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Disadvantaged Children Can Hurt Achievement of Others in Their Classrooms, Study Finds
2/14/14 | Washington Post

Behind the Headline
Domino Effect
Summer 2009 | Education Next

A study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania finds that students who enter school with disadvantages can not only struggle in school themselves, but can also hurt the achievement of other students in the classroom. As summarized by Lyndsey Layton in the Washington Post

Researchers found that children who were homeless or mistreated disrupted their classrooms, pulling down reading achievement and attendance rates among children who were not homeless or mistreated. Along the same lines, schools filled with many students who did not receive adequate prenatal care had overall poor reading achievement, even among those children who did get prenatal care.

A study published in Education Next in 2009 found that children exposed to domestic violence also have a negative effect on their peers in the classroom, resulting in decreased test scores and increased disciplinary problems.

-Education Next