How do Promise Neighborhoods’ Strategies Align with Research Evidence on Poverty and Education?

• In Event: 523 - Section on Sociology of Education Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 13. Influence of Family Context and Friends/Peers

Abstract

Although researchers consistently find that non-school factors influence academic outcomes far more than do in-school factors, education policy has historically focused almost solely on the latter. The Department of Education created “Promise Neighborhoods” to address these issues outside of school. Promise Neighborhoods attempt to replicate the Harlem Children’s Zone’s “cradle to college pipeline” model of coordinated and continuous child and family services for a single neighborhood. We analyze the 46 planning grants and 12 implementation grants to determine which factors these neighborhoods plan to address and compare these efforts with previous research on poverty and academic performance. We conclude that Promise Neighborhoods more frequently focus on in-school factors and often fail to address many factors supported by prior research. We discuss the degree to which these neighborhoods are actually serving as all-encompassing cradle to college pipelines versus extending the work of local schools and future implications for Promise Neighborhoods.

Authors

• Corey Bunje Bower, State University of New York at Buffalo

• Rachael Rossi, Niagara University