Studies investigating school mobility have typically demonstrated a negative relationship between mobility and academic achievement. On the other hand, some research suggests that when prior achievement is controlled, mobility does not adversely impact achievement. The purpose of the current study was to examine how different types of school mobility—structural moves, voluntary non-charter moves, voluntary charter moves, and no moves—affect changes in student achievement in math and reading. The dependent variables were differences from one year to the next year on normal curve equivalent scores from the Stanford Achievement Test: Ninth Edition. Differences were examined for regular education and special education students. Also, a number of moderator variables were assessed, including gender, ethnicity (White and Hispanic), and grade level (moves in grades from third to seventh grades).

Analyses of variance (ANOVA) were conducted to evaluate mean differences. Initial findings suggested that the distinction between in-district and out-of-district moves did not produce meaningful differences in math or reading achievement, taking into account grade, gender, and ethnicity. As a result, this distinction was not made for all remaining analyses. Comparisons among voluntary non-charter moves, voluntary charter moves, and a stable group were conducted for both regular education and special education students. The results suggested only minor achievement differences among mobility groups or between these groups and the stable group. This finding held for regular and special education students. Grade effects were consistently observed, but these effects did not account for a large amount of variance in achievement.

Based on the fmdings, it appears that mobility is, at best, weakly related to math or reading achievement, controlling for prior achievement, grade level, ethnicity, and gender. Given the lack of meaningful differences among mobility groups, these findings may be viewed optimistically by parents and students who are faced with an increasing number of school choice options and the potential moves to new schools. The study was viewed as an initial step toward understanding the multifaceted effects of school mobility on academic performance.