analysis were performed by Mieka Smart and Zachary Buchalski. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Mieka Smart, and all authors commented on subsequent versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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The research for this original manuscript did not involve human subjects, and is covered under a “not human subjects” research designation given by the Michigan State University Institutional Review Board.
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Smart, M., Felton, J., Meghea, C. et al. Is a School’s Neighborhood Physical Disorder Related to Its Academic Outcomes?. Child Youth Care Forum 50, 247–259 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-020-09572-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-020-09572-3