Academic outcomes reflect only in part the academic experiences of students; schools do not operate in a vacuum. Many social, political, and governmental forces and institutions interact with the students our schools are educating. Student academic experiences are shaped by welfare reform, housing policy and healthcare provision and a wide array of social programs and changes. How does the experience of students outside of school shape student performance? How do changes in governmental programs influence schools and education? How can these be better coordinated to improve student outcomes?

Housing and Schools

co-Principal Investigators: Ingrid Gould Ellen and Amy Ellen Schwartz

Does public housing investment drive changes in communities and improvements in schools? If so, in what ways? What happens, for instance, when new housing is built and new households, whose characteristics may differ from current residents, move into a community?

Schools and Community Economic Development

co-Principal Investigators: Ingrid Gould Ellen and Amy Ellen Schwartz

Schools as institutions have impacts on the neighborhoods in which they are located, not least of which is the consistent flow of public funds schools represent to a neighborhood. What are the effects of these large influxes of resources?