About This Lesson
The Education Center of the Columbia Policy Institute (CPI) developed a lesson on the connections between housing segregation and educational disparities in the United States. Through a thorough literature review, CPI researchers synthesized insights from various sources—including newspapers, think tank reports, and peer-reviewed journals—and transformed their scholarly work into an engaging lesson. In the lesson, the Center utilizes state-specific case studies to illustrate broader patterns in housing policy interventions aimed at school integration and (thereby) promoting more equitable access to high-quality schools. The lesson emphasizes the real-world implications of different zoning policies, highlighting outcomes such as narrowing academic achievement gaps and fostering school-wide racial and socioeconomic diversity. Additionally, it provides a historical overview of past and present housing segregation policies in the United States, consistently highlighting the critical link between neighborhood segregation and school segregation. Culminating with an evidence-based housing proposal in New York City, the lesson equips students with a deeper understanding of the American housing and education systems. A dynamic PowerPoint presentation, accessible to educators, complements this lesson plan and features active learning activities interspersed throughout an informative lecture comprising the majority of the presentation. The PowerPoint presentation should be used to visually facilitate the lesson to students, and this lesson plan, to inform and guide that facilitation. At its core, the creation of this lesson reflects CPI's commitment to empowering students with the knowledge needed to navigate and advocate for improvements in the education landscape.
Authors: Katherine Grivkov, Lily Ouellet, Spencer Davimos, Erin Torres, Ruby Perez, Jorge Hernandez-Perez, and Nori Leybengrub
