The Joint Effects of Neighborhoods, Schools, Peers, and Families on Changes in the School Success of Middle School Students*

• Author: Roderick A. Rose,Gary L. Bowen,Joelle D. Powers,Elizabeth J. Glennie
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2008.00518.x
• Published date: 01 October 2008
• Date: 01 October 2008

The Joint Effects of Neighborhoods, Schools, Peers, and

Families on Changes in the School Success of

Middle School Students*

Gary L. Bowen Roderick A. Rose Joelle D. Powers Elizabeth J. Glennie**

Abstract: Longitudinal self-report data from 4,071 students are used to examine the degree to which students’ per-

ceptions of their social environments (people and places) are associated with changes in 3 school success outcomes:

school engagement, trouble avoidance, and grades. Specific variable dimensions within the neighborhood, peer, and

family domains had significant effects on one or more of these school outcomes. Implications of the findings for

further research and intervention practice are discussed, including the availability of a Web-based resource for link-

ing these findings with evidence-based intervention and prevention strategies.

Key Words: evidence-based practice, intervention research, middle school students, school success, social environment.

School success is vital to youth development into

competent and productive members of society, yet

the rates of school failure in the United States

are alarming (KewalRamani, Gilbertson, Fox, &

Provasnik, 2007). A growing body of research sug-

gests that students’ relationships and experiences in

their neighborhood, school, peer group, and family

influence specific outcomes associated with school

success (Richman, Bowen, & Woolley, 2004).

Moreover, the particular configuration of assets and

resources in these social environments may affect an

individual differently over time (Anderson, Sabatelli,

& Kosutic, 2007). Consequently, it is important to

identify those aspects of the social environment that

can be leveraged at particular times in the develop-

mental life span to promote school success.

Using longitudinal data, the present research

examines how middle school students’ perceptions

of hypothesized assets in their social environments

influence their perceptions of three school success

outcomes—school engagement, trouble avoidance,

and grades—over a 12-month period. All student-

level data are self-reported and are derived from

repeated administrations of the School Success Pro-

file (SSP) in 11 middle schools. The SSP is an eco-

logically oriented survey that assesses students’

perceptions of microlevel processes in their neigh-

borhoods, schools, families, and peer groups.

The present studysupplements youth development

scholars’ increasing examination of the combined

effects of multiple influences from the neighbor-

hood, school, peer group, and family on adolescent

*This article was prepared with grant support from the William T. Grant Foundation, Grant 2520: Evaluating the Effectiveness of the School Success Profile Interven-

tion Package on School-Level Performance. Special thanks go to Kara Bonneau at the North Carolina Education Research Data Center, who worked with the authors

in developing a data management strategy to protect the identities of student respondents. A version of this article was presented at the 2008 Society for Social Work

and Research Annual Conference, Washington, DC.

**Gary L. Bowen is a Kenan Distinguished Professor in the School of Social Work at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 325 Pittsboro Street, Chapel

Hill, NC 27599-3550 (glbowen@email.unc.edu). Roderick A. Rose is a research associate in the School of Social Work at The University of North Carolina at Chapel

Hill, 325 Pittsboro Street, CB 3550, Chapel Hill, NC 27599 (rarose@email.unc.edu). Joelle D. Powers is an assistant clinical professor in the School of Social Work at

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 325 Pittsboro Street, CB 3550, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3550 (jdpowers@email.unc.edu). Elizabeth J. Glennie is

a senior education research analyst 1 in the Education Studies Division at the RTI International, 3040 Cornwallis Road, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2194

(eglennie@rti.org).

Family Relations, 57 (October 2008), 504–516. Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Copyright 2008 by the National Council on Family Relations.

A Publication of

the National Council on

Family Relations