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…

Homelessness and housing insecurity (HI) have impacted college students' success for years but were exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially when lots of educational institutions closed their student housing, which resulted in college students having to vacate student housing. This was a major concern especially if their student…

The rising prevalence of homelessness among students is a real phenomenon at all levels of educational institutions. This study explored the multifaceted champions and challenges faced by students experiencing homelessness and collected data from subject matter experts to mitigate the impact on their educational journey and future students…

Each year, more than a million young people in the United States experience homelessness; some of these young people, known as unaccompanied homeless youth, will face the challenges of homelessness while living on their own without the support of a caring adult. Unaccompanied homeless youth face the same struggles as other young people: trying to…

This qualitative study examines the narratives of five homeless students attending 2 and 4-year colleges in the Greater Boston area. The study aims to understand students' experiences of homelessness and to explore how colleges might support their educational resilience. Students experiencing homelessness are defined as groups of persons that lack…

Social determinants of health (SDOH)--conditions in which children live, learn, and play--affect child health and well-being. Publicly funded services in education and child welfare systems are important resources to support child well-being, but cross-system coordination is rare. Leveraging integrated administrative data from 60,287 6th graders…

Affording living expenses presents a major barrier to degree completion for many community college students. Food, affordable housing, transportation, and childcare are central conditions for learning. Yet with stagnant incomes, rising tuition and living costs, and insufficient support from financial aid and the social safety net, approximately…

The aim of this brief is to describe a key contributor to the persistent disparities found in student learning outcomes in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and to show how this knowledge can help identify specific sources of inequities in CPS, particularly for schools with predominantly Black student enrollments. The authors present a data-based…

Within Massachusetts alone, 23,000 students are experiencing homelessness. And, with the expiration of COVID-era protections like an eviction moratorium and rental assistance, many experts predict that number will increase. Child and family homelessness is associated with a host of negative outcomes including poor physical and mental health, lower…

The UIC Center for Urban Education Leadership (CUEL) brief is an analysis that examines schools that have historically struggled to improve within the context of the Chicago Public Schools SQRP Accountability System. In this research brief, CUEL researchers advance the term 'high churn" to describe a school type that has proven particularly…

Approximately 1.3 million K-12 public school students across the United States were identified as experiencing homelessness in 2019-20. In all cases, the stress, instability, trauma, and school mobility created by homelessness increase risks to physical, social, and emotional health and to educational engagement and achievement. Districts play an…

Through engaging in interviews with 10 local educational agency liaisons, this study provides insight into their roles, challenges, and training in serving children and youth experiencing homelessness. Using thematic analysis to analyze transcripts, common themes were uncovered. The findings highlight the liaisons' challenges related to…

Education policy has the potential to eradicate opportunity and achievement gaps. For those on the ground enacting policy, however, it can be difficult to translate it into optimal strategies for helping all students achieve. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is a way for state education agencies (SEAs), local education agencies (LEAs), and…

Affecting more than 1 million youth, student homelessness is growing at an unprecedented rate in the United States. This is alarming because homeless students face significant barriers to their academic success and positive life outcomes. Unfortunately, despite the significant risks and challenges they face, homeless students often are overlooked…

Schools often struggle to build partnerships with homeless and highly mobile (HHM) families. These families are not homogeneous; they live in and engage with schools from diverse residential contexts. Using Epstein's theory and framework and drawing from 132 interviews with HHM parents, school personnel, and community stakeholders in an urban…