Mobility and the children of Langley Park's immigrant families

Journal of Negro Education, The, Winter 2003 by Hanna, William J

People move for many reasons, such as job proximity, the characteristics of neighbors, and the cost of living. In Rossi's (1980) classic study, the explanations for moving are similar to those identified for Langley Park's residents. Interestingly, indices of "social environment" and "neighborhood location" are strongly correlated with "mobility inclinations" (p. 133; see Goetz, 1999, for review of the literature). According to a recent Census Bureau study (Schachter, 2001b), housing factors account for more than half of the reasons given by a sample of respondents. Moving to avoid rent payment and being evicted are two housing-related causes. Hartman and Robinson (in press) comment, "Evictions are a major housing problem, disproportionately affecting lower-income and minority tenants." And they note that the "moves often force children to switch schools in mid-year, with the consequent deleterious impact on their education."

The School

The children of Langley Park do not have the kind of stable learning environment that is supportive of a good educational experience. Children come and go, sometimes parents come and go, or at least change jobs and work hours, and even teachers and principals come and go. With each change in the child's neighborhood and school, s/he must relearn places, people, routines, and more: "Where's the toilet?" "Who's my teacher?" The environment is turbulent and may well overwhelm quality learning. Here, we focus on the schools and their children.

Children on the move. For reasons of residence change and school decisions, the children of Langley Park clearly move often and experience school discontinuity, due to their own moves, those of their schoolmates, and school staff. Some of the children transfer into or out of the country, some change school systems, and others change schools within the county. Rumberger (2002) writes:

School factors such as overcrowding, class size reduction, suspension and expulsion policies, and the general academic and social climate also contribute to student mobility. The increase of parental options included in the recent No Child Left Behind legislation may also contribute over time to increased mobility. (p. 1)

Quite a few Langley Park children leave the relatively poor-performing schools of Prince George's County for the neighboring and better-performing schools of adjacent Montgomery County. Some families relocate to change schools, and others use the address of a friend or relative (who may become a guardian) for purposes of registering in another school district.

Discontinuity in schooling may take place between school years or within the school year. In Langley Park, fewer than half of the neighborhood's children remain in school without long intrayear absences at the beginning, middle, or end of the school year. Families may move into the neighborhood late, delaying the child's entry, or leave the neighborhood too early, truncating the school year. Registration may be delayed due to lack of knowledge about how to deal with the bureaucracy, or a fear of being exposed as undocumented, or the family may take extended trips away from the neighborhood or send their children on such trips. A Hispanic American graduate student from El Salvador told me that throughout her primary and secondary school years, her family annually went back to their country for several weeks in order to participate in the hometown's March festival. Disruption of schooling was never an issue. She confirmed my impression that such home-country breaks were common practice among Central Americans who are U.S. citizens or have appropriate immigration documents.