MEASURING THE IMPACT OF HOMELESSNESS IN THE CLASSROOM Anna Shaw-Amoah Policy Analyst BEYOND HOUSING: A National Conversation on Child Homelessness and Poverty Friday, January 15, 2016, 9:15–10:45 AM

I NFORMATION IS Power Improve our programs and outreach Raise awareness in our community Advocate for policies and programs Bring in additional funding Problem: We do not have information.

Lack of Information 68% of State EHCY Coordinators reported that a lack of awareness and sensitivity by school administrators and teachers was a significant barrier to school success for homeless children and youth. Source: Department of Education: State and District Implementation of the Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program

What Information Is Available? Some state-level information is publicly available: Number of homeless students Type of temporary housing Number attending charter schools vs. public schools Graduation/dropout rates (in some states) But homelessness is a local issue. More detailed information at the school district and individual school levels is needed if we are going to meet the needs of homeless children.

The Good News! Education data on homeless students exists at the school district and school level. Education data is public data. There are often already mechanisms in place to request data— including individual student data. If all else fails, file a Freedom of Information request!

The Good News! All you need is to: Know where to look. Know your strengths and capabilities (individually and as an organization). Develop partnerships to address areas of weakness.

Example

WHAT STORY CAN YOU TELL? A Case Study of Homeless Students in New York City: What the Numbers Show and How Local Data Is Helping Homeless Students

Number of Homeless Students in New York City 84,171 students were homeless in SY 2013–14. One in 9 students experienced homelessness at some point between SY 2010–11 and SY 2013–14. Source: New York City Department of Education, unpublished data tabulated by the Institute for Children, Poverty, and Homelessness

For every homeless student living in shelter, roughly two homeless students were living in another temporary setting— mostly doubled up.

Geographic Patterns by Type of Homelessness

The enrollment gap between pre-K and Kindergarten suggests that almost 4,000 eligible homeless children were not enrolled in a pre- K program in SY 2013–14. Note: In SY 2013–14, the Universal Pre-K program had not yet been fully expanded.

Geographic Patterns by Type of Enrollment

Duration of Homelessness Most students who were homeless in SY 2013–14 were homeless during a previous school year.

Race and Ethnicity of Homeless Students 86% of homeless public school students were black or Hispanic in SY 2013–14.

Educational Impacts of Homelessness on Students Transfer schools more often Miss more school—chronically absent Lower state assessment pass rates Twice as likely to be suspended from school Lower graduation rates Higher dropout rates Need additional IEP and ELL supports  Impact on education lasts beyond the experience of homelessness

School Transfers  One out of every 4 homeless students transferred schools in SY 2013–14, compared to one in 11 housed students.  Elementary students living in shelter had the highest rate of mid-year school transfers (38%).  Every school transfer is estimated to set a student back academically by up to six months.

Chronic Absenteeism Increases with Each School Transfer  Students in shelter who transfer schools mid-year have the highest rates of chronic absenteeism (over 60%).  Identifying ways to increase school stability is important for attendance.

Community Disruption

Chronic Absenteeism  Homeless students have higher rates of chronic absenteeism than their housed peers.  These chronic absenteeism rates were compared to 20% for housed students receiving free lunch and 9% for housed students not receiving free lunch.  58% of elementary students living in shelter were chronically absent.

Getting to School Matters Only 12% of chronically absent homeless students passed at least one of their 3 rd –5 th grade State tests—one-third the rate of homeless students who missed less than a week of school. 11% of chronically absent homeless students were held back that year vs. 3% of those who missed less than a week of school.

Suspensions While suspension rates across New York City have dropped dramatically since 2010, a great deal of variation in the use of suspensions for homeless students exists across school districts. Homeless students are suspended at higher rates than their housed peers.

High School Dropout Patterns Analyzing best practices that help homeless students to stay in school could lead to strategies that reduce dropout rates in other districts.

High School Graduation Patterns The large degree of variation by district highlights that better graduation rates for homeless students are attainable and warrants a deeper analysis of what is working in certain districts and schools.

Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) The proportion of homeless students with an IEP in SY 2013–14 varied dramatically across school districts. Homeless students were identified as needing IEPs at a later age than housed students. More needs to be done to ensure homeless students are accessing services.

English Language Learners (ELL) One in four homeless students is an English Language Learner. The substantial overlap between homeless students and English language learners suggests potential value in coordinating services.

Aftershocks of Housing Instability Students who were currently homeless passed at about the same rate as those who had been homeless at any point over the last three years. This was about half the rate of students who had no history of homelessness.

School District Profiles Individual school district profiles can be downloaded at:

Data Tables Data on student homelessness is available for multiple geographies: School District Community District City Council District State Assembly District State Senate District

Who Has Been Interested and How Has This Been Helpful? New York City Department of Education Students in Temporary Housing Unit Community Schools Initiative Middle and High School Enrollment Team Individual Schools and Students State McKinney-Vento Technical Assistance Center for Homeless Children and Youth (NYS-TEACHS at Advocates for Children) Community Organizations and Advocacy Groups in NYC Local Government Media

The Benefit of Individual Student-Level Data Obtaining data on the individual student level allows for greater flexibility when doing analysis. For researchers to be able to use student-level data, the data usually must be linked by a unique student identifier number. This is a number or code that enables homelessness data to be linked to other educational data. At least 40 states report linking their housing status data to educational outcome data by a unique student identifier.

Steps to Using Local Education Data 1. What is your school district? 2. Is student outcome data is linked by a unique student identifier number in your district? Your State EHCY coordinator is a good person to ask. If yes, then it is likely that you can request individual student-level data, allowing for greater flexibility during analysis.

Steps to Using Local Education Data 3. Does the school district website report any type of student data? This page is where to look for an official process to request data for research purposes. You want data at the individual student level for both homeless and housed students—ideally for multiple years.

Steps to Using Local Education Data 4. Now, assess: Can you do this research yourself, or do you need to partner with someone who can? Local universities or community colleges are great potential partners. What other tools and expertise do you need at the table?

Questions?

Breakouts 1. What data is already out there about the homeless students in your community? 2. How could data be used to improve supports for the homeless students in your community? 3. Who could be potential partners for obtaining data, analyzing data, and distributing data into the right hands?

THANK YOU! Anna Shaw-Amoah To Download Individual School District Profiles or Full Copies of the Atlas of Student Homelessness in New York City: