Training Homeless Education Liaisons to Support the Academic Needs of Homeless Students

The purpose of the qualitative descriptive case study was to describe how homeless education liaisons use training and resources to support the academic success of homeless students. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 local homeless education liaisons in Virginia to determine how they perceive and incorporate training and community resources to encourage the academic success of students experiencing homelessness. Research revealed that they training they received met liaison needs despite needed adaptations to address legislation changes. Implications for leadership are a need to allot necessary time for liaisons to meet needs of students through understanding liaison function and resource availability. Recommendations for assisting liaisons in meeting needs of students are made.

On the Conditions of Fragility: Homeless Education Policy, Accountability, and Researcher Reflections

This article highlights McKinney-Vento awareness and implementation as experienced and understood by unaccompanied youth facing housing instability and the adults charged with its implementation in schools. A qualitative inquiry was used to capture the perspectives of youth experiencing housing instability as they navigated a large urban school district in the Midwest. Research observations and the perspectives of six unaccompanied unstably housed youth attending two high schools in Chicago and the adults charged with providing educational services are presented here. The theme of Policy Awareness and Accountability emerged from the school observations and narratives of the youth and adult experiences. Participant experiences and insight indicate the need to increase school/community awareness and accountability of McKinney-Vento. Last, the author provides reflections on the complexities and fragility of navigating the research process.

Multilevel Considerations of Family Homelessness and Schooling in the Recession Era

This mixed methods investigation of homeless education in a major urban region identified a number of significant developments and dilemmas amid the larger homeless crisis in the United States. We found that the wider community demographics of homelessness have shifted in recent years, resulting in a higher number of homeless families—many of whom were experiencing homelessness for the first time. In the education domain, these families experienced wide-ranging problems that they perceived as limiters to their advancement. The findings are framed with the help of several elements of Bronfenbrenner's bio-ecological theory, and several implications for educational leaders are posited.

Homeless Education and Social Capital: An Examination of School and Community Leaders

Background/Context This study contributes to the literature on the schooling of homeless and highly mobile students. Although previous work has detailed the demographics of homelessness, the effects of homelessness on academic progress, and particular legal issues in homeless education, this research focused on how individual and institutional relationships influence homeless education. Purpose/Objectives The purpose of the study was to develop deeper understanding of how schools and shelters helped create educational social capital for students and families who were experiencing homelessness. The guiding research questions for the study were: (1) How do school and shelter leaders perceive social capital as influencing the education of students who are homeless? and (2) How do school and shelter leaders’ relational networks influence the education of students who are homeless? Setting Data were collected from three homeless shelters and three public schools that are located in a large city in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Participants A total of 31 interviews were conducted with shelter-based administrators, case workers, and child development specialists, and school-based principals and central office administrators. Research Design A qualitative collective case study research design was employed. Findings Homeless students and families appeared to have insufficient stores of productive social capital, and although schools and homeless shelters provided them with some important relationships and resources, school and shelter leaders’ own shortages of bridging social capital limited the extent to which efficient educative active could occur. Conclusions/Recommendations Based on the findings, it is suggested that schools and shelters prioritize social capital development and improve interorganizational networking. Specifically, purposeful efforts should be made to develop school-shelter-family networks that are heterogeneous in composition.