Crossing the line: examination of student demographic changes concomitant with declining academic performance in elementary schools

摘要

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between school decline and changes in school demographics. Using a population of 981 (N = 981) elementary schools, the authors identified samples of declining schools: Relational Decline (n = 510), Absolute Decline (n = 217), and Crossing the Line (n = 165). Latent growth models assessed longitudinal relationships between 4 demographic factors and school performance. Of the 4 tested predictors, only changes in the percentages of disadvantaged students maintained significant structural relationships with declining academic performance. Associations between school size on school performance varied depending on sample. Findings suggested that changes in school demographics challenge educators, but that internal school processes account for school decline. Future research might search for a school decline threshold, as well as common processes responsible for the phenomenon. Educators might design procedures so that no one school must face continuous or extensive increases in at-risk student populations.View full textDownload full textKeywordsschool change, school composition, school effectiveness, school improvement, school declineRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09243453.2010.550462