Signaling for Attention: Mobility and Student Performance in United Way’s Promise Neighborhoods

A fixed effects linear leastsquares statistical regression model was used to explore the relationship between student academic performance and student mobility in the Bethel School District in Eugene, Oregon. Our United Way of Lane County, as struggled with student mobility as the organization refines its new Promise Neighborhoods project, aimed at distressed neighborhoods in Lane County. Student mobility may limit United Way’s ability to improve the educational and developmental outcomes of students. We use voter registration data to estimate total mobility in Lane County and in the Promise N4eighborhoods. We also use Bethel School District student transfer codes and statewide state test scores as data. Due to the structure of our data, we cannot draw a definitive conclusion regarding the direction of causality between mobility and learning. However, we can say with confidence that, at a minimum, there is a significant relationship between disruption to learning and high levels of mobility – a good starting point for United Way as they continue to explore mobility and refine its Promise Neighborhood project.