2-179 - Beyond the Census: Understanding How Neighborhoods Matter for Children by Incorporating Novel Data Sources

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

A wide variety of disciplines, including psychology, sociology, and economics, demonstrate how neighborhoods can play a salient role in shaping children’s physical, social, and academic development (Leventhal & Brooks-Gunn, 2000; Sampson et al., 2002). However, much of this research has been guided by the question, “Do neighborhoods matter?” (Sharkey & Faber, 2014). Although a growing body of research has emerged regarding how, when, where, and for whom do neighborhoods matter, there is still a gap in our understanding of the precise role and relations that neighborhoods play in children’s development.

This symposium will present promising opportunities to combine multiple sources of data on child development, outcomes, neighborhoods, policy, and sociocultural contexts, which individual studies often cannot singularly encompass due to monetary and/or logistical restrictions. Each paper in this symposium draws on novel and innovative data sources that go beyond standard Census measures to examine the dynamic contextual relations between neighborhoods and children’s outcomes. Paper 1 integrates both research-based and publicly available data to examine how community-based institutional resource access during elementary school can promote Mexican-origin children’s STEM progress. Paper 2 explores the mediating role of classroom quality in the relationship between school neighborhood characteristics drawn from the Child Opportunity Index and preschool children's developmental outcomes. Paper 3 uses crime data collected by a major media outlet coupled with a novel application of a causal inference method for observational data to understand how crime impacts teacher practice and child outcomes.

Sub Unit

• Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Chairs

• Andrea Kinghorn Busby, Northwestern University

• Wendy Wei, Harvard University

Individual Presentations

• Community Institutions: Associations with Mexican-origin Children’s Middle School Stem Outcomes - Presenting Author: Robert Julius Anastasio, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development, Tufts University; Non-Presenting Author: Tama Leventhal, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development, Tufts University; Non-Presenting Author: Rob Crosnoe, University of Texas at Austin

• Neighborhood Advantage and Children’s Outcomes: The Mediating Role of Classroom Quality in Preschool - Presenting Author: Wendy Wei, Harvard University; Non-Presenting Author: Andrea Kinghorn Busby, Northwestern University

• Neighborhood Effects on Teachers and Children: A Causal Study Using Violent Crime - Presenting Author: Andrea Kinghorn Busby, Northwestern University; Non-Presenting Author: Terri Sabol, Northwestern University; Non-Presenting Author: Dana McCoy, Harvard Graduate School of Education