How Do Promise Neighborhoods’ Strategies Align with Research Evidence on Poverty and Education?

Abstract

Promise Neighborhoods attempt to replicate the Harlem Children’s Zone’s “cradle to college pipeline” model of coordinated and continuous child and family services for a single neighborhood. We analyze the 46 planning and 12 implementation grants to determine which factors these neighborhoods plan to address and compare these efforts with research on poverty and academic performance. We conclude that Promise Neighborhoods more frequently focus on in-school factors and often fail to address many factors supported by prior research. We discuss the degree to which these neighborhoods are actually serving as all-encompassing cradle to college pipelines versus continuing current in-school efforts.

Keywords: Promise Neighborhoods, Urban Poverty, Education Policy