How Housing Affects Education Outcomes for Low Income Students

The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Making Connections initiative is a prominent example of a philanthropically directed, place-based intervention. Through tailored social services, technical assistance, grants, and capacity-building resources, the Making Connections initiative sought to improve conditions in targeted low-income communities. Between 2002 and 2010, the Case Foundation worked in 10 U.S. cities with the goals of improving employment, asset development, education, health, and civic participation

A study of survey data from Making Connections by Theodos, Coulton, and Budde examined housing mobility and school mobility patterns among residents of these neighborhoods, assessing whether these moves led children to better-or worse-performing schools.

Practitioners of place-based initiatives can derive important lessons from the research about how changing residences and schools affects the academic achievement of low-income students.Children in Making Connections neighborhoods experienced the greatest improvements in school quality after changing school districts, confirming previous research that found housing mobility positively affects low-income children when mobility leads them to higher-performing schools.