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Author: Jackson, Margot I.
Resulting in 4 citations.
1. Jackson, Margot I.
Understanding Links Among Adolescent Health, Social Background and Education
Presented: Chicago, IL, The Harris School, University of Chicago, Conference on Health and Attainment Over the Lifecourse: Reciprocal Influences from Before Birth to Old Age, May 16, 2008
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79, NLSY97
Publisher: Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB); Child Health; Children, Illness; Children, Poverty; Educational Attainment; Family Resources; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Poverty; Pre/post Natal Health Care; Racial Differences; School Completion

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This paper addresses a topic of growing interest to demographic researchers, who are re-recognizing the potentially significant contribution of children's health to broader population welfare, both within and across generations. Specifically, I examine the ways in which health and social background act together to create and maintain educational disparities in the early life course. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) 97 and the Children/Young Adults of the NLSY79, I address three questions. 1) Is there variation by social background in the link between health and education? 2) What are the social factors that mediate the connection between adolescent health and educational attainment? 3) Does health mediate persistent social and economic achievement gaps? The results suggest that there is a strong association between adolescent health and educational attainment, net of both observed confounders and unobserved, time-invariant characteristics within households. This relationship is explained by academic factors related to school attendance and performance, rather than by psychosocial factors related to educational expectations. The analyses also examine the ways in which health and social background work together to produce disparities in educational achievement and attainment. I find that the negative educational consequences of poor health are not limited to the most socially disadvantaged adolescents, but are instead strongest for non-Hispanic white adolescents. Finally, I find that adolescent health does not play a strong role in explaining achievement gaps by social background, although infant and maternal health offer slightly more purchase.
Bibliography Citation
Jackson, Margot I. "Understanding Links Among Adolescent Health, Social Background and Education." Presented: Chicago, IL, The Harris School, University of Chicago, Conference on Health and Attainment Over the Lifecourse: Reciprocal Influences from Before Birth to Old Age, May 16, 2008.
2. Jackson, Margot I.
Understanding Links Between Adolescent Health and Educational Attainment
Demography 46,4, (November 2009): 671-694.
Also: http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/demography/v046/46.4.jackson.pdf
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Academic Development; Child Health; Educational Attainment; Educational Returns; Ethnic Differences; Ethnic Groups/Ethnicity; Health Factors; Household Models; Racial Differences; Socioeconomic Status (SES)

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The educational and economic consequences of poor health during childhood and adolescence have become increasingly clear, with a resurgence of evidence leading researchers to reconsider the potentially significant contribution of early-life health to population welfare both within and across generations. Meaningful relationships between early-life health and educational attainment raise important questions about how health may influence educational success in young adulthood and beyond, as well as for whom its influence is strongest. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, I examine how adolescents' health and social status act together to create educational disparities in young adulthood, focusing on two questions in particular. First, does the link between adolescent health and educational attainment vary across socioeconomic and racial/ethnic groups? Second, what academic factors explain the connection between adolescent health and educational attainment? The findings suggest that poorer health in adolescence is strongly negatively related to educational attainment, net of both observed confounders and unobserved, time-invariant characteristics within households. The reduction in attainment is particularly large for non-Hispanic white adolescents, suggesting that the negative educational consequences of poor health are not limited to only the most socially disadvantaged adolescents. Finally, I find that the link between adolescent health and educational attainment is explained by academic factors related to educational participation and, most importantly, academic performance, rather than by reduced educational expectations. These findings add complexity to our understanding of how the educational consequences of poor health apply across the social hierarchy, as well as why poor health may lead adolescents to complete less schooling.
Bibliography Citation
Jackson, Margot I. "Understanding Links Between Adolescent Health and Educational Attainment." Demography 46,4, (November 2009): 671-694.
3. Jackson, Margot I.
Understanding Links between Children's Health and Education
Working Paper CCPR-014-06, California Center for Population Research, October 2007.
Also: http://computing.ccpr.ucla.edu/ccprwpseries/ccpr_014_06.pdf
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79, NLSY97
Publisher: California Center for Population Research (CCPR)
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB); Child Health; Children, Illness; Children, Poverty; Educational Attainment; Family Resources; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Poverty; Pre/post Natal Health Care; Racial Differences; School Completion

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This paper has several goals. First, I add to the growing literature documenting the relationship between health during childhood and adolescence and later educational success. Secondly, I examine variation in this relationship by social status. Are the families of children with a health disadvantage more able to mitigate the negative consequences of that condition if they are socially advantaged? Or do children in these families suffer an equal or greater disadvantage? Third, I evaluate the role of two social mechanisms that may mediate the connection between children's health and their educational attainment. Finally, I consider the extent to which health disparities among children account for racial disparities in children's educational achievement.
Bibliography Citation
Jackson, Margot I. "Understanding Links between Children's Health and Education." Working Paper CCPR-014-06, California Center for Population Research, October 2007.
4. Jackson, Margot I.
Why Do Unhealthy Children Do Worse in School? Understanding Links among Children's Health, Education and Race
Presented: Los Angeles, CA, Population Association of America Annual Meetings, March-April 2006.
Also: http://paa2006.princeton.edu/download.aspx?submissionId=60390
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY97
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB); Child Health; Children, Illness; Children, Poverty; Educational Attainment; Family Resources; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Poverty; Pre/post Natal Health Care; Racial Differences; School Completion

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This paper has two goals. First, I evaluate the role of several mechanisms that may mediate the connection between children's health and their educational attainment. Researchers have begun to pay more attention to the possibility that the relationship between health and socioeconomic status is bidirectional. While poor health has often been studied as a consequence of childhood and/or family socioeconomic conditions, it is also clear that illness and poor health during childhood have lasting socioeconomic effects. What is less clear is why poor health during childhood may influence educational outcomes in late childhood/young adulthood. Do children with a health disadvantage graduate from high school at lower rates, for example, because they are less school-ready than other children, or because they develop less productive social relationships and reduced expectations for their future? Secondly, I consider the extent to which health disparities among children account for racial disparities in children's educational achievement. While childhood health disparities may contribute to socioeconomic disparities among the general population, they may also play a role in creating and maintaining the racial achievement gap that is so persistent in American society. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) 97 and Child and Young Adult files, I examine these questions. Understanding the role of childhood health in creating and maintaining educational disparities among older children and young adults, as well as the role of race in this process, will facilitate the development of effectively intervention strategies.

Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 97 and Child/Young Adults (CYA) files provide the basis for this examination of the relationship between health, race and educational attainment/achievement in young adulthood. I use the NLSY97 to examine both the pathways from health to educational attainment, as well as to examine the contribution of health to racial differences in educational achievement. The NLSY79-CYA is used to complement the NLSY97 in the last part of the analysis, where I look at racial differences in educational achievement. The NLSY-CYA contains measures of infant and maternal health, allowing me to consider the contribution of earlier-life health to racial differences in achievement.

Bibliography Citation
Jackson, Margot I. "Why Do Unhealthy Children Do Worse in School? Understanding Links among Children's Health, Education and Race." Presented: Los Angeles, CA, Population Association of America Annual Meetings, March-April 2006.