Ruth N. López Turley

Are children of young mothers disadvantaged because of their mother's age or family background?

Using a national sample of children 3 to 16 years old, this study found that the lower test scores and increased behavior problems of children born to younger mothers are not due to her age but to her family background. First, for nonfirstborn children, maternal age at first birth has a significant effect on test scores, whereas maternal age at the childs birth does not. Second, this study replicated a controversial study by Geronimus, Korenman, and Hillemeier (1994) and found that the disadvantage of children born to younger mothers is greatly reduced when maternal family background is controlled through a comparison of children born to sisters. Third, maternal age is not an important predictor of childrens test score rates of improvement over time. This evidence suggests that maternal age is not causal.

When do neighborhoods matter? The role of race and neighborhood peers ☆

Abstract This study explores racial differences in the effect of neighborhood income on children’s test scores, self-esteem, and behavior, using data from both the Census and the Panel Study of Income Dynamics Child Development Supplement. This study finds that as neighborhood income increases, test scores and behavior improve significantly for white children but not for black children. Increased neighborhood income affects only black children when there is a high-proportion of blacks in the neighborhood. For white children, an increase in the number of neighborhood peers known by name increases the effects of neighbors’ income. In addition, neighborhood effects are strongest for children who have lived in their neighborhoods for three or more years. This study makes progress toward explaining the mechanisms by which neighborhoods affect children and how these mechanisms differ by race.

Contributions to College Costs by Married, Divorced, and Remarried Parents

Using parent interview data from a subsample of the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS), the authors compared the financial contributions of married, divorced, and remarried parents toward their children’s college education and found that although divorced parents contributed significantly less than married parents, remarried parents contributed amounts similar to those of divorced parents, despite having incomes similar to those of married parents. The authors also investigated the financial contributions of divorced and remarried parents who lived in states that permit courts to extend child support beyond the age of 18 for college expenses (postmajority states) and found that living in a postmajority state is not associated with increased parent contributions.

Lessons from a School District-University Research Partnership: The Houston Education Research Consortium.

Research partnerships between school districts and universities can be extremely beneficial to both institutions, but these partnerships require many skills that academics and district leaders generally do not have, making these collaborations challenging to set up and difficult to maintain. Co-authored by a university professor and a school district leader, this article examines from both perspectives why more of these research partnerships are needed, why they are not more common, and how these barriers can be overcome, using an example of a recently formed partnership with one of the nation’s largest school districts.

College-bound friends and college application choices: Heterogeneous effects for Latino and White students

Friends are among the most influential social forces affecting adolescent behavior, yet little work has focused on the influence of friends on the decision to apply to college. Using data from the senior cohort of the Texas Higher Education Opportunity Project, we employed propensity score matching with sensitivity analyses to investigate links between having college-oriented friends and applying to college. We found that college-oriented friends increased the likelihood of applying to any college and to 4-year colleges, both for White and Latino students. However, Latino students benefited less from college-oriented friends compared to White students. Our findings suggest that college-choice models should more directly account for the influence of friends in applying to college, taking account of racial and ethnic differences, and future research should explore why Latino students benefit less.

Reducing School Mobility A Randomized Trial of a Relationship-Building Intervention

Student turnover has many negative consequences for students and schools, and the high mobility rates of disadvantaged students may exacerbate inequality. Scholars have advised schools to reduce mobility by building and improving relationships with and among families, but such efforts are rarely tested rigorously. A cluster-randomized field experiment in 52 predominantly Hispanic elementary schools in San Antonio, Texas, and Phoenix, Arizona, tested whether student mobility in early elementary school was reduced through Families and Schools Together (FAST), an intervention that builds social capital among families, children, and schools. FAST failed to reduce mobility overall but substantially reduced the mobility of Black students, who were especially likely to change schools. Improved relationships among families help explain this finding.

Reducing children’s behavior problems through social capital: A causal assessment

Behavior problems among young children have serious detrimental effects on short and long-term educational outcomes. An especially promising prevention strategy may be one that focuses on strengthening the relationships among families in schools, or social capital. However, empirical research on social capital has been constrained by conceptual and causal ambiguity. This study attempts to construct a more focused conceptualization of social capital and aims to determine the causal effects of social capital on childrens behavior. Using data from a cluster randomized trial of 52 elementary schools, we apply several multilevel models to assess the causal relationship, including intent to treat and treatment on the treated analyses. Taken together, these analyses provide stronger evidence than previous studies that social capital improves childrens behavioral outcomes and that these improvements are not simply a result of selection into social relations but result from the social relations themselves.