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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303150859_Housing_policy_is_school_policy_Economically_integrative_housing_promotes_academic_success_in_Montgomery_County_Maryland

MoCo did a study comparing test scores of kids in public housing: those in schools with higher poverty rates vs those in schools with lower poverty rates.

In short: the kids in the better schools (in terms of less high poverty kids) performed better. Again: all kids in the study hailed from very poor families living in subsidized housing (the difference being better neighborhoods).

I work in the anti-poverty space, so I’ve heard this and similar data presented in both big rooms (think: huge conferences) and small rooms (think: researchers and policy makers behind closed doors). Ive heard researchers from both sides of the aisle discuss this study and others (including data from mcps). The big takeaway is that the neighborhood matters, not just the school.

Here’s what they say:

1. Neighborhoods and people shape expectations and behaviors.

2. It’s easier to teach and learn when kids are well-slept and behave.

3. Peers matter.

Fast forward to where we are right now: nobody is talking about any of what the data shows. Instead, they are blaming “racism” and “systems” and sometimes teachers. The end result is no scalable progress.

If I have time, I’ll try to dig up some more data.

The biggest issue is mcps has dramatically shifting demographics with non-English speakers and they continue to use a school system that focuses on the lowest end of the spectrum—which is an admittedly growing population. Mcps over-emphasizes tests in two areas in a desperate effort to document improvement in reading and math (where they universally invest their resources) without recognizing the data and commonsense notion that parenting, wealth, and culture (in terms of education) play the biggest role in academic success for individual students and the school’s overall student body. Data backs that up: the data that’s routinely shared, and the data that is discussed in whispers behind closed doors in Rockville as well as National think tanks.[/quote

The study is fascinating. So what’s the solution then? Housing policies that don’t concentrate poverty?  Seems like busing wouldn’t actually solve the problem if neighborhood trumps school. [/quote]

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