An Investigation of School Concentrations of Student Risk Factors and Educational Well-Being Using an Integrated Administrative Data System

• In Event: Health in Education

Abstract

This study investigated the unique relations between school concentrations of student risk factors and reading, mathematics and attendance outcomes. It used an integrated administrative data system to combined risk data (i.e., birth risks, teen mother, low maternal education, homelessness, maltreatment, and lead exposure) for a cohort of third-grade students in a large urban school district. At the school level, high concentrations of children with low maternal education, inadequate prenatal care, homelessness, and maltreatment were most significantly detrimental for student educational well-being. When concentrations of risks were considered simultaneously with race and economic disadvantage, the concentration of poverty was no longer significantly related to targeted educational outcomes. For reading achievement and attendance, concentrations of both economic disadvantage and race were not significant.

Authors

• John Fantuzzo, University of Pennsylvania

• Whitney A. LeBoeuf, University of Pennsylvania

• Heather L. Rouse, University of Pennsylvania