School mobility and educational outcomes of off-reserve First Nations students

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by Annie Turner and Amanda Thompson

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• Introduction
• Data source, concepts and analysis
• Results
• Discussion
• Limitations
• Future directions
• Conclusion
• Acknowledgements
• References
• Appendices
• Notes

Text begins

Introduction

School mobility—changing schools—can have a negative effect on children’s academic success. Research in the general population has shown that changing schools is associated with difficulties in school (Mehana and Reynolds, 2004; Mantzicopoulos and Knutson, 2000; Demie, 2002; Alexander, Entwistle and Dauber, 1996). A change of schools may affect academic achievement because it breaks up peer groups and requires children to adapt to new teachers and a new learning environment (Alexander, Entwisle and Dauber, 1996). School mobility has been related to socioeconomic status, in that the students most likely to change schools tend to live in lower-income families, lone-parent families, and families headed by parents who are not high school graduates (Wood, Halfon, Scarlata, Newacheck and Nissim, 1993).

Studying school changes among First Nations people may be particularly relevant, given their comparatively high residential mobility and less favourable educational outcomes. According to the National Household Survey (NHS), in 2011, 22% of off-reserve First Nations people^Note 1 were at an address different from where they had lived five years earlier; the corresponding percentage for non-Aboriginal people was 18% (Statistics Canada, 2011a). Also, NHS results show that 31% of 25- to 64-year-old off-reserve First Nations people did not have a high school diploma,^Note 2 compared with 15% of the non-Aboriginal population in the same age group (Statistics Canada, 2011b).

The Canadian Council on Learning (2008) has identified school mobility as a contributing factor to low high school completion rates among Aboriginal people. Aman (2008) reported that school mobility was associated with dropping out of high school among Aboriginal students in British Columbia, and as the number of moves increased, the likelihood of high school completion decreased. However, research on the impact of school mobility on First Nations students is limited.

Based on data from the 2012 Aboriginal Peoples Survey, the aim of this paper is to understand how changing schools for reasons other than regular progression is related to the academic outcomes of off-reserve First Nations students. This study examines the reasons students in Grades 1 to 6 and in Grades 7 to 12^Note 3 last moved schools (regular progression, residential move, academic performance, or problematic school interactions). Then, the characteristics of movers and non-movers (see Conceptualizing school mobility groups for definitions) are compared: student characteristics (for example, age, sex, registered Indian status); family characteristics (for example, household income, living arrangements, parental education); and school support characteristics (for example, parental involvement in school activities). Finally, movers’ and non-movers’ school outcomes (grades on last report card, happiness at school, ever repeated a grade, and receipt of help from a tutor) are compared to determine if having one “non-regular” progression school move was  negatively related to academic success. Separate analyses are conducted for students in Grades 1 to 6 and those in Grades 7 to 12.

Results

Different reasons for moves

Since starting preschool, 70% of off-reserve First Nations students in Grades 1 to 6 had changed schools, as had 48% of students in Grades 7 to 12 since they started Grade 7.

The reasons for these changes differed between the two groups. For students in Grades 1 to 6, the most common reason was a residential (family or child/teen moved) move (42%); those in Grades 7 to 12 were much less likely to have changed schools for this reason (20%) (Table 1). Another 35% of Grades 1 to 6 students who changed schools did so because of regular progression through the school system, whereas this was the reason among the majority—63%—of students in Grades 7 to 12 who changed schools. Grades 1 to 6 students were significantly more likely than those in Grades 7 to 12 to have moved because of a school closure or because a new school opened closer to home: 7% versus 3%^E. The percentages of students in Grades 1 to 6 or in Grades 7 to 12 who moved because they were seeking a specific cultural/curriculum or program did not differ significantly.

Table 1
Reason for last school move for off-reserve First Nations students in grades 1 to 6 or Grades 7 to 12, Canada, 2012
Table summary
This table displays the results of Reason for last school move for off-reserve First Nations students in grades 1 to 6 or Grades 7 to 12. The information is grouped by Reason for last
school move (appearing as row headers), Grades 1 to 6 and Grades 7 to 12, calculated using percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).

Reason for last school move	Grades 1 to 6Note 1	Grades 7 to 12Note 2
	percent
Regular progression	34.7	62.7Note *
Family/Child move	42.1	20.2Note *
Academic performance/Problematic social interaction	3.7Note E: Use with caution	5.2Note E: Use with caution
School closed/New school opened close to home	7.0	2.8
Seeking specific cultural/curriculum program	7.2	4.8
Other	5.3Note E: Use with caution	4.2
E use with caution Note * significantly different from estimate for students in grades 1 to 6 (p< .05) Return to note * referrer Note 1. Reasons for last school move since starting preschool. Return to note 1 referrer Note 2. Reasons for last school move since starting grade 7. Return to note 2 referrer Source: Statistics Canada, Aboriginal Peoples Survey, 2012.

Conceptualizing school mobility groups

Based on the number of schools attended and the reason for the last change of school, two categories of students were identified for further analysis: movers and non-movers. Movers had attended two schools because of non-regular progression (for example, a residential move or academic performance/social interaction problems). Non-movers had attended only one school or had attended two schools, but the reason for the move was regular academic progression (for example, from elementary to high school).

Research suggests that changing schools because of regular progression does not have the same effect on academic success as changes due to non-regular progression (Demie, 2002; Alexander and Entwisle, 1996; Aman, 2008). With a regular progression move, children tend to change schools with other students, leaving peer groups intact and requiring all students adapt to a new curriculum and new teachers. Regular progression moves are also generally timed with breaks in curriculum (Alexander and Entwisle, 1996).

Preliminary analysis of the APS data confirmed that off-reserve First Nations students who reported one regular progression school move had academic outcomes similar to those of students who attended only one school from preschool to Grade 6 or from Grades 7 to 12. For example, the percentage of students in Grades 7 to 12 who had ever repeated a grade was 14% among those who had never moved schools and 13% among those with one regular progression move. (Table A.1 presents all school outcomes). Therefore, for this study, students with one regular progression move were combined with those who had never moved schools in the non-movers group.

Based on these definitions, 20% of off-reserve First Nations students in Grades 1 to 6 were movers, and 49% were non-movers. Among students in Grades 7 to 12, 13% were movers and 77% were non-movers. The remaining students—31% of those in Grades 1 to 6 (n = 690) and 10% of those in Grades 7 to 12 (n = 241)—had attended more than two schools. Although the number of times a student changed schools is important to understanding the effect of school mobility (Aman, 2008), the APS asked the reason for only the last school move. This precludes identifying the nature of each move (regular or non-regular progression) for students who changed schools more than once. Thus, the rest of the analysis excludes students who attended more than two schools. The exclusion of multiples facilitates interpretation of the results, but it is a limitation of the study in that the cumulative effect of school moves could not be examined.^Note 4

Some differences in characteristics between movers and non-movers

Among students in Grades 1 to 6, movers were more likely than non-movers to be Status Indians (68% versus 58%); to need or receive help because of a behavioural/emotional problem (41% versus 23%); and to live in a population centre (88% versus 76%) (Table 2).

Table 2
Selected characteristics of off-reserve First Nations students in Grades 1 to 6, school movers and non-movers, Canada, 2012
Table summary
This table displays the results of Selected characteristics of off-reserve First Nations students in Grades 1 to 6. The information is grouped by Grades 1 to 6 (appearing as row headers), Total students in Grades 1 to 6 n=2,345, Movers
n= 429 and Non-movers
n=1,206, calculated using percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).

Grades 1 to 6	Total students in Grades 1 to 6 n=2,345	Movers n= 429	Non-movers n=1,206
	percent
Student characteristics
Sex	100.0	100.0	100.0
Male	51.4	51.5	52.5
Female	48.6	48.5	47.5
Age
Mean age in years	8.6	8.5	8.2
Registered Indian Status	100.0	100.0	100.0
Status Indian	62.8	67.8Note *	57.6
Non-Status Indian	37.2	32.2Note *	42.4
Needs/Receives help because of behavioural and/or emotional problem	100.0	100.0	100.0
Yes	29.3	41.1Note *	22.8
No	70.7	58.9Note *	77.2
Diagnosed learning disability	100.0	100.0	100.0
Yes	12.7	14.2Note E: Use with caution	10.6
No	87.3	85.8	89.4
Family characteristics
Household income	100.0	100.0	100.0
In lowest income quartile	24.9	28.8	21.9
Not in lowest income quartile	75.1	71.2	78.1
Living arrangements of student	100.0	100.0	100.0
With two parents	39.7	36.2	44.1
With one parent	41.1	42.5	37.8
With other relatives, non-relatives only or foster parent(s) only	19.2	21.4	18.1
Highest level of parental education	100.0	100.0	100.0
Two parents/guardians have high school graduation or more	55.9	53.2	57.9
One parent/guardian has high school graduation or more	29.6	32.2	28.4
No parent/guardian has high school graduation or more	14.5	14.7	13.7
Residence	100.0	100.0	100.0
Rural area	18.5	11.9Note *	24.2
Population centre	81.5	88.1Note *	75.8
School support characteristics
Parental involvement in school activities	100.0	100.0	100.0
Yes	94.3	94.7	95.2
No	5.7	Note F: too unreliable to be published	4.9Note E: Use with caution
School supports Aboriginal culture	100.0	100.0	100.0
Strongly agree/Agree	67.8	61.0	68.0
Disagree/Strongly disagree	32.2	39.0	32.0
E use with caution F too unreliable to be published Note * significantly different from estimate for Non-movers (p< .05) Return to note * referrer Source: Statistics Canada, Aboriginal Peoples Survey, 2012.

For students in Grades 7 to 12, four characteristics of movers and non-movers differed significantly. Movers were more likely than non-movers to live in a lower income household (38%^E versus 22%); to have parents/guardians with less than high school graduation (25% versus 9%^E), to live in a population centre (86% versus 77%), and less likely to have parents who were involved in school activities (52% versus 65%) (Table 3).

Table 3
Selected characteristics of off-reserve First Nations students in Grades 7 to 12, school movers and non-movers, Canada, 2012
Table summary
This table displays the results of Selected characteristics of off-reserve First Nations students in Grades 7 to 12. The information is grouped by Grades 7 to 12 (appearing as row headers), Total students in Grades 7 to 12 n = 2,366, Movers
n = 253 and Non-movers
n = 1,858 , calculated using percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).

Grades 7 to 12	Total students in Grades 7 to 12 n = 2,366	Movers n = 253	Non-movers n = 1,858
	percent
Student characteristics
Sex	100.0	100.0	100.0
Male	51.8	57.5	51.9
Female	48.2	42.5	48.1
Age
Mean age in years	14.7	14.9	14.5
Registered Indian Status	100.0	100.0	100.0
Status Indian	58.5	64.8	56.7
Non-Status Indian	41.5	35.2	43.3
Needs/Receives help because of behavioural and/or emotional problem	100.0	100.0	100.0
Yes	30.5	28.3Note E: Use with caution	29.4
No	69.5	71.7	70.6
Diagnosed learning disability	100.0	100.0	100.0
Yes	16.7	14.6Note E: Use with caution	16.5
No	83.3	85.4	83.5
Family characteristics
Household income	100.0	100.0	100.0
In lowest income quartile	25.0	38.0Note E: Use with cautionNote *	21.8
Not in lowest income quartile	75.0	62.0Note *	78.2
Living arrangements of student	100.0	100.0	100.0
With two parents	39.7	34.2Note E: Use with caution	42.3
With one parent	44.5	51.3	43.1
With other relatives, non-relatives only or foster parent(s) only	15.9	Note F: too unreliable to be published	14.6
Highest level of parental education	100.0	100.0	100.0
Two parents/guardians have high school graduation or more	56.9	47.6	59.3
One parent/guardian has high school graduation or more	31.8	27.0	31.8Note E: Use with caution
No parent/guardian has high school graduation or more	11.3	25.4Note *	8.9Note E: Use with caution
Residence	100.0	100.0	100.0
Rural area	20.7	13.9	23.1
Population centre	79.3	86.1Note *	76.9
School support characteristics
Parental involvement in school activities	100.0	100.0	100.0
Yes	62.4	52.3Note *	65.1
No	37.6	47.7Note *	34.9
School supports Aboriginal culture	100.0	100.0	100.0
Strongly agree/Agree	68.9	61.4	69.3
Disagree/Strongly disagree	31.1	38.6Note E: Use with caution	30.7
E use with caution F too unreliable to be published Note * significantly different from estimate for Non-movers (p< .05) Return to note * referrer Source: Statistics Canada, Aboriginal Peoples Survey, 2012.

Less favourable school outcomes

Based on four measures of school success, off-reserve  First Nations students who were movers had less favourable outcomes than those who were non-movers. Grades 1 to 6 students who were movers were significantly more likely than non-movers to have repeated a grade (10%^E versus 6%^E) and to have received help from a tutor (33% versus 22%) (Chart 1).

Description for chart 1

In Grades 7 to 12, movers were less likely than non-movers to get mostly As on their last report card (22% versus 34%) or to be happy at school (80% versus 90%) (Chart 2). As well, 28%^E of movers had repeated a grade, compared with 13% of non-movers.

Description for chart 2

Of course, academic outcomes are influenced by factors other than school mobility, such as household income and parental education. Moreover, these factors are also related to the likelihood of changing schools. Yet even when the potentially confounding effects of student, family and school support characteristics were controlled, the association between changing schools and repeating a grade remained significant for off-reserve First Nations students in Grades 1 to 6. The odds of ever repeating a grade were twice as high among movers as among non-movers. However, the relationship between school mobility and receiving help from a tutor was no longer statistically significant (Results shown in Table A.2).

Similarly, for students in Grades 7 to 12, the association between changing schools and repeating a grade remained significant when the other characteristics were taken into account. By contrast, the relationships between school mobility and getting mostly As on the last report card and happiness at school were not significant when the influence of these characteristics was considered (Results shown in Table A.3).

Discussion

In 2012, 20% of off-reserve First Nations students in Grades 1 to 6 had experienced a non-regular progression change of schools since starting preschool; among students in Grades 7 to 12, 13% had had a non-regular progression change of schools since Grade 7.

Studies of the general population have consistently shown that school movers are more likely than non-movers to live in lower-income families and families headed by parent(s) with less than high school education, and to have behavioural problems or learning disabilities (Demie, 2002; Wood, Halfon, Scarlata, Newacheck and Nissim, 1993). Similarly, the present analysis shows that movers in Grades 1 to 6 were significantly more likely than non-movers to need or receive help because of behavioural/emotional problems. Among students in Grades 7 to 12, movers were more likely than non-movers to live in lower-income households, to have parents with less than high school graduation and less likely to have parents who were involved in school activities.

For the general population, changing schools has been associated with difficulties in school (Mehana & Reynolds, 2004; Mantzicopoulos and Knutson, 2000; Demie, 2002; Alexander, Entwisle and Dauber, 1996). According to the present study, off-reserve First Nations students in Grades 1 to 6 and Grades 7 to 12 who had one non-regular progression move were more likely than those who did not change schools to have repeated a grade. Moreover, this association persisted in multivariate analyses that controlled for other potentially confounding characteristics such as household income, living arrangements, behavioural and emotional problems, learning disabilities, and parental education.

Limitations

The APS was completed almost entirely by proxy for students in Grades 1 to 6 and for two-thirds of students in Grades 7 to 12. Proxy reports of student and familial characteristics and of school success indicators may be influenced by social desirability considerations (respondents answer questions in a way they expect to be more favourable) and the extent to which the proxy reporter is aware of the child’s school experience.

Another limitation is that the APS is cross-sectional. Temporal relationships between school mobility and school outcomes cannot be determined. It is not possible to know if poor academic achievement precedes or follows school mobility.

As well, the present study examined the association between only one change of schools and academic outcomes. The cumulative effect of multiple school changes was not assessed because the reason (regular or non-regular progression) could be determined for only the last move. This is particularly important for the Aboriginal population, given that their rate of high school completion has been shown to decrease with the number of moves (Aman, 2008).              

Additionally, it was not possible to look at school moves that occurred before Grade 7 for students in Grades 7 to 12. Therefore, associations between changing schools prior to Grade 7 and academic outcomes cannot be determined.

Future directions

The results of this analysis suggest a number of avenues for further study. For example, factors that might be protective against the negative associations between school mobility and academic outcomes among off-reserve First Nations students might be examined. The results of the multivariate analysis in this study show that in addition to school mobility, several other variables were significantly related to academic outcomes. Some of these associations were anticipated, and the factors (female sex, learning disability, household income and parental education) are not amenable to intervention. However, support of Aboriginal culture by the school, and for Grades 7 to 12 students, parental participation in school activities, were positively related to some measures of academic success and warrant further investigation.

Future studies of school mobility could examine associations with high school graduation, because data about Aboriginal people who completed high school and those who did not are available from the APS.

An examination of school mobility among off-reserve First Nations students by region could also be explored in light of curriculum differences in various jurisdictions (for example, provincial, on- or off-reserve schools, rural versus population centre residence).

As well, an analysis focusing only on multiple school moves could enhance understanding of the impact of school mobility. Future data collection might include questions about the reasons for each school move.

Conclusion

This study explored some of the reasons off-reserve First Nations students attending Grades 1 to 6 or Grades 7 to 12 last changed schools and compared the academic outcomes of movers and non-movers. The purpose was to determine if a non-regular progression school move was negatively related to academic success among off-reserve First Nations students.

Compared with students who did not change schools, those who did tended to have less favourable academic outcomes: movers in Grades 1 to 6 were more likely to have repeated a grade and to have received help from a tutor; movers in Grades 7 to 12 were less likely to get mostly As on their report card or to be happy at school and more likely to have repeated a grade. Even when the effects of variables such as age, sex, household income, living arrangements and rural/population centre residence were taken into account, off-reserve First Nations students who had a non-regular progression school move had significantly high odds of repeating a grade. Therefore, the rates of school mobility among First Nations students are important in understanding their academic outcomes.

Acknowledgements

The authors appreciatively acknowledge the input of Leanne Findlay and Dafna Kohen from the Health Analysis Division at Statistics Canada for their feedback on this report.

Appendices

References

Alexander, K.L., D.R. Entwisle and S.L. Dauber. 1996. “Children in Motion: School Transfers and Elementary School Performance.” Journal of Educational Research. Vol. 90, pp.3-12.

Aman, C. 2008. “Aboriginal Students and School Mobility in British Columbia Public Schools.” Alberta Journal of Educational Research. Vol. 54, Iss. 4, pp. 365-378. https://www.tru.ca/__shared/assets/Aman_2008_Aboriginal_Students_and_School_Mobility_in_British_Columbia_Public_Schools23593.pdf

Canadian Council on Learning. 2008. Students on the move: Ways to address the impact of mobility among Aboriginal students. http://www.ccl-cca.ca/pdfs/LessonsInLearning/May-15-08-Students-on-the-m.pdf

Demie, F. 2002. “Pupil Mobility and Educational Achievement in Schools: An Empirical Analysis.” Educational Research. Vol. 4, pp 197-215.

Heinlein & Shinn, 2000. “School Mobility and Student Achievement in an Urban Setting.” Psychology in the Schools. Vol. 37(4) pp. 349-357.

Mantzicopoulos, P.Y and D.J. Knutson. 2000. “Head Start Children: School Mobility and Achievement in the Early Grades.” Journal of Educational Research. Vol. 93, pp. 305-311.

Mehana, M. and A.J. Reynolds. 2004. “School mobility and achievement: a meta-analysis.” Children and Youth Services Review. Vol. 26, pp. 93-119.

Phillips, O. 2004. “Using Bootstrap Weights with WesVar and SUDAAN.” Research Data Centres, Information and Technical Bulletin, Vol. 1 no. 2, 6-15. See http://www.statcan.gc.ca/bsolc/olc-cel/olc-cel?catno=12-002-X20040027032&lang=eng (accessed December 16, 2014).

Reynolds, Chen & Herbers. 2009. School mobility and Educational Success: A Research Synthesis and Evidence on Prevention. University of Minnesota.  http://www.iom.edu/~/media/Files/Activity%20Files/Children/ChildMobility/Reynolds%20Chen%20and%20Herbers.pdf

Statistics Canada, 2011a. National Household Survey, custom tabulation.

Statistics Canada, 2011b. Secondary (High) School Diploma or Equivalent (14), Labour Force Status (8), Aboriginal Identity (8), Area of Residence: On Reserve (3), Registered or Treaty Indian Status (3), Age Groups (13B) and Sex (3) for the Population Aged 15 Years and Over, in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, 2011 National Household Survey. Catalogue number: 99-012-X2011044

Wood, D., N. Halfon, D. Scarlata, P. Newacheck, and S. Nissim.1993. “Impact of Family Relocation on Children’s Growth, Development, School Function and Behavior.”  Journal of the American Medical Association. Vol. 270, pp. 1334-1338.

Notes