Student mobility is a major issue in the nation’s public schools and is intricately tied to the residential mobility of a family. Presently, little has been done to confront this major issue. Student mobility occurs when a student changes schools in the middle of an academic year and can occur for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the reasons for a move are by choice, such as when a student or family moves for better job or school opportunities. However, the reasons for movement are frequently due to an inability to pay rent, a period of homelessness, or expulsion (see here).
Student mobility disproportionately impacts low-income students and students who are in foster care, both of whom are more subject to frequent moves and more likely to experience chronic absenteeism (see here). Schools with predominately low income African-American and Hispanic populations are less likely to have strong student stability and are more likely to have students leave the school in the middle of the year than their middle class counterparts (see here). Researcher, Sheila Crowley found that “in some poor schools, the mobility rate can be as high at 70%, meaning only 30% of the students enrolled began and ended the school year at the same school” (see here). Crowley also finds that the residentially stable students in the classroom can also be adversely impacted by an unstable classroom population, as teachers must spend extra time with new students attempting to assimilate them into their classroom environment.
This pattern is significant because research has repeatedly shown that increased student mobility leads to poorer educational outcomes, for both the mobile students and those who are in classes with low student stability (see here, here, here, here). Frequent student mobility results in lower standardized test scores, a decreased likelihood of graduation, and fewer and weaker social relationships which have an important impact on educational performance. Some research shows that students loose about six months of educational gains every time they switch schools (see here). The negative effects of frequent moving impacted children who do not live with both biological parents even more than those with a stable, nuclear family unit (see here). Low income families are more likely to exhibit more complex familial structures than their middle and upper class counterparts, and the children in these families are therefore more impacted by high mobility rates (see here).
The fact of the matter is that students are unable to adequately learn to their full potential when they are constantly in residential motion. Moving is quite stressful, even if it is for positive reasons, and the more it occurs, the more negative the impact on educational achievement is. It is extremely difficult for low income students with unstable housing situations to focus in schools and perform to their full potential. Teachers who receive new students in the middle of an academic year must asses the new students academic abilities and find a way to integrate them into the preexisting classroom environment. New students may not have come from a school with adequate records and may be placed incorrectly by teachers, resulting on frustration on both the teacher and the student’s ends. The differences in housing stability and student mobility greatly impacts the achievement gap and attention must be given to devising strategies to increase student stability. Housing policy both directly and indirectly relates to educational policy and the two must be closely examined in tandem to promote the success of all students (see here).
Post by: Julia Manning