Head Start Children: School Mobility and Achievement in the Early Grades

Abstract The relationship of 2 school mobility indices (school changes and parental perceptions of mobility effects) to 2nd-grade academic achievement was examined. The sample comprised 90 children who had attended Head Start and had made the transition to public school. Data also were obtained from the children's mothers. School mobility was defined as the number of school transfers over 3 years (kindergarten to Grade 2). Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that frequent school changes in the primary grades were related to lower achievement levels even after controlling for the child's sex and the effects of achievement prior to the school moves.

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