Heather L. Rouse

The Unique and Combined Effects of Homelessness and School Mobility on the Educational Outcomes of Young Children

This study examined the unique and combined associations of homelessness and school mobility with educational well-being indicators, as well as the mediating effect of absenteeism, for an entire cohort of third-grade students in Philadelphia. Using integrated archival administrative data from the public school district and the municipal Office of Supportive Housing, multilevel linear models were estimated to test these associations while adjusting for nesting of students within schools. Findings demonstrated that homelessness had a unique association with problems in classroom engagement, school mobility was uniquely related to both academic achievement and problems in classroom engagement, and experiencing both homelessness and school mobility was the most detrimental for both forms of educational well-being. Absenteeism was found to partially mediate the relations between homelessness, school mobility, and problems in task engagement. Results provide support for the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and the need for educational policies for mobile children.

Relations Between Behavior Problems in Classroom Social and Learning Situations and Peer Social Competence in Head Start and Kindergarten

The relations between early emotional and behavioral problems in classroom situations and peer social competence were examined for a representative sample of urban Head Start children. Behavior problems were assessed within the context of routine peer, teacher, and structured learning classroom situations early in the preschool year. Two path models were tested: (a) direct effects of preschool situational problems on peer social competence at the end of preschool and (b) direct and indirect effects of preschool situational problems on peer social competence at the end of kindergarten, accounting for preschool peer social competence and child demographic variables. Early problems in peer and socially mediated learning situations consistently predicted lower peer social competence in preschool and kindergarten. Problems in preschool peer situations directly and indirectly predicted greater disruptive play at the end of kindergarten, and problems in structured learning situations predicted lower interactive play at both time points. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Academic achievement of African American boys: A city-wide, community-based investigation of risk and resilience

In light of persistent Black-White achievement gaps for boys, this study examined publicly monitored risks believed to be associated with being behind academically for an entire subpopulation of African American boys in a large urban public school district. Also examined were indicators of academic engagement hypothesized to mediate the relations between risks and low achievement. Findings indicated that the Black-White achievement gap for boys was matched by a comparable difference in risk experiences. Multilevel linear regression models controlling for poverty found that both the type and accumulation of risk experiences explained a significant amount of variation in reading and mathematics achievement for the subpopulation of African American boys. Socio-familial risks were related to the poorest academic outcomes. Academic engagement indicators significantly mediated relations between risks and achievement. Implications of this research for collective school and community actions to make race, gender, and place matter in educational public policy were discussed.

An Investigation of the Relations Between School Concentrations of Student Risk Factors and Student Educational Well-Being

This study investigated the unique relations between school concentrations of student risk factors and measures of reading, mathematics, and attendance. It used an integrated administrative data system to create a combined data set of risks (i.e., birth risks, teen mother, low maternal education, homelessness, maltreatment, and lead exposure) for an entire cohort of third-grade students in a large urban school district. At the school level, high concentrations of children with low maternal education, inadequate prenatal care, homelessness, and maltreatment were most significantly detrimental for student educational well-being. When concentrations of risks at the school level were considered simultaneously with race and poverty, the concentration of poverty was no longer significantly related to targeted educational well-being indicators. For reading achievement and attendance, concentrations of both poverty and race were not significant. Implications for school accountability and community collaborations are discussed.

Food environment and childhood obesity: The effect of dollar stores

In this paper we examine the effect of dollar stores on children’s Body Mass Index (BMI). We use a dataset compiled by the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement that reflects a BMI screening program for public school children in the state of Arkansas. We combine propensity score matching with difference-in-differences methods to deal with time-invariant as well time-varying unobserved factors. We find no evidence that the presence of dollar stores within a reasonably close proximity of the child’s residence increases BMI. In fact, we see an increase in BMI when dollar stores leave a child’s neighborhood. Given the proliferation of dollar stores in rural and low-income urban areas, the question of whether dollar stores are contributing to high rates of childhood obesity is policy relevant. However, our results provide some evidence that exposure to dollar stores is not a causal factor.

Do peers affect childhood obesity outcomes? Peer-effect analysis in public schools

This study investigates whether obese peers are a contributing factor in childhood body-weight outcomes. Using an instrumental variables method on exogenously assigned peers (i.e., new peers), we find that the weight of peers within the same grade and school significantly impacts body mass index (BMI) z-score of an individual student. The size of the peer effect, however, is negligible. We find no evidence of interaction between newly assigned peer groups prior to assignment. Furthermore, the obese peers variable is significant only for those peers with whom a student interacts.

The Effect of Neighborhood Fast Food on Children’s BMI: Evidence from a Sample of Movers

Abstract We use a statewide panel dataset and an instrumental variable strategy to identify the effect of neighborhood fast food on the BMI z-scores of Arkansas public schoolchildren. As in earlier studies, we use distance from the child’s residence to the nearest major highway as an instrument for the density of fast-food restaurants. The sample is limited to children who moved at least once during the study period to ensure temporal variation in our instrument. Neighborhood fast food does have significant and positive effects on their BMI z-scores. The effect is disproportionately large for children who are rural, non-minority and female.

Neighbourhood convenience stores and childhood weight outcomes: an instrumental variable approach

ABSTRACT The association between the commercial food environment and childhood obesity is increasingly assessed in the literature, but little is known about the role of convenience stores, an important food retail format worldwide. This study helps bridge the gap using individual-level data containing measured body mass index (BMI) for public schoolchildren and geo-coded residence and store locations in Arkansas, United States. The distance from residence to the nearest highway is employed to instrument neighbourhood convenience store exposure, while controlling for possible confounding effects of other food stores. We find that exposure to at least one convenience store exposure is associated with a BMI z-score increase of 0.162 SD, and exposure to each additional convenience store is associated with a BMI increase of 0.071 SD. There is no evidence for a larger association among children from low-income families or those with limited access to healthy foods.

Middle school transition and body weight outcomes: Evidence from Arkansas Public Schoolchildren.

There is evidence that middle school transition adversely affects educational and psychological outcomes of pre-teen children, but little is known about the impacts of middle school transition on other aspects of health. In this article, we estimate the impact of middle school transition on the body mass index (BMI) of public schoolchildren in Arkansas, United States. Using an instrumental variable approach, we find that middle school transition in grade 6 led to a moderate decrease of 0.04 standard deviations in BMI z-scores for all students. Analysis by subsample indicated that this result was driven by boys (0.06-0.07 standard deviations) and especially by non-minority boys (0.09 standard deviations). We speculate that the changing levels of physical activities associated with middle school transition provide the most reasonable explanation for this result.

Introduction to the Actionable Intelligence Model

In 2013, the Pew Research Center reported that fewer than 30 percent of Americans trust the US government to do the right thing (Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 2013). Equally troubling, Pew found that more than 70 percent of the people believe that government leaders do not make decisions that represent people’s best interests. And this is not a new phenomenon: trust and confidence of the American people in their government has been waning since the Kennedy administration. These statistics prompt us to consider what it is that Americans expect from their government—and what changes are necessary to meet those expectations.