This PACER brief provides RFA's updated analysis of data on students experiencing homelessness in Pennsylvania, highlighting prevalence, challenges with identification, disparities in educational opportunities, and impact on academic outcomes. Our main findings include that: (1) Roughly 2% of students in Pennsylvania were identified as…

American public education policy and practice has long focused on what can be done to meet the academic needs of all students during the school day. Today, more families and students are facing challenges outside of school that affect student academic performance in classrooms. Challenges such as homelessness, food security, mental health and…

Close to 3,000 students in Allegheny County public schools were identified as experiencing homelessness during the 2018-19 school year, or 2.0% of the total student population. Meanwhile, homelessness rates have been growing in recent years and lost income due to COVID-19 is likely to bring even more students to the point of housing and…

As Research for Action (RFA) found in 2018 (see ED593694), Pennsylvania schools have a history of under-identifying students experiencing homelessness, denying likely hundreds of students the educational rights afforded by federal law each year. Now the state, along with the whole nation, is facing multiple crises as a result of the COVID-19…

The rising price of higher education and its implications for equity and accessibility have been extensively documented, but the material conditions of students' lives are often overlooked. Data from more than 30,000 two- and 4-year college students indicate that approximately half are food insecure, and recent estimates suggest that at least 20%…

Trellis' Student Financial Wellness Survey (SFWS) seeks to document the financial well-being of post-secondary students and provide institutions with a detailed profile of the financial issues their students face, some of which could potentially impact their success in college. This report details aggregated findings for the 89 colleges and…

This article presents findings from a qualitative exploration of homeless individuals' experiences and their perspectives on ideal designs of schools. The article is part of a larger research project titled "Unheard Voices," which explores marginalized individuals' (homeless, prisoners, working poor, and migrant workers) visions of ideal…

Hydraulic fracturing has altered the face of rural communities across the United States, creating new demands for educational leaders. This in-depth qualitative study explores how rural educational leaders in a heavily drilled community experience and respond to these challenges with a focus on increased local student transiency, homelessness, and…

From 1983-2011, the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter (HSHS) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was the only student-run homeless shelter in the United States. However, college students at Villanova, Temple, Drexel, the University of Pennsylvania, and Swarthmore drew upon the HSHS model to open their own student-run homeless shelter in Philadelphia,…

This report provides information for administrators, researchers, and student support staff in local education agencies who are interested in identifying students who are likely to have near-term academic problems such as absenteeism, suspensions, poor grades, and low performance on state tests. The report describes an approach for developing a…

Several systemic factors contribute to the lack of stability and educational opportunities for students in foster care, including lack of transportation to the school of origin (or the schools they enrolled in when they first entered foster care), difficulty enrolling in new schools and transferring credits between school districts, gaps in…

The popularity of alternative educational options has created more transient students, and the challenge for educators is to communicate and support the needs of all children. The purpose of this study was to gather the perceptions of principals of traditional high schools about alternative education options and investigate the relationships and…

At its best, service learning involves students making meaningful connections to their own community and feeling empowered by the experience. Unfortunately, in the elementary years, student service-learning is often a one-shot effort in which adults make decisions for children, preventing them from truly having a hand in the project's direction…

Sections 9302 and 9303 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended in 2001 provide to States the option of applying for and reporting on multiple ESEA programs through a single consolidated application and report. Although a central, practical purpose of the Consolidated State Application and Report is to reduce "red…

This study examined the unique and combined associations of homelessness and school mobility with educational well-being indicators, as well as the mediating effect of absenteeism, for an entire cohort of third-grade students in Philadelphia. Using integrated archival administrative data from the public school district and the municipal Office of…