Gentrification and Academic Achievement: A Review of Recent Research

Abstract

Research in the neighborhood effects tradition has primarily concerned itself with understanding the consequences of growing up in high-poverty neighborhoods. In recent years, however, the in-migration of relatively affluent households into disinvested central city neighborhoods—commonly referred to as gentrification—has markedly risen, transforming the racial, socioeconomic, and institutional composition of many urban neighborhoods. This article examines what existing literature reveals about what these changes mean for children’s academic achievement, with particular attention paid to the impacts of gentrification-induced changes to the social ecology, institutional composition, residential stability, and environmental conditions of urban neighborhoods. The final section proposes a rigorous interdisciplinary research agenda for advancing this budding field of education research.