Writing about American education in The Atlantic, reporter Annie Lowrey notes that “The key to closing the achievement gap may lie outside the classroom.”
Lowrey points to research showing that sometimes the factors that hurt a student’s performance in the classroom have little to do with education and everything to do with the rest of their lives.
“The idea,” she writes, “is that students can’t succeed academically if they’re struggling at home.”
Kids can’t thrive in class if they’re not attending class, or if they can’t pay attention because they’re too hungry and stressed. Research is showing that families that have help signing up for public benefits – food assistance, health care, and housing – have kids who do better in school. Families who get help paying rent have kids who do better in school. Families who get help keeping their fridges full and have access to regular doctor’s visits have kids who do better in school.
“A new study,” she writes, “demonstrates that such efforts have long-term effects.”
Research by Benjamin Goldman and Jamie Gracie analyzing data from over 16 million Texas students found that the Communities In Schools (CIS) support program that offered support for students’ needs outside of the classroom improved test scores, reduced truancy and suspensions, and increased high-school graduation rates. Students who attended CIS schools earned about $1,140 more annually by age 27, and the program showed strong returns – every $1,000 invested raised earnings by $400.
Research at Calbright is finding a similar dynamic in higher education and supporting basic needs for adult learners.
Real Life Affects Adult Students Too
Calbright was designed specifically to make career-enhancing higher education accessible to California adults not served by other education systems. It’s online, which means classes can be accessed from anywhere. Calbright uses a flexibly paced Competency-Based Education model, so students can attend classes entirely on their own schedule and move at a pace that works for their lives as they manage jobs, families, and caregiving. Calbright is currently free for Californians, so barriers of cost are entirely removed. It reduces paperwork and red tape.
The College is at the leading edge of innovative approaches to getting more adults who lack a college credential, as well as millions more who need to reskill to find and retain good jobs, into higher education.
But getting adult learners to enroll is just part of the challenge: getting them to complete their programs successfully is the other part. Calbright has found that the kind of basic needs that Lowery reports on, including access to health care, housing, and food support, are just as important for adults in higher education as students in K-12.
Adults who are struggling to find stable housing have a hard time focusing on their coursework. Adults who are struggling to see a doctor when they or a child become sick have trouble doing well in college. Adults who don’t have adequate meals or are worried about being able to buy groceries for their families struggle with education.
Calbright’s early research into supporting students in meeting their basic needs shows that the same solutions that are found to work with primary school students work with adult college students as well: Helping them meet their life needs outside the classroom improves academic performance.
Working with its adult student population, Calbright’s research program has determined that many adult students aren’t receiving public benefits that they are eligible for. They might not be aware that the programs exist, or have the time or knowledge to navigate the sometimes complex application processes. Some student might feel like they are not “struggling enough” to deserve the support they need. Other students simply miss application deadlines for assistance as they manage school, work, and family responsibilities.
Calbright’s research is showing that connecting students to benefits they’re eligible for can have a significant, quantifiable, impact on their academic success. Preliminary findings are encouraging – and reinforce the need to address students’ needs outside the classroom too.
Calbright’s programs, alongside the work of researchers like Goldman and reporting like Lowrey’s, offer a path forward. Some struggles are barriers to education at any age. We know addressing them can have a huge impact.
