Jo Ann Isken first noticed the problem at Jefferson Elementary School when she was going through a reorganization process. Every time the Los Angeles-area principal made classroom assignments, some classes would become overcrowded, others would thin out, and she鈥檇 have to start all over again.
| Researchers and educators say the need to address the problems associated with student mobility has never been greater. |
Soon, she realized that the constant fluctuation was due to factors outside the walls of her school: Many of the students who began the year at Jefferson were gone, replaced by new faces.
鈥淲hen we started looking at it, it was like peeling back an onion,鈥� Isken says. 鈥淲e knew we were going to have to structure the school to be flexible.鈥�
So Isken and her staff hit the issue of student mobility head-on, by preparing 鈥渨elcoming packets鈥� that were ready to go as soon as a new pupil walked in the door, by posting important procedures on all the classroom walls, and by sitting down with children and their parents to compile family 鈥渉istories.鈥�
鈥淥ften, we found large gaps in schooling鈥攕tudents who had changed schools five times,鈥� the principal says.
The school, part of the six-school, 7,000-student Lennox district not far from the runways of the Los Angeles International Airport, also enhanced its counseling program and even applied for counseling grants to give students the one-on-one attention many of them needed.
That was almost 10 years ago. Now Isken is the principal at Moffett Elementary School, about three blocks away from Jefferson. Once again, she鈥檚 noticing the same enrollment patterns and is trying to institute some of the same practices.
While students always come and go during the school year鈥攑articularly in urban areas鈥攖he problem, many experts say, is that for too long educators have accepted the notion that there is little they can do about it.
鈥淚t鈥檚 almost as if we say, 鈥榃ell, we鈥檙e Americans, so we take this for granted,鈥欌�� says Elizabeth E. Hinz, the director of planning and policy for the 49,000-student Minneapolis school system, where she helped initiate a study on mobility, as well as efforts to reduce it.
But research findings, and the experiences of school administrators, point to a variety of specific鈥� and often simple鈥攎easures that schools can take to both discourage families from transferring their children during the academic year and ease the transition for children who have just been through the process.
And now, with growing demands to hold schools and teachers more accountable for student performance, researchers and educators say the need to address the problems associated with student mobility has never been greater.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 on the minds of a lot of people,鈥� says Sandra Z. Paik, the director of education programs at the Washington-based Poverty and Race Research Action Council, a nonprofit advocacy group that sponsored a conference on mobility last summer. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 assess how a school is doing based on student-achievement scores of students who have not received the benefit of [the school鈥檚] curriculum.鈥�
Students at Risk
Studies show that school performance suffers for children who change schools often for reasons other than the normal progression from one level of schooling to the next.
A 1993 study by Dr. David Wood, who at the time was a professor of pediatrics at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, found that children who had changed schools at least six times between 1st and 12th grade were 35 percent more likely to fail a grade than children who didn鈥檛 move or had just moved a couple of times during that period.
Children who had changed schools at least six times between 1st and 12th grade were 35 percent more likely to fail a grade than children who didn鈥檛 move. |
His study, which appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association, isolated mobility from other risk factors, such as poverty, or living in a single-parent home, and found that frequent moving alone was an 鈥渋mportant predictor鈥� of a child鈥檚 academic performance.
A 1995 study by David Kerbow, a research associate at the University of Chicago鈥檚 Center for School Improvement, found that mobile students in that city, who tend to be from low-income families, were an average of four months behind their more stable classmates on standardized tests by 4th grade. By the 6th grade, students who were highly mobile during elementary school lagged behind their classmates by as much as a full year.
And as with students who are held back a grade, those who often change schools are at greater risk of dropping out, researchers say.
By analyzing data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988, researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara, found that students who had changed schools once during their high school years were less likely to graduate than those who remained in the same high school.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think mobility has been considered as a risk factor as much as it should be,鈥� says Russell W. Rumberger, a professor of education and one of the authors of the study, which appeared in the American Journal of Education in 1998.
While the effects of student mobility might be worse for children living in poor, highly transient communities, experts suggest that being uprooted from friends and familiar surroundings can leave emotional scars on children even if they live in more stable, middle-class families.
鈥淚t鈥檚 almost like grieving,鈥� says Mark Kuranz, a guidance counselor at J.I. Case High School in Racine, Wis., and the president of the American School Counselor Association, based in Alexandria, Va. 鈥淎nd the thing that produces the most anxiety is, 鈥榃hat am I going to do during lunch?鈥� 鈥�
Frequent school changes can take their toll on children in a number of ways. They can become withdrawn or, at the other extreme, overly talkative and aggressive. Others tend to cling to adults, Isken says.
A 1991 report from the National Association of School Psychologists, called 鈥淜ids on the Move: Meeting Their Needs,鈥� said that children who change schools 鈥渘eed as few as six or as many as 18 months to regain a sense of equilibrium, security, and control.鈥�
Children can also appear to be distracted and forgetful about items such as homework or permission slips, adds Isken, who has been a principal for 15 of her 26 years in education. That is usually because 鈥渉ome is not an organized place,鈥� she says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 nowhere to put things.鈥�
Children change schools for a variety of reasons. Families move because of parents鈥� changes in employment, or to get a nicer house. But some families are forced to move because they can鈥檛 pay their rent, or because they鈥檝e been living temporarily with friends or relatives.
Divorce and child- custody issues are common causes of student mobility. But the problem is probably the most concentrated among homeless children, children in the foster- care system, and children of migrant workers.
At the secondary school level, student mobility is often initiated by students themselves who wish to change schools, according to Rumberger鈥檚 research.
Interest Extends Beyond Schools
Because student mobility is usually tied to other factors within a community鈥攕uch as the supply of affordable housing鈥攊nterest in the subject as well as studies on the topic come from a variety of sources, not just from education researchers.
For example, in 1995, Roger D. Colton of Belmont, Mass., from the economics consulting group of Fisher, Sheehan, and Colton, wrote a paper that showed the link between high energy bills and frequent school moves in Missouri.
鈥業 don鈥檛 think mobility has been considered as a risk factor as much as it should be.鈥� Russell W. Rumberger, |
By surveying 813 low-income families in that state, Colton found that among those described as 鈥渇requently mobile,鈥� unaffordable energy bills were often listed as a very important factor in the families鈥� most recent move. Colton concluded that making utility costs more affordable for poorer families would reduce student mobility.
鈥淩ather than addressing the symptom of the problem by committing ever-increasing dollars to the education system, public policy would be well-served by seeking to break the circle of causation that leads to the mobility, and thus the education problem in the first instance,鈥� Colton argued in his study.
In Minneapolis, Hennepin County planners, school officials, and a nonprofit group that promotes affordable housing were among those who joined together to produce a 1998 research report called 鈥淭he Kids Mobility Project.鈥� The researchers found that among elementary school students, there was a relationship between frequent moves and poor reading performance.
Children who had moved at least three times during their elementary years had reading scores on nationally normed tests that averaged 20 points lower on a 99-point scale than those of children who had not moved.
What鈥檚 surprising about the sample in Minneapolis, however, is that very few of those residential moves actually resulted in the students鈥� switching schools. Still, the effect on achievement was clear.
鈥淭hat was really dramatic,鈥� says Hinz of the Minneapolis school district. Hinz, who initiated the mobility project, adds that the study suggests that even if children are not leaving the classroom, teachers and administrators should be aware when students鈥� addresses might be changing. They might have the same problems adjusting and concentrating on schoolwork as children who are actually new to the school.
Just as research on mobility has come from some unexpected groups, so can some of the efforts to reduce it.
For example, David B. Schuler, a landlord in Rochester, N.Y., began working in the late 1980s with his local apartment owners鈥� association to discourage families from moving during the school year. A study Schuler conducted found that the group鈥檚 efforts had helped cut mobility in the Rochester district鈥檚 elementary schools by 38 percent in just a year.
鈥淚f we just told the parents that this would hurt their child, we got a massive response,鈥� says Schuler. Not just landlords, but also banking institutions, welfare agencies, and others in the community can help reduce mobility, he believes.
Deborah Stein, the director for policy and advocacy at the Washington-based National Association for Child Advocates, agrees.
鈥淭here are a lot of broader policy solutions,鈥� says Stein. One of the 鈥渢wo messages in the public-policy arena these days that really carry political weight,鈥� she argues, is getting children ready for school and helping them succeed.
The other, she says, is helping working families. Under the 1996 federal welfare-reform law, Stein says, states have a lot of flexibility, for example, to offer short- term aid or one-time payments to families that are close to the poverty line. The money can be used for a rent payment, thereby helping the family avoid an eviction and probably a school transfer.
Stein adds that the educational impact of mobility should be communicated to other professionals who work with poor families.
鈥楳ove Strategically鈥�
Still, schools themselves can take some specific and practical steps if they are facing high student turnover.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 tell people not to move,鈥� says Barbara Buell, the executive director of the Chicago Panel on School Policy, an advocacy group that initiated 鈥淪taying Put,鈥� an information campaign to combat mobility in that city. 鈥淲e can say to them, however, 鈥楳ove strategically, and think about when you鈥檙e going to take your kids out of school.鈥欌��
Children, for example, are encouraged to compile what Buell calls a 鈥渕y best yet鈥� folder. Based on the idea of a portfolio assessment, students who might be moving can tuck away their best work and take it with them to show their new teachers.
Schools are urged to conduct 鈥渆xit interviews,鈥� meaning that when a parent is about to transfer a child out of a school, the principal, or some other administrator, sits down with family members and asks them why they are leaving and whether they can postpone the change, preferably until the end of the school year.
Amanda Rivera, the principal of Ames Middle School in Chicago, is one administrator who has taken that advice to heart.
鈥淲hen parents say they want to transfer, we make sure they know they have the option to stay, and we encourage them to stay,鈥� Rivera says.
Schools can also advise parents or guardians to ask for copies of their children鈥檚 school records so they can provide the new school with important documents when they show up for registration.
While records are supposed to follow the child to his or her new school, experts say the mishandling and red tape involved in getting vital educational information to the right person can often make a troubling experience for a child even worse鈥攅specially if that child has special needs.
鈥淭he reality is that the bureaucracy moves slowly,鈥� Buell says.
Buell also suggests that teachers in schools with high turnover occasionally teach lessons from the perspective of a new student, or talk about how a child who didn鈥檛 move away might feel about losing a friend.
She acknowledges that even though the 鈥淪taying Put鈥� materials were distributed to the district more than a year ago, she鈥檚 not sure how widely they are being used in the Chicago schools. She has heard from individual principals, though, who have found the suggestions to be useful. Experts, in fact, note that aggressive efforts to do something to reduce student mobility usually don鈥檛 go much higher than an individual principal.
Educators can also institute routines and programs that make their schools more welcoming to new students. Many schools, particularly elementary schools, pair new pupils with 鈥渂uddies鈥� who can show them around for a few days. It鈥檚 helpful, says Kuranz of the American School Counselor Association, if the youngster guiding the new student has also changed schools in the past.
It鈥檚 also important, he adds, to quickly find out what new students鈥� interests are and try to find ways for them to plug in to school activities.
Other schools have been fortunate enough to be able to assign a staff person to work just with new families, especially if the schools receive a lot of immigrant and non-English-speaking students. And some schools have even set up special 鈥渢ransitional鈥� classes for new students to attend temporarily until they are better acquainted with their new surroundings.
In Minneapolis, the outcome of the mobility project was a renewed emphasis on the importance of school attendance, in the hope that if parents realized how necessary it was for their children to be in school, they might reconsider their plans.
The authors of the mobility report, which was completed in 1998, also stressed the value of a standardized curriculum for students who are bouncing around within a district.
鈥淭he district needs to continue efforts to implement a core district curriculum and consistent standards, so that when students move, they easily understand what is expected of them in their new school,鈥� the report advised.
Still, every school transfer is likely to put a child further behind, even if schools in a district are at roughly the same place in the curriculum, says Kerbow of the University of Chicago. For that reason, he says, schools should be ready to provide all new students with extra academic help.
Whatever approach teachers and administrators decide to take, Buell emphasizes that schools should have a menu of strategies. For example, a buddy or 鈥減eer helper鈥� program by itself may not be enough for a child who has moved repeatedly throughout the school year and is feeling angry.
Escaping a 鈥楤ad Situation鈥�
If a student is planning to transfer not because of a residential move but because of a problem at the school itself, researchers say educators should try to intervene and perhaps resolve the problem that is prompting the student to want to leave.
In his 1999 study on mobility in California, which focused on a sample of more than 1,100 secondary school students, Rumberger found that many school transfers were initiated by students. Parents surveyed listed social isolation and feeling unsafe at school as some of the reasons the adolescents wanted to change.
And in Chicago, Kerbow鈥檚 research revealed that 40 percent of the school transfers at the elementary level were due to reasons other than a residential move.
Building strong relationships with children and parents can be |
Rivera, from Ames Middle School in Chicago, observes that principals probably won鈥檛 know why a child is leaving unless they ask. Of course, sometimes teachers or administrators don鈥檛 know that a school transfer is in the works.
鈥淭hey鈥檒l come in the day of the move, and then they won鈥檛 come in again, ever,鈥� says Isken, the principal at California鈥檚 Moffett Elementary School.
While researchers agree that sometimes starting over in a new environment can be positive for a child, more often than not students are trying to 鈥渆scape a bad situation rather than to actively seek a better situation,鈥� Rumberger wrote.
When the problem is brought to an administrator鈥檚 attention, it can sometimes be alleviated, and the transfer can be avoided.
Studies show that a lot of mobility takes place within a district. For that reason, experts say, it鈥檚 wise to first explore the possibility that a child won鈥檛 have to change schools, even if he or she moves out of the attendance area.
For example, a program called KIDZConnection, which serves homeless children in the 15,000-student Victoria, Texas, school district, uses the motto 鈥淥ne Child, One School, One Year,鈥� and provides transportation to those students to make the slogan a reality.
Even though transportation services cannot be provided in other cases, Gail V. Brocklebank, a community specialist for the Victoria district, said it鈥檚 the district鈥檚 philosophy to keep a child in his or her school after a move, if at all possible.
Parents in Chicago, as Rivera points out, have the option of keeping their children in the same school for the remainder of the academic year if their new addresses are within a five-mile radius of the school.
But even though that is the policy of the 432,000-student Chicago system鈥攁nd might be similar to the policies of many other districts鈥攊t鈥檚 not always advertised, Kerbow found.
鈥淭here is actually a disincentive to keep highly mobile students in the classroom,鈥� because they are not likely to raise a school鈥檚 test scores for accountability purposes, Kerbow says.
It鈥檚 for that reason that Isken, in the Lennox district, says she is more concerned about such students than ever before. Because resources are limited, she鈥檚 worried that many children in her overwhelmingly Hispanic district will not get the help they need if they skip from school to school.
At the same time, she adds, building strong relationships with children and parents can be the greatest prevention against the emotional and academic costs of high mobility.
鈥淭hey will try to keep their kids in this school,鈥� Isken says, 鈥渆ven if they move five or six times.鈥�
The Research section is underwritten by a grant from the Spencer Foundation.
