Illuminating Journalism from American Public Media
  • Investigations
  • Documentaries
  • Podcasts
  • About
  • Donate
  • Students on the Move

    Keeping uprooted kids in school

    Keeping uprooted kids in school
    Rachel Sender for APM Reports

    A documentary from APM Reports and the Educate podcast.

    Listen:
    Students on the Move: Keeping uprooted kids in school
    0:00 | 00:51:56

    August 14, 2019 | by Chris Julin and Tennessee Watson

    Moving a lot is hard on school kids. And millions of children in the United States have unstable housing.

    A growing body of research finds that repeatedly uprooted children are more likely to struggle in school and more likely to drop out. But there are ways to help them succeed.

    This APM Reports documentary focuses on two groups of kids who often change addresses — homeless kids and children of migrant farmworkers — and explores efforts to help these students do well in school.


    The growing crisis of homeless kids

    They sleep in cars, motels and relatives' houses, and they're more likely to drop out of school and spend their lives in poverty. Due to the lack of affordable housing, the U.S. has more of these children than ever before.


    The children in the fields

    Thanks to a loophole in U.S. child labor laws, farmworker kids can pick crops as young as age 10. But education offers a path out of poverty, if the kids can stay in school.

    Students on the Move is one of three audio documentaries this season from the Educate podcast — stories about education, opportunity, and how people learn.
    PRODUCERS
    Chris Julin
    Tennessee Watson
    EDITOR
    Catherine Winter
    ASSOCIATE PRODUCER
    Alex Baumhardt
    EXECUTIVE EDITOR
    AND HOST

    Stephen Smith
    RESEARCH AND
    PRODUCTION FELLOW

    John Hernandez
    WEB EDITORS
    Andy Kruse
    Dave Mann
    AUDIO MIX
    Craig Thorson
    EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
    Chris Worthington
    PROJECT COORDINATOR
    Shelly Langford
    THEME MUSIC
    Gary Meister
    PRODUCTION HELP
    Liz Lyon
    COPY EDITOR
    Sherri Hildebrandt
    FACT CHECKER
    Betsy Towner Levine
    SPECIAL THANKS
    Sasha Aslanian
    Emily Hanford
    Chris Maccini
    Heena Srivastava

     

    Support for this program comes from Lumina Foundation and the Spencer Foundation.


    Feedback
    We're interested in hearing what impact APM Reports programs have on you. Has one of our documentaries or podcasts changed how you think about an issue? Has it led you to do something, like start a conversation or try to do something new in your community? Share your impact story.
    Resources
    • Full documentary transcript

    Sign up for email notifications
    Enter your address below and we'll let you know when we publish new stories.

    • Investigations
    • Documentaries
    • Podcasts
    • About
    • Donate
    • © 2021 Minnesota Public Radio. All Rights Reserved.
    •  
    • Terms and Conditions
    •  
    • Privacy Policy