An Examination of the McKinney-Vento Act and Its Influence on the Homeless Education Situation

This article describes the central elements of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and, drawing from Spillane’s distributed leadership perspective, examines the policy’s impact on the homeless education situation. Although the initial passing and subsequent revisions to McKinney-Vento are depicted as providing numerous benefits for students who are homeless, its full actualization is seen to be inhibited by several intra- and interorganizational leadership issues at school, community, and state levels. After analyzing some of the common barriers to McKinney-Vento’s full implementation, several recommendations and implications for practice are posited.