<p class="first" id="P2">School facility conditions, environment, and perceptions
of safety and learning have
been investigated for their impact on child development. However, it is important
to consider how the environment separately influences academic performance and attendance
after controlling for school and community factors. Using results from the Maryland
School Assessment, we considered outcomes of school-level proficiency in reading and
math plus attendance and chronic absences, defined as missing 20 or more days, for
grades 3-5 and 6-8 at 158 urban schools. Characteristics of the environment included
school facility conditions, density of nearby roads, and an index industrial air pollution.
Perceptions of school safety, learning, and institutional environment were acquired
from a School Climate Survey. Also considered were neighborhood factors at the community
statistical area, including demographics, crime, and poverty based on school location.
Poisson regression adjusted for over-dispersion was used to model academic achievement
and multiple linear models were used for attendance. Each 10-unit change in facility
condition index, denoting worse quality buildings, was associated with a decrease
in reading (1.0% (95% CI: 0.1-1.9%) and math scores (0.21% (95% CI: 0.20-0.40), while
chronic absences increased by 0.75% (95% CI: 0.30-1.39). Each log increase the EPA’s
Risk Screening Environmental Indicator (RSEI) value for industrial hazards, resulted
in a marginally significant trend of increasing absenteeism (p<0.06), but no association
was observed with academic achievement. All results were robust to school-level measures
of racial composition, free and reduced meals eligibility, and community poverty and
crime. These findings provide empirical evidence for the importance of the community
and school environment, including building conditions and neighborhood toxic substance
risk, on academic achievement and attendance.
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