In this chapter, I explore poverty as an outside-of-school factor and its influence on the inside-of-school experiences and outcome of students. I consider the interconnected space of learning, instructional practices, and poverty. In particular, I use critical race theory as an analytic tool to unpack, shed light on, problematize, disrupt, and analyze how systems of oppression, marginalization, racism, inequity, hegemony, and discrimination are pervasively present and ingrained in the fabric of policies, practices, institutions, and systems in education that have important bearings on students—all students—even though most of the studies reviewed did not address race in this way. I analyze the interrelationship between race and poverty. My point in using race as an analytic site is not to suggest that people are in poverty because of their race but to demonstrate how race can be a salient factor in how people experience and inhabit the world and consequently education. My point is that we (those of us in education and who care about it) should work to eradicate poverty for all students, not just students of color. However, we need to understand and question why a disproportionate number of students of color live in poverty and are from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. We should not ignore this reality: Proportionally, more people/students of color live in poverty than do White people. Why? Carefully examine Table 1. Adapted from Munin (2012) and Simms, Fortuny, and Henderson (2009), Table 1 demonstrates the disproportionate representation of White, Black, and Hispanic (Brown) low-income families in the United States. In Munin’s (2012) words,

Analyzing Poverty, Learning, and Teaching Through a Critical Race Theory Lens

Since the onset of the economic recession, rates of student homelessness have increased rapidly in urban, suburban, and rural school districts throughout the United States. Despite the widespread urgency of the issue, there is a lack of general coherence in the research about how diverse conditions of homelessness affect students and how schools and communities can best serve them. This literature review attempts to deepen scholars’ understandings of such matters by examining (a) homeless students’ school experience in comparison to that of other students, (b) federal policy’s shaping of homeless students’ rights and opportunities, and (c) homeless students’ key support mechanisms. The author suggests that these three focus areas provide foundational insights into the nature and extent of students’ opportunities to succeed in school. Although homeless students’ experiences are noted to be similar to those of residentially stable low-income students, they appeared to be distinguishable based on their high ...

A Critical Analysis of the Research on Student Homelessness

As taught to youth, mindfulness is simply paying attention, with kindness and curiosity, to what’s happening inside and outside of oneself, in this present moment. A quickly growing research base is demonstrating treatment feasibility and acceptability, and a range of emotional, meta-cognitive, and behavioral benefits with various populations of youth. Only a few studies have explored mindfulness with middle school students, and no studies have evaluated mindfulness training with youth facing homelessness. Our purpose was to evaluate the acceptability, generalizability, and overall effectiveness of an 8-week mindfulness course for traditional middle school students and middle school students facing homelessness. A quasi-experimental design included two treatment groups and a non-equivalent comparison group: (1) students in traditional classrooms (n = 28), (2) those attending a school serving homeless youth (n = 15), and (3) waitlisted students (n = 20). We reviewed student reported changes from pre- to post-test and post-course evaluations, which included open-ended writing about mindfulness practice. Students in traditional classrooms improved significantly in mindful awareness and acceptance, whereas students facing homelessness reported significantly higher evaluations of the course, greater emotional well-being from mindfulness practice, and were more likely to use mindfulness practice at school, in interpersonal situations, for dealing with anger and other difficult emotions, and to recommend it to friends. There were no significant findings in some outcome measures. The study offers optimistic prospects for further evaluations with adolescents in domains of stress, anger, quality of life, and academic behavioral indices over time, and to assess the effectiveness of teacher trainings for mindfulness instructors.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs10826-014-9926-3.pdf

Teaching mindfulness to middle school students and homeless youth in school classrooms

This article focuses on factors outside of school that we have identified from the established research literature as essential for educators to consider in supporting students in urban environments. We start by conceptualizing what it means for a school to be “urban.” Following this discussion, we describe four outside-of-school factors that emerge from the literature: (1) Understanding Student and Family Homelessness; (2) Understanding Geography and Social Contexts; (3) Understanding Policy and School Funding; and (4) Understanding Parental and Family Involvement. These factors are important to helping educators, especially pre- and in-service teachers, in their understanding of and, consequently, the practices they use to meet the needs of students in these social contexts. We conclude with recommendations for educational practice.

Outside of School Matters: What We Need to Know in Urban Environments

/pdf/transitions-to-adulthood-for-homeless-adolescents-education-mt3kmcj6h1.pdf

Transitions to Adulthood for Homeless Adolescents: Education and Public Policy

This article provides an overview of educational reform efforts that have been targeted toward assisting homeless students. The authors first review some of the difficulties and barriers that confront homeless children in terms of school access and academic success. The authors then examine four different types of educational reforms for homeless students—mainstreamed schools, supplemental supports, transitional schools (separate schools), and modified comprehensive schools—in relation to the existing barriers for homeless students. Using a case study approach, the authors briefly describe the first modified comprehensive school in the nation and the programs that are being implemented at the school. This article concludes that school reforms for homeless children need to be tailored to the specific context of the community and not be based on national one-size-fits-all reform policy. Recommendations are provided to assist in the planning of educational programs to enhance the academic success of the home...

Lynnette Mawhinney-Rhoads

Papers

Educational Policy and Reform for Homeless Students: An Overview