Exploring School Readiness by Neighborhood Socioeconomic Trajectory

• In Event: Sociology of Education Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 1. Neighborhood Experiences and Educational Outcomes

Abstract

Since the 1990s, the pace at which low-income neighborhoods have experienced socioeconomic ascent has increased. Through its impact on mechanisms of neighborhood effects such as collective socialization and efficacy, social networks, and safety, as well as the likelihood of attracting place-based investments, neighborhood change may shape young children’s cognitive development. I link data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and its Child Development Supplement (PSID-CDS) to the Census and American Community Survey to explore the relationship between neighborhood socioeconomic change and children’s early math and reading performance. Average math and reading scores at ages 3-5 are slightly lower among children living in socioeconomically descending neighborhoods compared to their peers in either socioeconomically stable or ascending neighborhoods. Weighted models that control for baseline neighborhood socioeconomic advantage and racial/ethnic composition, among other characteristics, will further investigate the extent to which children’s school readiness varies by neighborhood socioeconomic trajectory.

Author

• Thalia Tom, University of Southern California