Dataset Information

Are California Elementary School Test Scores More Strongly Associated With Urban Trees Than Poverty?

ABSTRACT: Unprecedented rates of urbanization are changing our understanding of the ways in which children build connections to the natural world, including the importance of educational settings in affecting this relationship. In addition to influencing human-nature connection, greenspace around school grounds has been associated with benefits to students' cognitive function. Questions remain regarding the size of this benefit relative to other factors, and which features of greenspace are responsible for these effects. We conducted a large-scale correlative study subsampling elementary schools (n = 495) in ecologically, socially and economically diverse California. After controlling for common educational determinants (e.g., socio-economic status, race/ethnicity, student teacher ratio, and gender ratio) we found a significant, positive association between test scores and tree and shrub cover within 750 and 1000 m of urban schools. Tree and shrub cover was not associated with test scores in rural schools or five buffers closer to urban schools (10, 50, 100, 300, and 500 m). Two other greenspace variables (NDVI and agricultural area) were not associated with test performance at any of the analyzed buffer distances for rural or urban schools. Minority representation had the largest effect size on standardized test scores (8.1% difference in scores with 2SD difference in variable), followed by tree and shrub cover around urban schools, which had a large effect size (2.9-3.0% at 750 and 1000 m) with variance from minority representation and socioeconomic status (effect size 2.4%) included. Within our urban sample, average tree-cover schools performed 4.2% (3.9-4.4, and 95% CI) better in terms of standardized test scores than low tree-cover urban schools. Our findings support the conclusion that neighborhood-scale (750-1000 m) urban tree and shrub cover is associated with school performance, and indicate that this element of greenspace may be an important factor to consider when studying the cognitive impacts of the learning environment. These results support the design of experimental tests of tree planting interventions for educational benefits.

SUBMITTER: Tallis H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6215835 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Are California Elementary School Test Scores More Strongly Associated With Urban Trees Than Poverty?

Tallis Heather H Bratman Gregory N GN Samhouri Jameal F JF Fargione Joseph J

Frontiers in psychology 20181029

Unprecedented rates of urbanization are changing our understanding of the ways in which children build connections to the natural world, including the importance of educational settings in affecting this relationship. In addition to influencing human-nature connection, greenspace around school grounds has been associated with benefits to students' cognitive function. Questions remain regarding the size of this benefit relative to other factors, and which features of greenspace are responsible fo ...[more]

PMID: 30420824

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Project description:Green space has a variety of health benefits. However, little is known about its impact on autism, the fastest-growing neurodevelopmental disorder in children. This study examined the relationship between green space and childhood autism prevalence. Autism count data in 2010 were obtained for 543 of ~560 public elementary school districts in California. Multiple types of green space were measured in each school district, including percentages of forest, grassland, and average tree canopy and near-road tree canopy. Their associations with autism prevalence were evaluated with negative binomial regression models and spatial regression models. We observed inverse associations between several green space metrics and autism prevalence in school districts with high road density, the highly urbanized areas, but not in others. According to negative binomial regression models, adjusted rate ratios (RR) for the relationships in these school districts between autism prevalence and green space metrics in 10% increments were as follows: for forest, RR=0.90 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.84-0.95); for grassland, RR=0.90 (95% CI: 0.83-0.97); for average tree canopy, RR=0.89 (95% CI: 0.83-0.95), and for near-road tree canopy, RR=0.81 (95% CI: 0.73-0.91). These results suggest that increases of 10% in forest, grassland, average tree canopy and near-road tree canopy are associated with a decrease in autism prevalence of 10%, 10% 11% and 19%, respectively. In contrast, urban land and road density were positively associated with autism prevalence. The results of spatial regression models were consistent with those obtained by negative binomial models, except for grassland. Our study suggests that green space, specifically tree cover in areas with high road density, may influence autism prevalence in elementary school children beneficially. Further studies are needed to investigate a potential causal relationship, and the major mechanisms that may underlie the beneficial associations with green space, such as buffering traffic-related air pollution and noise.

Project description:In the United States, schools serving urban, low-income students are among the lowest-performing academically. Previous research in relatively well-off populations has linked vegetation in schoolyards and surrounding neighborhoods to better school performance even after controlling for important confounding factors, raising the tantalizing possibility that greening might boost academic achievement. This study extended previous cross-sectional research on the "greenness"-academic achievement link to a public school district in which nine out of ten children were eligible for free lunch. In generalized linear mixed models, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR)-based measurements of green cover for 318 Chicago public schools predicted statistically significantly better school performance on standardized tests of math, with marginally statistically significant results for reading-even after controlling for disadvantage, an index combining poverty and minority status. Pupil/teacher ratio %bilingual, school size, and %female could not account for the greenness-performance link. Interactions between greenness and Disadvantage suggest that the greenness-academic achievement link is different for student bodies with different levels of disadvantage. To determine what forms of green cover were most strongly tied to academic achievement, tree cover was examined separately from grass and shrub cover; only tree cover predicted school performance. Further analyses examined the unique contributions of "school tree cover" (tree cover for the schoolyard and a 25 m buffer) and "neighborhood tree cover" (tree cover for the remainder of a school's attendance catchment area). School greenness predicted math achievement when neighborhood greenness was controlled for, but neighborhood greenness did not significantly predict either reading or math achievement when school greenness was taken into account. Future research should assess whether greening schoolyards boost school performance.

Project description:ObjectivesPoverty exposes children to adverse conditions that negatively impact development. However, there is limited understanding on how different types of poverty may affect children of various immigration backgrounds differently in outcomes such as school readiness. This study examined these relationships between household and/or neighbourhood poverty, poverty timing, and immigration background with school readiness outcomes at kindergarten.MethodsThis study utilized a retrospective, population-based cohort of administrative records linked with surveys completed by kindergarten teachers for 15 369 children born in British Columbia, Canada. The exposures investigated were neighbourhood poverty (residing in a neighbourhood in the lowest income-quintile) and/or household poverty (receiving a health insurance subsidy due to low household income). Experiencing both neighbourhood and household poverty simultaneously was defined as "combined" household and neighbourhood poverty. The outcome of vulnerability on school readiness domains was assessed at kindergarten (47.8% female; mean age = 6.01 years) using teacher ratings on the Early Development Instrument (EDI).ResultsChildren exposed to combined poverty between age 0 and 2 had greater odds of being vulnerable in two or more domains of school readiness than children not exposed to any poverty during this period (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 2.07, 95% CI: [1.74; 2.47], p < 0.001). The effect of combined poverty was larger than household poverty only (aOR = 1.54, 95% CI: [1.31; 1.82], p < 0.001) or neighbourhood poverty only (aOR = 1.49, 95% CI: [1.30; 1.70], p < 0.001). Combined poverty was associated with negative outcomes regardless of timing. Both non-immigrants (aOR = 2.40, 95% CI: [1.92; 3.00], p < 0.001) and second-generation immigrants (aOR = 1.63, 95% CI: [1.22; 2.17], p < 0.001) experiencing combined poverty scored lower on school readiness.ConclusionsChildren who experienced combined poverty had lower levels of school readiness at kindergarten, regardless of timing and immigration background.

Project description:ImportanceConcerns exist about long-term neurodevelopmental consequences of prenatal exposure to antidepressants.ObjectiveTo evaluate whether maternal prescription fill for antidepressants in pregnancy was associated with performance in standardized tests among Danish schoolchildren.Design, setting, and participantsPopulation-based retrospective cohort study of children born in Denmark between January 1, 1997, and December 31, 2009, attending public primary and lower secondary school. The children included had completed a language or mathematics test as part of the Danish National Test Program between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2018. The age range of the eligible schoolchildren was 7 to 17 years.ExposuresMaternal prescription fill for antidepressants during pregnancy, obtained from the Danish Prescription Register.Main outcomes and measuresThe difference in standardized scores between children with and without maternal prescription fill for antidepressants in mathematics and language tests (scale, 1-100; higher scores indicate better test results) was estimated using linear regression models, adjusted for relevant confounders. Ten sensitivity analyses were performed, including a sibling-controlled analysis.ResultsAmong the 575 369 children included (51.1% males), 10 198 (1.8%) were born to mothers filling an antidepressant prescription during pregnancy. The mean (SD) age of children at the time of testing spanned from 8.9 (0.4) years in grade 2 to 14.9 (0.4) years in grade 8. Maternal prescription fill for antidepressants was significantly associated with a poorer performance in mathematics (mean test scores for the group exposed to maternal antidepressant fill: 52.1 [95% CI, 51.7-52.6] and for the group not exposed to maternal antidepressant fill: 57.4 [95% CI, 57.3-57.4]; adjusted difference, -2.2 [95% CI, -2.7 to -1.6]), but not in language (mean test scores for the exposed group: 53.4 [95% CI, 53.1-53.7] and for the not exposed group: 56.6 [95% CI, 56.5-56.6]; adjusted difference, -0.1 [95% CI, -0.6 to 0.3]). In the sibling-controlled analysis, the adjusted difference in mathematics (mean scores for the exposed group: 53.5 [95% CI, 52.7-54.3] and for the not exposed group: 59.0 [95% CI, 58.9-59.1]) was -2.8 (95% CI, -4.5 to -1.2) and in language (mean test scores for the exposed group: 53.9 [95% CI, 53.2-54.6] and for the not exposed group: 56.6 [95% CI, 56.5-56.7]) was -0.3 (95% CI, -1.9 to 1.2).Conclusions and relevanceIn this study of public schoolchildren in Denmark, children whose mothers had filled prescriptions for antidepressants during pregnancy, compared with children whose mothers did not fill prescriptions for antidepressants during pregnancy, had a 2-point lower standardized test score in mathematics, a difference that was statistically significant, but had no significant difference in language test scores. The magnitude of the difference in the mathematics test score was small and of uncertain clinical importance, and the findings must be weighed against the benefits of treating maternal depression during pregnancy.

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Are California Elementary School Test Scores More Strongly Associated With Urban Trees Than Poverty?

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Are California Elementary School Test Scores More Strongly Associated With Urban Trees Than Poverty?

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