| Recent statistics showed that more than 40% of third graders nationally had changed schools at least once since first grade, and 17% had changed schools two or more times (GAO, 1994). Numerous negative developmental outcomes have been associated with high rates of student transfers, or student mobility, such as poor academic achievement (e.g., Johnson & Lindblad, 1991) and behavior problems (e.g., Hefner, 1994). Although some authors have asserted that community level factors, such as availability of affordable housing (Johnson & Lindblad, 1991), family stability and employment (Ingersoll, Scamman, & Eckerling, 1989; Newman, 1988), influence student mobility rates, empirical investigations have not focused on these extra-individual influences.;Using Bronfenbrenner's (1979) Ecological Theory as a framework, the current study sought to identify potential social systems that contribute to student mobility, specifically by: identifying the reasons parents provided for their child's school transfers; exploring the experiences of parents of mobile students in securing housing and employment and interacting with schools; identifying the community level variables that best discriminated between geographic areas in which mobile and non-mobile children live; and identifying the microsystem, mesosystem, and exosystem variables that most strongly associate with high student mobility.;Data were collected from parents of former St. Joseph, Missouri, elementary school students through in-depth interviews and a mail survey. Archival data from the Census Bureau, the City of St. Joseph, and the School District also were used. Interview and survey findings showed that residential moves were the primary reason for student mobility. In addition, parents in the mobile groups differed from parents in the non-mobile group in the number of residential changes and in the ease of finding housing and employment. Results of a discriminant analysis of archival community data showed that families of mobile students tended to reside in geographic areas with lower median incomes and a higher ratio of renter-occupied housing units. Results of additional analyses showed that neighborhood microsystem, parent-school mesosystem, and neighborhood and city exosystem variables associated with residential and school mobility. Recommendations for prevention were made that focus on increasing economic and housing stability and parent involvement in schools. |
