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The Power of Place: How Housing Policy Can Boost Educational Opportunity

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Bibliographic Details
Title: The Power of Place: How Housing Policy Can Boost Educational Opportunity
Language: English
Authors: DeLuca, Stefanie, Rhodes, Anna, Garboden, Philip M. E., Abell Foundation
Source: Abell Foundation. 2016.
Availability: Abell Foundation. 111 South Calvert Street Suite 2300, Baltimore, MD 21202. Tel: 410-545-1300; Fax: 410-539-6579; e-mail: abell@abell.org; Web site: http://www.abell.org
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 23
Publication Date: 2016
Document Type: Reports - Research
Descriptors: Housing, Public Policy, Educational Opportunities, Mobility, Urban Programs, African American Family, Program Effectiveness, Academic Achievement, Achievement Gains, Urban Schools, African American Students, School Effectiveness, Access to Education, Neighborhoods, Poverty Areas
Geographic Terms: Maryland (Baltimore)
Abstract: For decades, Baltimore's poorest African American children have been channeled into racially and economically segregated neighborhoods with low-performing schools. Financial constraints and scarce affordable housing in more affluent communities have made it very difficult for poor families to access higher quality educational opportunities for their children. With such durable neighborhood and school inequality, interrupting the cycle of intergenerational disadvantage is a difficult challenge. But housing policy may help families overcome barriers to residential mobility and move to lower poverty, more racially integrated neighborhoods with higher performing schools. In this report, the authors describe early findings from a housing voucher program in Baltimore--the Baltimore Housing Mobility Program (BHMP)--that has helped over 3,000 low-income African American families escape disadvantaged neighborhoods and move into opportunity rich communities and school districts throughout the metropolitan region. The authors find that after moving with the program, children attended significantly higher performing schools and made gains in their academic achievement. Data are appended.
Abstractor: ERIC
Entry Date: 2016
Accession Number: ED570914
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:For decades, Baltimore's poorest African American children have been channeled into racially and economically segregated neighborhoods with low-performing schools. Financial constraints and scarce affordable housing in more affluent communities have made it very difficult for poor families to access higher quality educational opportunities for their children. With such durable neighborhood and school inequality, interrupting the cycle of intergenerational disadvantage is a difficult challenge. But housing policy may help families overcome barriers to residential mobility and move to lower poverty, more racially integrated neighborhoods with higher performing schools. In this report, the authors describe early findings from a housing voucher program in Baltimore--the Baltimore Housing Mobility Program (BHMP)--that has helped over 3,000 low-income African American families escape disadvantaged neighborhoods and move into opportunity rich communities and school districts throughout the metropolitan region. The authors find that after moving with the program, children attended significantly higher performing schools and made gains in their academic achievement. Data are appended.