School Adjustment in the Early Grades: Toward an Integrated Model of Neighborhood, Parental, and Child Processes

Source: Review of Educational Research  2008 78:  3-32.

Examining recent research on neighborhood influences on child development, this review focuses on social influences on school adjustment in the early elementary years. A model to guide community research and intervention is presented. The components of the model of integrated processes are neighborhoods and their effects on academic outcomes and neighborhoods as moderators of effects of parental behavior on school-related outcomes.

The findings on neighborhood risk factors as moderators of the association between school adjustment and family and child risks are also considered. The review concludes with a summary and a discussion of gaps in the literature of contextual factors and child outcomes.