Mobility Trajectories: Adverse Childhood Experiences and the Process(es) of K–12 School Mobility

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 14
  In Roundtable Session: The Social Context of Education (Table 3)

Abstract

The United States has one of the highest rates of K-12 student mobility in the industrialized world. We highlight findings from in-depth, semi-structured interviews to advance understanding of the reasons for and processes of student mobility among individuals who experienced three or more non-promotional K-12 school changes. Frequent school moves were intertwined with adverse childhood experiences, or potentially traumatic childhood events. Mobility and adversity intersected to shape educational trajectories in patterned ways, reflecting individuals’ access to coping resources. In surfacing the prominence of adverse childhood experiences in the processes connecting school mobility and educational trajectories, this research underscores the importance of leveraging insights from both education and health to understand and address how mobility contributes to the reproduction of inequities.

Authors

• Sarah Ryan, Ryan Research Consulting

• Robert K. Ream, University of California - Riverside

• Margaret Martin, University of California - Merced

• Janet Shim, University of California - San Francisco

• Marquita Brooks, The University of Alabama - Birmingham

• Irene Yen, University of California - Merced