Crime and Gangs: Achievement Gap in Chicago Public Schools Público

Abstract

Twenty-nine students from a neighborhood high school in Chicago were shot last year, eight of them fatally. Tragedy like this has played out in all major U.S. cities for decades. For hundreds of children, crime and gangs are an inescapable element in their life. Disadvantages from living in a violent environment are expected, but ill studied is whether crime rates and the prevalence of gangs are preventing students from succeeding academically. This study investigated whether schools in dangerous areas reported lower student performance statistics for their freshmen class than schools from safer neighborhoods. The ecological-transactional theory indicates that community factors such as violence can inhibit the development of cognitive functions necessary to learn. Accordingly, this study expected that greater crime rates and number of gangs would lower a school's percentage of students on-track to graduate, average GPA, and fraction of individuals with As and Bs. Twenty-two neighborhood Chicago high schools with publicly available academic statistics were selected with corresponding violence information compiled from the Chicago Police Department. Economic, familial, and racial differences were controlled using census tract data. Individual and multiple regression analyses found no statistically significant correlation between a school's performance and the crime per capita or number of gangs in the surrounding area. Given the undisputed body of literature showing a link between perception of violence and grades, this study indicates that actual levels of violence may be irrelevant. Instead, consequential to a student's success may be his or her ability to cope with traumatic proximal events.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1………………………………………………………………………………1
CHAPTER 2………………………………………………………………………..……11
CHAPTER 3……………………………………………………………………………..15
CHAPTER 4……………………………………………………………………………..30
CHAPTER 5……………………………………………………………………………..40
BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………………....43

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Political Science
Degree	BS
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Education, General Political Science, General
Palabra Clave	high school grades community violence crime academic achievement gangs Chicago
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Walker, Thomas G, Emory University
Committee Members	Strahan, Randall, Emory University De Roode, Jacobus, Emory University

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