School Quality and Mobility Between Public School Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten: Predictors and Outcomes

• In Event: Pre-Kindergarten Practice, Policy, and Child Outcomes

Abstract

Although negative effects of school mobility on older children are documented, little is known about the impact of mobility between public school prekindergarten and kindergarten. This study investigates the effect of school quality on mobility between public school Pre-K and K among a large and ethnically diverse, low-income sample from the Miami School Readiness Project. School quality was negatively correlated with student mobility between Pre-K and kindergarten - as pre-K school quality decreased, likelihood of mobility increased. Logistic regression analyses suggest that school quality in pre-K is a unique predictor of mobility, controlling for other variables including child poverty. Mobility from pre-K to K was not associated with later academic performance, after the pre- and post-move school quality were entered.

Authors

• Caitlin Hines, George Mason University

• Adam Winsler, George Mason University