Giving Compass' Take:

• Detroit schools are facing challenges trying to address the issue of enrollment instability, due to lack of accountability. No one has been keeping track of this problem on a national scale. 

• How can schools start now? The first step is to decide what counts as "stable" regarding student mobility and enrollment. 

• Read about the success of community schools that offer student needs beyond education. 

There’s no question that Detroit schools are struggling with the serious consequences of students coming and going throughout the school year. What’s less clear is how the problem compares to other cities and states.

That’s because no one is keeping close track nationally of these frequent school moves, known by academics as student mobility, or enrollment instability.

A Milwaukee news organization that surveyed the education departments in all 50 states found that half don’t collect or post data on students hopping around. And of states that do collect the data, the numbers they collect are so inconsistent that making state-to-state comparisons is nearly impossible.

Without reliable data, it’s harder for policymakers to recognize the problem or fashion solutions.

“Of the many dimensions of poverty, student mobility seems to be one that has the ability to be addressed through state and federal policy,” Jeffrey Grigg, a Johns Hopkins University education professor told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “It has great implications for the instructional work that people are trying to accomplish in schools.”

Read the full article about enrollment instability by Erin Einhorn at Chalkbeat