Housing Affordability in Middle-Class Neighborhoods and Its Impact on the Achievement Gap

• In Event: 28.089 - MTCC Roundtable Session 10
  In Roundtable Session: 28.089-7 - Social Policies and Their Impact on Students and Schools

Abstract

The racial achievement gap has increased since the late 1980s. African American and Latino students are much more likely than white students to have lower academic achievement rates (National Center for Education Statistics, 2009; National Center for Education Statistics, 2011). Average school poverty rates between white and black students’ schools is strongly related to the achievement gap (Reardon S. , 2016). Since students attend public schools where they live, economic and racial residential segregation leads to economic and racial school segregation. Therefore, policies that encourage economic integration at the residential level may lead to economic and racial integration at the school district level. This study investigates the impact of affordable housing in middle-class school districts on racial achievement gaps.

Author

• Elizabeth Iris Rivera Rodas, Montclair State University