High levels of student mobility mean that kids who begin school in poor neighborhoods may not stay there

Are children born into poor neighborhoods with bad schools destined to remain there? In new research that tracks student mobility in New York City public schools, Sarah Cordes along with co-authors Amy Ellen Schwartz, Leanna Stiefel, and Jeffrey Zabel, find that while many students begin school in very poor neighborhoods, more than 40 percent move between grades one and ten, with many moving to areas with better schools. They find that while moving in general has a negative relationship with student performance, if students move to an area with better quality schools, this can overcome the negative impacts of moving.