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Education Week recently wrote about a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on student mobility in this country, done at the request of Senators Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut) to help lawmakers prepare for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The report found that about 13 percent of children change schools four or more times before enrolling in high school, and that 11.5 percent of schools had high rates of mobility (meaning that more than 10 percent of students left by the end of the school year). As is almost always the case when considering education statistics, this mobility is not spread evenly throughout the student population. It disproportionally impacts students who are poor, African-American and from families that do not own their home. Schools serving a mobile population also have larger percentages of students who are low-income, have limited English proficiency and receive special education services.

The report also reviewed evidence on the effect of mobility on student achievement. Not surprisingly, it is negative. Students who change schools frequently have lower standardized test scores than less mobile peers, and they tend to drop out of high school at a higher rate.

According to teachers interviewed for the report, some of the challenges that schools face in educating this population include differences in what and how instruction is delivered in different schools, the emotional detachment that highly mobile students tend to exhibit and difficulties in placing new students appropriately, particularly when the academic records of these students are not transferred in a timely manner. The report did highlight ways some schools and districts are addressing the needs of these students. For example, some schools pair new students with a buddy to show them the ropes. Some districts use school-based family resource centers to arrange wraparound services for the entire family to assist with issues such as housing, healthcare and finances.

While the GAO did not make any policy recommendations based on this analysis, I think it is clear that to truly address issues of educational equity, these findings need to be considered. If nothing else, the report reminds us that not all schools face the same challenges – and that therefore education policies should not assume the same solutions will work for all.

I also think it is encouraging that Senators Harkin and Dodd requested this report. It shows that those responsible for the reauthorization of one of the most important federal education laws in existence are taking a careful look at the needs of all students and how policy might best ensure their needs are met. I think it also shows their awareness of potential differences in challenges that schools and districts might face based on the populations they educate. Hopefully the policy they help design will honor those differences, while holding all schools to a high standard.