Middle School: Student Homelessness and Adult Advocacy

• In Event: Ethical Dilemmas in Teaching Practice: Considerations for Teacher Education

Abstract

Purpose
Homelessness is a societal issue that is simultaneously everywhere and nowhere. An educator’s job, as stipulated by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvements Act of 2001 (MV) is to ensure an equitable and appropriate educational experience for every student. Conservative estimates place the number of students experiencing homelessness in the United States at 1.3 million (NCHE, 2019). Some experts believe the true number is more than double what is reported (Hallett et al., 2015).
Perspective
This paper defines homeless using the MV and includes children and youth who lack a “fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence” (MV, 2015, Sec. 725). This includes children who: share the housing of other persons due to financial hardship; live in motels, hotels; live in shelters; are abandoned; await foster care placement; live in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations; or migratory children who qualify as homeless.

Dilemma
The dilemma presented is contextualized in the case of Jamie, a middle school student, as she navigates the daily tasks of finding transportation to school, identifying where meals will come from, negotiating school discipline procedures, and calming stress and anxiety. Additionally, the case presents points of view from school food service workers, teachers, administrators, school staff, and Jamie herself.
Scholarly Significance
Research shows that teacher education programs, teachers, administrators, and other school staff are underprepared to meet the needs of students experiencing homelessness, let alone identify them accurately (Hallett et al., 2015; Tobin et al., 2018). Educating those who are unfamiliar of MV about homelessness and the students who experience it must be undertaken by key advocates on school, district, state, and national levels and in teacher education programs. Students like Jamie should not be tasked with educating their teachers and schools about how their lived experiences impact schools.

Author

• Matthew John Moulton, Indiana State University