NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS Urban Schools The Challenge of Location and Poverty U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Research and Improvement NCES 96-184 NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS June 1996 Urban Schools The Challenge of Location and Poverty Laura Lippman Shelley Burns Edith McArthur National Center for Education Statistics With contributions by: Robert Burton Thomas M. Smith National Center for Education Statistics Phil Kaufman MPR Associates, Inc. U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Research and Improvement NCES 96-184 U.S. Department of Education Richard W. Riley Secretary Office of Educational Research and Improvement Sharon P. Robinson Assistant Secretary National Center for Education Statistics Jeanne E. Griffith Acting Commissioner Data Development and Longitudinal Studies Group John H. Ralph Acting Associate Commissioner National Center for Education Statistics “The purpose of the Center shall be to collect, and analyze, and disseminate statistics and other data related to education in the United States and in other nations.”—Section 406(b) of the General Education Provisions Act, as amended (20 U.S.C. 1221e-1). June 1996 Contents Page Foreword . iii Acknowledgments . iv Executive Summary . .v List of Figures . xvi List of Charts and Tables . xxvii 1. INTRODUCTION . 1 Previous Research on School Location and Poverty Concentration . 2 Student Level . 2 School Level . 2 Neighborhood Level . 3 The Setting: Urban Schools and Communities . 4 Urban Schools . 4 School Poverty Concentration . 5 Student Minority Status . 8 Community Risk Factors . 11 Approach . 13 Sources . 16 Definitions of Urbanicity and Poverty Concentration . 17 2. EDUCATION OUTCOMES . 19 Summary of This Chapter’s Findings . 20 Student Achievement . 24 Findings . 24 Academic Achievement of 8th Graders . 26 Academic Achievement of 10th Graders . 28 Did 10th-Grade Achievement Change Between 1980 and 1990? . 30 Educational Attainment . 31 Findings . 31 High School Completion . 32 Postsecondary Degree Attainment . 34 Economic Outcomes . 36 Findings . 36 Early Productive Activities . 38 Later Productive Activities . 40 Unemployment . 42 Poverty Status . 44 Page xiii Contents—Continued Page 3. STUDENT BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS AND AFTERSCHOOL ACTIVITIES . 47 Summary of This Chapter’s Findings . 48 Student Background Characteristics . 51 Findings . 51 Two-Parent Families . .52 Parental Employment . 54 Parents’ Educational Attainment . 58 School Mobility . 60 Parents’ Expectations for Their Child’s Education . 62 Parent and Child Conversations About School . 64 Afterschool Activities . 67 Findings . 67 Student Participation in Extracurricular Sports . 67 School Sports Offerings . 68 Sports Participation . 70 Employment of 10th-Grade Students . 72 4. SCHOOL EXPERIENCES . 75 Summary of This Chapter’s Findings . 76 School Resources and Staff . 81 Findings . 81 Availability of Resources . 82 Teacher Salaries . 84 Teacher Experience . 86 Difficulty Hiring Teachers . ..