Myth Busting: Rosenbaum's Research, Gautreaux, Public Education at Its Best

Author's note:  I posted the following paragraph at the bottom of this post in the first draft.  Then I realized it would not be seen by most readers, so I placed it here where the conclusion belongs.

Is this enough evidence for you right-wing lunatics who think that by cutting spending government improves the quality of education?  The proof is all around us. Break up concentrations of poverty, raise peer group expectations, involve the parents, and spend money.   The investment more than pays for itself.  Oh, and you will be making lives better, for those who want to measure success using a calibration other than money.

There is so much interest in the findings of Northwestern professor James Rosenbaum and his research team's findings I would like to provide these links:

IPR Research on Gautreaux and Other Public Housing Mobility Programs

...A major finding of Gautreaux research is that most families that moved to Chicago’s suburbs were still living in those suburbs 10 and even 20 years later. Their children's attitudes toward school improved and their grades did not drop, despite some racial discrimination and harassment. Moreover, as children in these Gautreaux families grew up and left home, they too managed to live in neighborhoods that were far safer and more affluent than the inner-city neighborhoods their families had left behind. Gautreaux II is picking up where the original research program left off, providing in-depth qualitative data on the new Gautreaux movers...

and:

James Rosenbaum , Professor of Sociology, Education and Social Policy Faculty Fellow, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University

Related Working Papers and Publications by IPR Faculty

IPR Working Papers and Research Reports

If low income blacks are given a chance to live in white neighborhoods, will they stay? Examining mobility patterns with quasi-experimental data. Stefanie DeLuca and James Rosenbaum. WP-02-28 (2002).

Moving and changing: How places change people who move into them.
James Rosenbaum, Stefanie DeLuca, and Tammy Tuck. WP-02-09 (2002).

Rosenbaum, James E.
"Housing Mobility Strategies for Changing the Geography of Opportunity." Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University (1994)

Harassment and acceptance of low-income black youth in white suburban schools. James Rosenbaum and Patricia Meaden. WP-92-06 (1992).

The education and employment of low-income black youth in white suburbs. Julie E. Kaufman and James Rosenbaum. WP-91-20 (1991). Published in 1992 in Educational Evaluation & Policy Analysis 14(3): 229-40.

Social integration of low-income black adults in white middle-class suburbs. James E. Rosenbaum, Susan J. Popkin, Julie E. Kaufman, and Jennifer Rusin. WP-91-6 (1991). Published in 1991 in Social Problems 38(4): 448-61.

Rosenbaum, J., and S. Popkin. Economic and social impacts of housing integration. (1990). Published in 1991 in Social Problems 38(4): 448-61.

Rosenbaum, J., M. Kulieke, and L. Rubinowitz. Low-income black children in white suburban schools (1986). Published in 1987 in the Journal of Negro Education 56(1): 35-43.

Unpublished Faculty Papers

The Plan for Transformation and the residential movements of public housing residents by Dan A. Lewis and Cheryl A. Ward (2002).

Neighborhoods and academic achievement: Results from the Moving to Opportunity experiment by Lisa Sanbonmatsu, Jeffrey Kling, Greg Duncan, and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn (2004). Forthcoming in the Journal of Human Resources.

Residential mobility program take-up from the client’s perspective: Participation in the Gautreaux Two Housing Mobility Program by Jennifer Pashup, Kathryn Edin, Greg Duncan, and Karen Burke (2004). Forthcoming in Housing Policy Debate.

Residential mobility interventions as treatments for the sequelae of neighborhood violence by Greg Duncan, Elizabeth Clark-Kauffman, and Emily Snell (2004).

Related Books

Crossing the Class and Color Lines: From Public Housing to White Suburbia by Leonard Rubinowitz and James Rosenbaum (, 2000)

Related Articles and Book Chapters
Many of these articles can be found in databases such as JSTOR, EBSCO, etc.

Duncan, G., with J. Pahsup, K. Edin, and K. Burke. Forthcoming. Residential mobility program participation from the client’s perspective. Housing Policy Debate.

Duncan, G., with R. Mendenhall and S. DeLuca. Forthcoming. Neighborhood resources, racial segregation and economic mobility: Results from the Gautreaux Program. Social Science Research.

Duncan, G., with L. Sanbonmatsu, J. Kling and J. Brooks-Gunn. Forthcoming. Neighborhoods and academic achievement: Results from the Moving to Opportunity experiment. Journal of Human Resources.

DeLuca, Stefanie and James Rosenbaum. “Special education and neighborhoods: Does social context affect diagnosis?” Working draft under review.

Rosenbaum, J., with S. DeLuca and T. Tuck. 2005. New capabilities in new places: Low-income black families in suburbia. In The Geography of Opportunity, ed. X. de Souza Briggs, 150-175. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.

Keels, M., G. Duncan, S. DeLuca, R. Mendenhall, and J. Rosenbaum. 2005. Fifteen years later: Can residential mobility programs provide a long-term escape from neighborhood segregation, crime, and poverty? Demography 42(1): 51-73.

Ludwig, J., G. Duncan, and J. C. Pinkston. 2005. Housing mobility programs and economic self-sufficiency: Evidence from a randomized experiment. Journal of Public Economics 89(1): 131-56.

Rosenbaum, James, Lisa Reynolds, and Stefanie DeLuca. 2002. How do places matter? The geography of opportunity, self-efficacy, and a look inside the black box of residential mobility. Housing Studies, 17:71-82.

Duncan, G., with J. Ludwig and P. Hirschfield. 2001. Urban poverty and juvenile crime: Evidence from a randomized housing-mobility experiment. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 116(2): 665-79.

Rosenbaum, James, and Stefanie DeLuca. 2000. Is housing mobility the key to welfare reform? Lessons from Chicago’s Gautreaux Program. Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy Survey Series.

Rosenbaum, J. 1999. Is integration possible? Institutional strategies to facilitate integration. Poverty and Race 8(6).

Rosenbaum, J., with Shazia R. Miller. 1998. Certifications and warranties: Keys to effective residential integration programs. Seton Hall Law Review 27.

Rosenbaum, J. E., L. Stroh and C. Flynn. 1998. Lake Parc Place: A study of mixed-income housing. Housing Policy Debate 9(4): 703-40.

Rosenbaum, J., with S. R. Miller. 1997. Can residential mobility programs be preferred providers of tenants? Poverty Research Spring: 7-12.

Rosenbaum, J. 1997. Residential mobility: effects on education, employ-ment and racial interaction. In Legal and Social Changes in Racial Integration in the U.S., ed. J.C. Bolger and J. Wegner. Chapel Hill: UNC Press.

DeLuca, Stefanie. “The continuing relevance of the Gautreaux program for housing mobility. In Keeping the Promise: Preserving and Enhancing Housing Mobility in the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program Conference Report of the Third National Conference on Housing Mobility, ed. P. Tegeler, M. Cunningham, and M. Austin Turner Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute.

Rosenbaum, J., with L. Stroh and C. Flynn. 1996. The study of a mixed-income housing program. Loyola University: HRIR.

Rosenbaum, J. 1995. Changing the geography of opportunity by expanding residential choice: Lessons from the Gautreaux Program. Housing Policy Debate 6(1): 231-70.

Rosenbaum, J. E. 1993. Closing the gap: Does residential integration improve the employment and education of low-income blacks? In Affordable Housing and Public Policy, ed. L. B. Joseph, University of Chicago Press.

Rosenbaum, J., N. Fishman, A. Brett, and P. Meaden. 1993. Can the Kerner Commission's housing strategy improve employment, education, and social integration for low-income blacks? North Carolina Law Review 71(5): 1519-56.

Rosenbaum, J., S. Popkin and P. Meaden. 1993. Labor market experiences of low-income black women in middle-class suburbs. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 12(3): 56-573.

Rosenbaum, J. 1993. The psychological consequences of residential integration: low-income black adults and youth in white suburbs. Child, Youth, and Family Services Quarterly 16(1): 10-11.

Rosenbaum, J. 1993. School experiences of low-income black children in white suburbs. In Separate and Unequal in the Metropolis: The Changing Shape of the School Desegregation Battle, ed. G. Orfield. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.

Rubinowitz, L. 1992. Metropolitan public housing desegregation remedies: Chicago's privatization program. Northern Illinois University Law Review 12(13): 589-669.

Kaufman, J., and J. Rosenbaum. 1991. The education and employment of low-income black youth in white suburbs. Educational Evaluation & Policy Analysis 14(3): 229-40.

Rosenbaum, J., S. Popkin, J. Kaufman, and J. Rusin. 1991. Social integration of low-income black adults in white middle-class suburbs. Social Problems 38(4): 448-61.

Rosenbaum, J. 1991. Black pioneers: Do their moves to the suburbs increase economic opportunity for mothers and children? Housing Policy Debate 2(4): 1179-214.

Rosenbaum, J., and S. Popkin. 1991. Employment and earnings of low-income blacks who move to middle-class suburbs. In The Urban Underclass, ed. C. Jencks and P. Peterson. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.

Rosenbaum, J., M. Kulieke, and L. Rubinowitz. 1988. White suburban schools' responses to low-income black children: Sources of successes and problems.The Urban Review 20(1): 28-41.

Rosenbaum, J., M. Kulieke, and L. Rubinowitz. 1987. Low-income black children in white suburban schools: A study of school and student response. Journal of Negro Education 56(1): 35-43.

Other Publications

"Geography of Opportunity" for public housing residents?" IPR Newsletter 21(1). (2000).

Kaufman, J. 1991. Low-income black youth in white suburbs: Education and employment outcomes. Doctoral dissertation, Northwestern University.