Whitney LeBoeuf

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.

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.

Measurement and Population Miss-Fits: A Case Study on the Importance of Using Appropriate Measures to Evaluate Early Childhood Interventions

This study explored the importance of using relevant measures when evaluating the effectiveness of early childhood interventions. Data from the federally-funded evaluation of the Comprehensive Child Development Program were used to examine whether the behavior measure, the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), was an appropriate tool for the diverse community-based sample of young, low-income children. Results demonstrated no confirmation of the CBCL syndromes composing the Externalizing and Internalizing behavioral dimensions used to determine program impacts. Exploratory analyses revealed that two-thirds of the clinical behavior problems included in the CBCL were of very low prevalence in this community-based sample. These findings stress the importance of measurement fit in national evaluations of early childhood programs serving these vulnerable children.

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.

Problems in Classroom Engagement: Validation of an Assessment for District-Wide Use in the Early Primary Grades.

ABSTRACT Research Findings: The aim of this study was to provide an initial investigation into the psychometric properties of the Problems in Classroom Engagement Scale (PCES). The PCES was designed and tested for district-wide use as part of the report card system for a large urban school district. The PCES was administered to all 1st-, 2nd-, and 3rd-grade students in the district. Factor analytic examination revealed a bifactor structure as the best fit to the data. The bifactor structure reflected a general factor of Problems in Behavioral Engagement and two group factors: Problems in Social Engagement and Problems in Academic Engagement. These factors were found to be reliable within and across grades and demonstrated convergent and divergent relations with academic and behavioral outcomes. Practice or Policy: Findings provide initial evidence to support the routine use of the PCES in a large urban setting. The use of the PCES can help in fostering district-wide attention to students’ early difficulties with behavioral, social, and academic engagement.

The effects of intradistrict school mobility and high student turnover rates on early reading achievement

ABSTRACT The primary aim of this study was to assess the relations between concurrent, cumulative, and contextual intradistrict school mobility and early reading achievement. Longitudinal administrative school records were used for an entire cohort of students in a large urban district from first through third grade. Findings indicated that students with a concurrent intradistrict school move had lower reading achievement scores at the end of each grade compared to children who did not change schools. Cumulative intradistrict school mobility was also associated with poor reading achievement by the end of third grade. Students enrolled in schools with high turnover rates demonstrated worse reading achievement after accounting for individual school mobility experiences, and this effect worsened as children reached third grade.

Future Opportunities for Leveraging IDS and Evidence-Based Policy Making

Executive leaders in the federal government have for decades called for the increased monitoring of public spending and greater assurances that spending goals are being met. This mandate was formalized in federal law with the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) in 1993, and was reauthorized through the GPRA Modernization Act in 2010. The revamped GPRA addresses a frustration in Congress and the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) with lengthy and diffuse lists of goals and performance measures that were routinely set by federal agencies but less often managed. Thus the updated GPRA goes beyond the original in pressing for assessment of the highest priority goals of federal agencies and for more concerted attention by agency leadership (including newly designated positions for monitoring) to be transparent about the outcomes and indicators that are associated with these aims. Agency leaders are further directed to identify more timely measures of success (within one or two years of goals being set), and to identify priorities that cut across federal agencies. The new agenda’s increased focus on priority items, the appointment of specific personnel, and greater attention to time-sensitive and quality metrics is hoped to increase the rigor and effectiveness of oversight.