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The Role of Neighborhood Context and School Climate in School‐Level Academic Achievement
Author(s) -
Ruiz Linda D.,
McMahon Susan D.,
Jason Leonard A.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
american journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.113
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1573-2770
pISSN - 0091-0562
DOI - 10.1002/ajcp.12234
Subject(s) - academic achievement , health psychology , mediation , context (archaeology) , psychology , socioeconomic status , developmental psychology , social psychology , public health , sociology , demography , geography , social science , medicine , population , nursing , archaeology
In recent years, the quality of education available to children has become increasingly dependent on the social and economic demographics of neighborhoods in which the children live. This study assesses the role of community violence in explaining the relation between socio‐economic status ( SES ) and academic outcomes and the potential of positive school climate to promote academic achievement. With a sample of 297 Chicago public elementary schools, we examine community‐level and school‐level data and use Geographic Information Systems ( GIS ) mapping to illustrate how school academic achievement coincides with neighborhood economics and crime statistics. Results support the hypothesized mediation, such that lower SES was associated with lower academic achievement, and violent crime partially mediated this relation. School climate was positively associated with academic achievement, and student safety significantly moderated the relation between SES and academic achievement. Implications for theory, research, and intervention are discussed.