New research shows stable housing may lead to positive educational outcomes
North Carolina public schools reported 35,282 students experienced some type of “inadequate” living situation during the 2022-23 school year. Of the students in these living situations, ranging from residing in an overcrowded dwelling to being homeless, 4,815 were students of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS). Given the increasing number of students identified as McKinney-Vento in the last few years, Habitat for Humanity of the Charlotte Region partnered with the Charlotte Urban Institute to study the potential implications of homeownership on childhood well-being. Institute researchers studied educational outcomes of Habitat’s homebuyer program participants to answer the following research questions:
- How did in-school presence (suspensions, absences) and academic (math and reading) outcomes change for Habitat children after their family purchased a home?
- How do these changes compare to a representative sample of McKinney-Vento students?1
To test whether living in Habitat housing influences educational outcomes for students, the study first pairs Habitat students with a representative sample of McKinney-Vento (McKinney) students. The Habitat homebuyer program aims to make homeownership more affordable and, as a result, more stable for families. This allows us to question whether Habitat housing influences students’ academic and educational outcomes.
To minimize the differences between Habitat students and their comparison peers, students were matched on their gender, race/ethnicity, attended school zip code, grade level, and school year. This type of design allows the researchers to:
- Account for other potential influences on the outcomes of interest, such as student demographics and educational outcomes from the previous year (previous number of absences, suspensions, and proficiency levels).
- Estimate the direction (positive or negative) and magnitude of the association between Habitat housing and these outcomes.2
Key Takeaways
The results of this study support positive outcomes for students of Habitat homeowners. Here are the key takeaways:
Habitat students are more present in the classroom
The analysis found that, on average, Habitat students consistently had fewer absences than their McKinney peers (9.4 days absent compared to 17.5).
Figure 1: Habitat students are expected to have significantly fewer absences than McKinney students
Note: The gold line denotes McKinney-Vento students; green denotes Habitat students
During the baseline year, the year a student moves into Habitat housing, Habitat students are expected to be absent from school for approximately ten days compared to a surplus of 15 days for their McKinney peers. The difference between these two groups grew for the next two years before the number of absences increased for Habitat students. However, they remained significantly lower than McKinney students.
Figure 2: Habitat students are less likely to be suspended for the first several years after moving into housing
Note: The gold bars denote McKinney-Vento students; green denotes Habitat students
When the likelihood of a student being suspended at least once (either in-school or out) during the academic year was examined, we found a similar outcome. The likelihood of suspension for students in Habitat housing remained significantly lower than their McKinney counterparts until the second year of housing. However, this difference became insignificant for the third and fourth post-baseline years, which implies that Habitat housing no longer impacts a student’s likelihood of suspension as time passes.
Habitat students achieve higher proficiency levels
Calculating the expected probability of Habitat/McKinney students reaching proficiency levels during End-of-Grade (EOG) testing further illustrates the difference between these two groups.3
Table 1: Habitat students are significantly more likely to achieve proficiency levels in both Reading and Math the longer they stay in housing
| Reading | Math | ||||||
| McKinney | Habitat | Difference | McKinney | Habitat | Difference | ||
| Baseline | 22% | 22.2% | 0.2 | 24.4% | 37.3% | 12.9 | |
| 1-year | 23.1% | 24.6% | 1.5 | 35.3% | 38.5% | 3.2 | |
| 2-year | 10.9% | 31.7% | 20.8 | 39.1% | 50.9% | 11.8 | |
| 3-year | 19.8% | 39.4% | 19.6 | 35.7% | 53.1% | 17.4 | |
| 4-year | 20.4% | 33.3% | 12.9 | 37.5% | 55.6% | 18.1 | |
While Table 1 shows that Habitat students are more likely to reach proficiency levels in Math, the difference between Habitat and McKinney students is not considered statistically significant. This means the “higher” expected proficiency levels for Habitat students could be due to chance or other random factors. This narrative shifts, however, in the final two years. In the third and fourth years after moving into housing, Habitat students have a 53% and 55% likelihood of achieving proficiency, respectively, while their McKinney peers stay below 40%.
A similar relationship is found for Reading as the difference in expected proficiency between Habitat students and their McKinney peers in the first two years is insignificant. After those two years, however, McKinney students saw a drop in their likelihood of acquiring proficiency while Habitat students continued to experience increased likelihoods of Reading proficiency. While these numbers continue to change over the next two years, the conclusion remains: Habitat housing positively and significantly impacts the likelihood that students will achieve proficiency levels in Reading the longer students stay in housing.
The Importance of Homeownership
The findings from this study underscore the importance of Habitat homeownership in promoting positive student outcomes. This may appear unsurprising, but academic literature remains split over the relationship between stable housing and student outcomes. Several studies find that the influence of housing becomes nonexistent once researchers control for other factors.
Taking inspiration from recent findings that housing stability can improve a child’s educational outcomes, this study utilizes a rigorous research design that paired Habitat students to a representative comparison group of students designated as McKinney-Vento and conducted an analysis that accounted for several important demographic and educational factors of said students. The results show that homeownership through Habitat significantly impacted a student’s academic success compared to McKinney students.
However, it is essential to avoid overstating the impact of the findings. The analysis indeed demonstrates the effect of Habitat homeownership on student outcomes compared to students experiencing housing instability (McKinney); however, many of the outcomes of interest see Habitat students improving only through the first two years of stable housing before the impact becomes insignificant. That conclusion, however, only encompasses the behavioral indicators of attendance and suspensions. The reverse occurs with academic outcomes, specifically obtaining proficiency in EOG testing for Reading and Math, as the influence of Habitat housing only becomes significant the longer children are housed.
The research indicates that the effect of housing on educational outcomes is a complex relationship. This demonstrates the need for further exploration and research on the benefits of housing stability.
Footnotes:
1 The term McKinney-Vento comes from the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, a piece of legislation aiming to ensure that students experiencing homelessness have equal access to educational services and resources. Some of the situations in which students can be designated as McKinney-Vento include, but are not limited to, if they use emergency shelter, transitional housing, sleep in unsheltered locations, or live in doubled-up situations with family/friends.
2 The results/findings discussed below are the predicted outcomes or the likelihood of these outcomes. After using regression modeling to determine the general difference between Habitat and McKinney students, post-estimation techniques are utilized to obtain specific predictions given different criteria. For example, this allows the research to predict the number of absences for Habitat (McKinney) students over time while still accounting for other potential influences.
3 When looking at Math and Reading end-of-grade (EOG) test scores, it is important to note that North Carolina implemented a state-wide change concerning end-of-grade testing in 2012-2013. The Standard Courses of Study (SCS) changed the structure, material, and scoring mechanisms of standardized tests based on Common Core standards. The analysis discussed in this post, therefore, only looked at 2013 and onwards.