This initiative examines how inequalities within student trajectories are influenced by housing and neighborhoods, in addition to schools. It explores the effects of neighborhood redevelopment programs, like the Choice Neighborhood Initiative and the Promise Neighborhood Initiative, on educational trajectories for urban youth of color. It also explores the causes and consequences of student hypermobility in St. Louis. 

Choice Neighborhood Initiative
This research explores the effects of HUD’s Choice Neighborhood Initiative (CNI) on educational trajectories for urban youth of color, considering if and how these programs reduce inequalities. This research combines family case-management data with administrative school data and interview data from case managers and families. Preliminary results suggest case management and redevelopment policies can promote educational outcomes for Urban Youth.

Funders: WT Grant Foundation, WashU’s Here & Next Initiative

Collaborators: Jason Jabbari, Yung Chun, Odis Johnson Jr., DeMarcus Jenkins, Andrew Foell, Allante Moon

Community Partners: Urban Strategies Inc. and HUD

Publications:

  • Jabbari, J., Foell, A., Jenkins, D., Chun, Y., Govindan, A., & Johnson, Jr., O. (Online First). Moving from HOPE to Choice: Childhood Inequalities and Mechanisms of Reduction Across Mixed-Income Housing and Neighborhood Redevelopment Initiatives. Urban Education. https://doi.org/10.1177/00420859241293777
  • Chun, Y., Jabbari, J., Foell, A., Nandan, P., Grinstein-Weiss, M, & Chen, Yi. (OnlineFirst). Making the Case? Exploring the Role of Case Management in Relocation and Return Decisions in Place-Based Initiatives. City & Community. https://doi.org/10.1177/15356841241260
  • Foell, A., Fowler, P. J., Purnell, J. Q., Nebbitt, V., Jabbari, J., & Chun, Y. (OnlineFirst). Choice and Opportunity: Housing Relocation, Neighborhood Change, and Family Well-Being in the South City Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI) in Memphis, TN. Housing Policy Debate.https://doi.org/10.1080/10511482.2023.2291347
  • Jabbari, J., Chun, Y., Foell, A., Jenkins, D., Johnson, Jr., O., & Kastelman, A. Making the Case? Unpacking Family Case Management Effects and School Effects in Neighborhood Redevelopment Initiatives. Under Review at Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. EdWorkingPaper: 25-1172. Retrievable from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/jpna-h893
Promise Neighborhood Initiative
This project involves one of the first evaluations of the Promise Neighborhood Initiative (PNI) that uses both family-level case management data and student-level education data to disentangle neighborhood and school effects.

Funder: U.S. Department of Education

Collaborators: Jason Jabbari, Yung Chun, Somalis Chy, Stephen Roll, Alexander Cooperstock, Maggie Wood

Community Partners: Urban Strategies, Inc.

Publications: N/A

School Mobility
This project explores the causes and consequences of hypermobility in St. Louis K-12 schools through a research practice partnership initiated by the St. Louis Research Practice Collaborative. With average churn rates above 50% in some St. Louis schools, it is unsurprising that school leaders believe it is one of the largest barriers to successful teaching and learning. Preliminary evidence demonstrates student mobility is predicted by a range of student, school, and neighborhood characteristics and that student mobility is associated with a variety of negative downstream affects; however, these effects depend—in part—on where students transfer to.

Funders: James S. McDonnell Foundation, Center for Reinventing Public Education, TRIADS at WashU

Collaborators: Jason Jabbari, Yung Chun, Cameron Anglum, Christopher Rozek, Ted Enamorado, Margaret Wallace, Takeshi Terada

Community Partners: St. Louis Research Practice Collaborative

Publications: 

  • Cohen, P., Jabbari, J., Chun, Y., Terada, T., Wallace, M., & Chy, S. Does School Context Moderate the Relationship between Student Mobility and Academic Performance? Longitudinal Evidence from Missouri. EdWorkingPaper: 25-1157. Retrievable from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/wh5c-m634
  • Wallace, M., Jabbari, J., Chun, Y., Terada, T., & Chy, S. How Does Early Achievement Predict Within-Year Student Mobility? Longitudinal Evidence from Missouri. EdWorkingPaper: 25-1155. Retrievable from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/a1ae-jj25
  • Jabbari, J., Terada, T., Chun, Y., Hall, R., Jones, A., Butler, A., Chung, S., & Delaney, R. (2024). Where, When, and What Happens After Students Transfer Mid-Year? St. Louis Research Practice Collaborative.
  • Chung, S., Jabbari, J., Terada, T., Chun, Y., Hall, R., Delaney, R., Matsumoto, R. (2023). Who Transfers Before School’s Out? St. Louis Research Practice Collaborative.
  • Wallace, M., Jabbari, J., Chun, Y., Terada, T., & Chy, S. Are School Discipline Practices Pushing Students Out…to Another School? A Longitudinal Analysis of School Transfers in Five Midwest Counties. EdWorkingPaper: 25-1156. Retrievable from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/wk1k-ed76
  • Jabbari, J., Cohen, P., Chun, Y., Terada, T., Wallace, M., & Chy, S. Punished for Leaving? Student Mobility, Suspensions, and the Moderating Role of School Context.
  • SSRN Working paper. 5061824. Retrievable from Social Science Research Network (SSRN): https://ssrn.com/abstract=5061824
School Closures 
This project involves conducting the first study on the impacts of charter-school closures on both teacher and student outcomes.

Funder: Blueprint Labs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Collaborators: Jason Jabbari, Yung Chun, Cameron Anglum, Dorothy Rhode Collins 

Community Partners: N/A

Publications: N/A