Educational equity: A scoping review of the state of literature exploring educational outcomes and correlates for children experiencing homelessness

Abstract

Families with children account for 30% of the national homeless population. The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, passed in 1987 and reauthorized in 2015, mandates educational access to children experiencing homelessness across the United States. Utilizing PRISMA-ScR guidelines, a scoping review of research articles from 1987 to 2020 was conducted to the state of published peer-reviewed literature investigating the relationship between educational outcomes and correlates for children experiencing homelessness. Thirty-five articles were identified, refined from a total of 1,069 articles located across five databases. There was consensus among the articles that homelessness negatively affects children’s educational outcomes. Children who are low-income have similar outcomes in achievement tests when compared to those experiencing homelessness, but the groups differ in graduation rates, classroom engagement, repeated grade levels, and truancy levels. Moreover, Black, Indigenous, and Students of Color (BISOC) are over-represented in the studies compared to the general population. Societal racism may result in higher rates of BISOC experiencing homelessness and negative educational outcomes. Thus, educational equity for students experiencing homelessness requires systemic support. Social justice initiatives for families experiencing homelessness should involve multi-disciplinary task forces to provide students with resources to overcome obstacles such as transportation, social stigma, and trauma. Interventions to assist this population academically need to start early in the children’s academic career and should target low-income housed students as well, recognizing the within-group diversity of needs of both groups.