The Effects of Residential Mobility and School Exclusion History on Educational Attainment

Abstract

Educational attainment in the U.S. continues to be marred by racial and socioeconomic (SES) disparities. Despite decades of research on the predictors of attainment and the decreases in dropout rates, minority-race and low-income youth continue to dropout at higher rates than their White and wealthy peers. Therefore, the question remains, why do many students persist while some drop out? To better understand attainment, an analysis of a nationally representative sample within which attainment is evaluated as part of a process of grade advancement and the nuanced nature that the timing, frequency, and severity of previous life events have on a child’s educational path are addressed is needed. The study presented here is a first step to evaluate the effects of residential mobility and school exclusion history on the attainment of a cohort of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). First, patterns of school exclusion, residential mobility, and dropout over the study period were outlined. Next, the relationships between predictors of dropout and dropout examined. Finally, the effects of the frequency and timing of residential mobility, school exclusion, and other predictors on attainment were explored using discrete time survival analysis. Findings indicate the potential utility of these methods in future research to better understand the process of dropout so more informed interventions can be designed to serve students.