Although Affluent, Montgomery Co. has Low-

and Moderate-Poverty Elementary Schools

PERCENT OF CHILDRENRECEIVING FREE OR REDUCED PRICE OF LUNCH

0%–10%

11%–20%

21%–35%

36%–50%

51%–91%

Elementary School

Montgomery County’s Economically Integrative Housing Approach

• Oldest, largest inclusionary zoning program in U.S.

• Housing authority has right to purchase 1/3 of inclusionary zoning units

• ~700 public housing homes scattered, and ~300 located in 5 public housing developments

Public Housing Distributed Broadly Throughout Hundreds of Neighborhoods

I Find Large, Positive Cumulative Effects in Math

Public Housing Students in Green Zone Schools Outperformed Those in Red Zone

Schools

Impact on adult’s social networks

10

20

30

40

50

10

20

30

40

50

10

20

30

40

50

10

20

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40

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0-2 2-6 7-11 12-37 0-2 2-6 7-11 12-37 0-2 2-6 7-11 12-37

0-2 2-6 7-11 12-37 0-2 2-6 7-11 12-37 0-2 2-6 7-11 12-37

Low SES (%) High SES (%) Different race (%)

Provided emotionalsupport (%)

Could provide jobadvice (%)

Density of network

scatterd public housing clustered public housing

Pre

dic

ted m

ean

Years in neighborhood

Who Are the Children in the Study?

• Examined 858 children who lived in public housing scattered throughout Montgomery County & enrolled in MCPS during 2001-2007

• Public housing apts. spread across 250 out of 550 total neighborhoods

• Attended 114 of 131 elementary schools

• Families randomly assigned to public housing

Back-up slides for Heather

African-American 72%Hispanic 16%White 6%Asian 6%Average family income $21,047

Average family assets $775

Female headed household 87%Average length of tenancy 8.4 years

What Are the Characteristics of Children and Families in the Study?

There Is Another Way to Measure School Disadvantage

• In 2000, MCPS adopted red zone/green zone policy

• It created 60 red zone elementary schools

• Extra investments in red zone schools:

– First to receive full-day kindergarten

– Class size reduction in grades 1–3

– 100 hours professional development for teacher

– Specialized instruction: 90-minute literacy; 60-minute math blocks in 1st & 2nd grade

• The average class size in red vs. green zone: 19 vs. 23

I Find Smaller Effects from Neighborhood Poverty

Conclusions

• School-based economic integration effects accrued over time

• Public housing children who went to low-poverty schools (green zone) outperformed their low-income peers who attended higher-poverty but higher-spending elementary schools (red zone)

• Inclusionary zoning integrated children from highly disadvantaged families into low-poverty neighborhoods and low-poverty schools over long term

• Children in public housing benefited academically from living in low-poverty neighborhoods– But less than they did from attending low-poverty schools

District’s Intervention in 60 Focus Schools Boosts Students’ Adv. Scores

60 focus schools

comparison schools in state

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