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Abstract
Student turnover has many negative consequences for students and schools, and the
high mobility rates of disadvantaged students may exacerbate inequality. Scholars
have advised schools to reduce mobility by building and improving relationships with
and among families, but such efforts are rarely tested rigorously. A cluster-randomized
field experiment in 52 predominantly Hispanic elementary schools in San Antonio, TX,
and Phoenix, AZ, tested whether student mobility in early elementary school was reduced
through Families and Schools Together (FAST), an intervention that builds social capital
among families, children, and schools. FAST failed to reduce mobility overall but
substantially reduced the mobility of Black students, who were especially likely to
change schools. Improved relationships among families help explain this finding.