Search

Education is critical to poverty reduction and upward mobility, and rising education inequality has drawn broad concern in the United States. However, the role of neighborhood context in education remains under-studied. This paper integrates the ordinary least squares (OLS) regression, spatial filtering regression and geographically weighted regression (GWR) to explore determinants of student performance in Salt Lake County, and better understand the underlying causes. Path analysis is used to examine the interactions among school performance, student background, and neighborhood environments. We find that over 60% of the variation in student performance can be explained by school resource, student background and neighborhood environments using OLS and spatial filtering regressions. The GWR model further reveals that student performance in the eastern region with a higher percentage of whites, higher household income and higher education levels, is more sensitive to the neighborhood environment than in poorer and more diversified northwestern regions. Finally, path analysis finds that household income and population density influence student performance indirectly by attracting more whites to the neighborhoods. These findings confirm the significance of neighborhood context in students' academic performance, and the importance of integrating GIS spatial analysis tools into studying education inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) is a critically endangered large whale species found in waters off the U.S. and Canadian Atlantic coasts. The primary human-caused threats are entanglement in fishing gear and collisions with vessels. Since 2002, NOAA''s National Marine Fisheries Service has implemented both seasonally and dynamically managed protective zones where right whales occur to reduce these threats; Seasonal Area Management (SAM) and Dynamic Area Management (DAM) for the reduction of right whale entanglements with fishing gear, and Seasonal Management Areas (SMA) and Dynamic Management Areas (DMA) for reduction of vessel collisions. This paper analyzes the presence of frequent concentrations of right whales outside of SAM and SMA zones, represented by the spatial and temporal occurrence of DAMs and DMAs. A grid of 1min×1min squares was geospatially applied to locations of DAMs and DMAs from April 2002 through June 2011 and the number of management areas that intersected each 1min square was populated. DAMs and DMAs were most highly concentrated along the central Gulf of Maine. Of the 131 DAMs and DMAs implemented, 97 (74.0%) intersected this area, and were primarily implemented from October through February. The results of this analysis will aid in consideration of possible modifications to the size and location of SMAs along the northern Atlantic coast of the U.S. and other management actions for the reduction of vessel collisions with right whales. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]