Q&A: Increasing educational equity by working with the housing sector

Education and housing are often inextricably linked, but policy decisions made in these two sectors are typically isolated, sometimes shaped and enacted without considering the impact of housing policy on education and vice versa.

Meghan Gallagher’s research combines these two elements, focusing on housing and education collaborations that support student learning outcomes. Some of her latest work As chief research fellow at the Urban Institute, a nonprofit public policy research organization, he presents school officials and housing developers with ideas on how to work together to desegregate schools by desegregating neighborhoods.

Gallagher too co-author of the report which compiled a list of key housing characteristics that influence children’s educational outcomes:

• Housing quality
• Housing affordability
• Housing stability
• Neighborhood quality
• A home that builds wealth

In this Q&A, Gallagher details why housing features matter in a child’s education and describes the collaborations that can ensure children have an equal opportunity to succeed academically. The interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

How do housing policies affect children’s educational outcomes?
This is really important when we try to understand the impact that housing has on children’s educational outcomes, this (we look at) its unique contribution.

You can have families with the same income level, (but) one of them lives in a high-quality house and the other lives in a low-quality house. A low-quality home can impact a child’s health, ability to sleep and sense of security. So you may have a very different outcome for that child if he or she is in a lower quality home.

You presented five characteristics of housing conditions that affect children’s educational outcomes. Why are these five characteristics so important?
These five characteristics have been explored in detail in the housing policy literature. I didn’t do all the original research that went into these discoveries, I just collected it all in one place. It is possible that there are aspects of housing that have not been measured historically that may also have an impact on education.

We know that poor-quality housing – with mold or electrical problems – is associated with lower kindergarten readiness scores. This causal relationship has been established. The link between overspending on rent is linked to increased behavioral problems. Housing instability, and I would really put homelessness and housing insecurity in the housing instability category, really impacts school stability and then impacts math and reading scores. We know that successful homeownership, that is, owning a home that allows families to build equity, increases the likelihood of attending college. We also know that neighborhood context, like violence, can disrupt academic progress and prevent children from succeeding in school.

There is therefore evidence linking each of these housing arrangements with different aspects of children’s well-being and educational outcomes.

One of the things that we haven’t really done a very good job on is which of these aspects of housing matter most or have the greatest impact. If we had a million dollars, what would we want to spend that million on to improve educational outcomes? I don’t think we have enough evidence right now to know exactly what the right path would be in this case.

Do all five characteristics need to be present for children to achieve the best possible academic results?
There is currently insufficient data for us to understand which of the five elements should be used and what the likelihood of success is if one, two, three, or four of them are used.

This is an area where we still need more understanding and more evidence, but I don’t think we can wait to make policy decisions until we have all this evidence.

Is lack of sufficient research one of the consequences of the disconnect between housing policy and education policy?
Absolutely. I think the sectors are so disconnected from each other that many of the gigantic data collection investments that have occurred at HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) or the U.S. Department of Education have not included data elements that cover aspects of another sector.

When we look at housing data in housing policy, there hasn’t been a lot of detailed data collected about the children in the family – what schools they attend and how they’re doing – that could potentially enable the data to be pooled, as is the case in the world of education.

We face a lot of challenges in privacy research because just because you can combine data, right? Did the program participants agree to this when they decided to enroll their children in a public school or when they decided to take part in the housing subsidy program? In many cases the answer is no.

Some of the best data is actually pooled at the local level, where local policymakers work with local agencies that have requested permission and combine the data to refine programs on the ground.

How do we get to the point where we have the information we need to help all children succeed academically?
This needs to happen on many levels. The federal government must encourage the Department of Education and HUD to work together and truly support or encourage collaboration in their discretionary grant programs. I really see that as the feds have a chance to lead and really support this kind of work.

But I also think there are a lot of local organizations that are leading the way. I think many of the case studies I have done can help illustrate how flexibility and collaboration can really translate into a set of programs or practices that support children’s education and stable, high-quality housing.

I know that philanthropy really supports a lot of the exploration around sector alignment.

I’m very hopeful about this kind of broader vision of policymaking that takes into account how multiple systems can influence how well a child does. But I also think that it is not the case that all the apartments are there and no children live in them. A big part of this work is ensuring that the housing production pipeline continues to grow housing to provide enough housing at a range of price points so that everyone has the opportunity to live where they want to live.