Context: In what sort of neighborhoods did the 6th-graders live?
Related Indicators for page Middle School Experiences: Page 5:
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% of Population Under 18 Below Poverty
% of population under age 18 living below poverty
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Median Household Income
Median household income
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% of Households that are Lingustically Isolated
% of households that are linguistically isolated
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% of Population 25+ with Some College - No Degree
% of population 25+ with some college, no degree
At least 3,300 (60%) of the sixth graders for whom we had addresses lived in a Census tract where a majority of adults over age 25 had a high school diploma or less.
Neighborhoods matter. When most adults in a neighborhood have low educational attainment, children might see low attainment as normalized. Nationally, 43% of adults over age 25 have a high school diploma or less.
Similarly -- click the "select attribute to see the full menu of choices -- children who live in concentrated poverty see few alternative models for themselves. While families have the strongest influence on children's expectations, communities are powerful too, in ways both encouraging and discouraging. Context matters to kids.
Also note the attribute: "Overcrowding." Rhode Island is the second-densest state in the U.S. Many of these data suggest sometimes-strained family circumstances that can limit adult attention to a child's academic needs.
