Resources needed to promote learning in low-income schools [ABSTRACT SHOULD BE AROUND 150 WORDS] Imagine an at risk poverty stricken learning environment in which many students are falling behind in their coursework. One may wonder what is there to expect from low-income students. There are several factors that contribute to this reality that is faced in many schools: Many students will not receive adequate resources at home because survival is the focal point; Teachers are not going the extra mile to help ensure the success of all students; Resources are not being applied in schools that help apply academics, There are students who are farther behind in the classroom and this creates an imbalance of learning; and children in low income schools …show more content…
Having a diverse vocabulary is an essential element to learning and processing new information. Children who are raised in low-income environments generally have a reduced vocabulary compared to those raise within the middle-class. Not possessing good vocabulary and language skills can increase the chances of failure in school (“How poverty affects classroom engagement”). It is estimated that “Children from low-income families hear, on average, 13 million words by age 4. In middle class families, children hear about 26 million words during that same time period” (“How poverty affects classroom engagement”). This is a very prominent difference which shows how much more advanced middle-class children become at a younger age verses the poverty-stricken children. At-risk students can generally be stereotyped as unmotivated and unwilling to put forth effort, as opposed to higher class students. The difficult situations that students go through can even be linked to depression and anxiety (“How poverty affects classroom engagement”). In the article “How poverty affects classroom engagement” the author says “Research from 60 high-poverty schools tells us that the primary factor in student motivation and achievement isn’t the student’s home environment; it’s the school and the …show more content…
Many students do not receive adequate resources at home, because survival is the focal point. Many parents or guardians in these situations fail to provide even the most basic of needs for their children. These children are coming into schools that are unprepared and do not have the resources available to meet the needs of the students (The correlation between poverty and learning).
A popular trait of children of poverty is their tendency to move from one place to the other in a short time period. They may move from one city to the other as the parents look for employment- from one part of a city to the other in search of cheap rental properties. They may live in shelters reserved for the poor, or, worst, on the streets. It goes without saying that the conditions they live in can tremendously impact their education, ad level of achievement. (The correlation between poverty and learning)
Poverty stricken areas obtain a deficiency of conditions that promote success and progression.
Some students lack food, water, clothing, and shelter in their home
(Brooks-Gunn et all, 1997) That points out the disadvantage and how the family income influence youngsters overall childhood, since under the poverty condition, they children do not have enough money to support for their necessary needs, they will more likely to have low self-confidence and hard to blend in with their peers. Poverty has impact on children’s achievement in several different ways. Payne (2003) maintained that the poverty could affect children achievement though emotional, mental, financial, and role models (Payne, 2003). Thus, the children from low-income family are more likely to have self-destructive behavior, lack of control emotional response and lack of necessary intellectual, that is really important for the students under the age of 16.
Child poverty is and has been a big problem in America, and children below the poverty line do not do well in school. David H. Arnold, a scholar and studier on the subject, said in an article, "Child poverty has reached epidemic proportions within the United States. Of the 35.6 million people living in poverty in 1997, 14.1 million were children … One third of American children spend at least one year below the poverty line, and 18% experience extreme poverty … Younger children are more likely to face poverty… and its impact may be strongest during children's earliest years ... Among poverty's effects is a devastating negative influence on academic achievement; the relation between socioeconomic status … and underachievement is most dramatic near and below the poverty line” (Arnold). Child poverty is a very real problem in America and most children with money problems are likely to fall behind in school. In addition, Parents having a bad education will most likely lead to poverty, and it is hard for their children to improve their way of life after they have based under the poverty line. In Arnold’s article, he stated; "Numerous factors contribute to the relation between [economic stance] and educational outcomes … Such factors may, for example, have repercussions on child cognitive functioning or parenting, and in turn, educational
Even when low-income schools manage to find adequate funding, the money doesn’t solve all the school’s problems. Most importantly, money cannot influence student, parent, teacher, and administrator perceptions of class and race. Nor can money improve test scores and make education relevant and practical in the lives of minority students. School funding is systemically unequal, partially because the majority of school funding comes from the school district’s local property taxes, positioning the poorest communities at the bottom rung of the education playing field. A student’s socioeconomic status often defines her success in a classroom for a number of reasons.
Low income students are generally found in low income communities which have fewer resources to devote to their schools. With inadequate funds and resources, these kids are not getting the equal opportunity in education as kids in high income communities. Kids...
Michael Oher was from an all-black neighborhood located in the third poorest zip code in the country. By the time he was a sophomore, he’d been to 11 different schools, he couldn’t read or write, and he had a GPA of 0.6. In his first-grade year alone, he missed 41 days of school and ended up repeating both the first and the second grade; he didn’t even go to the third grade. Oher was one of the thousands of children that have been identified as having four or more of the at-risk factors mentioned by the National Center of Education and Statistics (NCES). According to the NCES, poverty and race are high on the list of things that negatively affect students’ ability to succeed at school. Other risk factors include changing schools multiple times and being held back from one or more grades. Oher’s biography, The Blind Side by Michael Lewis, proves how socioeconomic status impacts a child’s academic success because placed in perspective, education is not as important as the hardships of reality.
One of the main issues in the educational system is the mindset of students, especially those in poverty. Students in poverty since the, “...beginning of the Progressive Era...” have had a tendency to not put forth effort in the classroom (Hood). Cultural trends throughout twentieth and twenty-first century America has developed different philosophies on how education should be treated. The overarching theme from all time periods in America is that students in poverty tend to be less happy, less excited about school, and less invested in the future that lies ahead for them because they have no hope and optimism. According to the International Journal for Behavioral Medicine, students who have a low “...socioeconomic status [view] the future as containing more negative [experiences] than positive [experiences]”. These students are considered the trouble makers o...
Education has been historically considered as an equalizer of society in America, allowing the opportunity for even the disadvantaged to reach success. Race was once the strongest factor in determining future achievement, but today Stanford Sociologist, Sean F. Reardon, says income level has become more consequential (Tavernise). President Barack Obama was one of the lucky few able to overcome the obstacles he faced growing up being both African American and underprivileged, but most children are not as lucky (Rampton , Nawaguna). In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot, the Lacks family lived in poverty and struggled to perform well in school, resulting in many of them dropping out even before high school (Skloot). The success gap between high and low income students in the U.S. has increased significantly in recent years (McGlynn). The educational achievement of students is significantly affected by their home life, and those living in poverty are much more likely to fall behind academically than children coming from affluent families.
Students in poverty tend to obtain low grades, have little academic achievement, and often misbehave. Many often drop out before graduating high school. Students ages sixteen through twenty-four are up to seven times more likely to drop out. A study published in Nature Neuroscience discovered “a link between physical brain development and poverty level. In a study of eleven hundred children, adolescence and adults from around the US, researchers found significant differences in the brains of children from the lowest income bracket in comparison to those in the highest. Families who lived on less than twenty-five thousand dollars a year had as much as 6% less surface area in their brain in areas like language and decision making than families who made more than one hundred and fifty dollars a year.” This may support why many students in poverty tend to do worse in school over middle class students. Employers usually lean toward more educated workers, leaving the poor at a serious disadvantage when it comes to work Children growing in poverty regularly have families of their own poverty. Some workplaces, manufacturing jobs have replaced their human labor with machinery and technology, which leaves many potential jobs out of the hands of people hungry for work. Having a weak education leaves them unskilled, resulting poor and low paying occupations. This creates a long lasting loop of poverty, a loop which is hard to escape. They
Education is now more important than it has ever been. Because it is the law that every child receives an education, most people believe that all children are getting an equal education. But, that is not the truth; low-income children are receiving poorer quality education than middle-class children. These children also experience racial inequality, and they live in an unbreakable low-income cycle, all of which are things that have an effect of the quality of education a child is receiving. As stated by Brooks and Duncan (1997), "How does the relative lack of income influence children 's day-to-day lives? It is through inadequate nutrition; fewer learning experiences; instability of residence; lower quality of schools;
Family issues, poverty, and homelessness cause students to drop out of high school as it impacts education by placing stressful obstacles in children’s learning path. A National study found, “Overall, 22 percent of children who have lived in poverty do not graduate from high school, compared to 6 percent of those who have never been poor” (National Study). Lack of educational success can also contribute to throwing in the towel on school. Some students may not be receiving the additional supports to give them success in school. Imagine coming home on the bus after a ten hour day and having your ninth grader ask for help on their algebra. If you possessed the skills, which you likely do not, you may be too exhausted to help. In addition there is still dinner to cook and other household chores to complete. It is a daunting request that you may not be able to comply with. “Family poverty is associated with a number of adverse conditions — high mobility and homelessness; hunger and food insecurity; parents who are in jail or absent; domestic violence; drug abuse and other problem…” (Shonkoff & Garner, 2012 as quoted by Rumberger). Poverty is an obstacle to learning even for the brightest children. As a result few can overcome these stumbling
When analyzing children growing up in poverty a lot of factors come into play such as their physical, psychological and emotional development. To grow up in poverty can have long term effect on a child. What should be emphasized in analyzing the effects of poverty on children is how it has caused many children around the world to suffer from physical disorders, malnutrition, and even diminishes their capacities to function in society. Poverty has played a major role in the functioning of families and the level of social and emotional competency that children are able to reach. Children in poverty stricken families are exposed to greater and emotional risks and stress level factors. They are even capable of understanding and dealing with their own emotions as well as the emotions of others. Some of the implications of poverty include educational setbacks, issues with social behaviors and hindrances in psychological and physical development. Poverty deprives children of the capabilities needed to survive, develop and prosper in society. Studies have shown that the income status of a household and even the neighborhoods in which they reside can affect the amount of readily available resources needed to sustain a healthy child. This essay will examine the psychological and physical effects of poverty on children. The psychological aspect will include a look at behavioral problems in children, depression, chronic stress, and conduct disorders such as ADHD. Poverty is known to decrease the amount of psychological and physical capabilities in children which can have long term adverse effects on their wellbeing.
Living in poverty exposes children to disadvantages that influence many aspects in their life that are linked to their ability to do well in school. In the United States of America there are an estimated 16.4 million children under the age of 18 living in poverty (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). “The longer a child lives in poverty, the lower the educational attainment” (Kerbo, 2012). Children who are raised in low-income households are at risk of failing out before graduating high school (Black & Engle, 2008). U.S. children living in poverty face obstacles that interfere with their educational achievement. Recognizing the problems of living in poverty can help people reduce the consequences that prevent children from reaching their educational potential.
The purpose of this literature review is to examine the relation between students’ socioeconomic status and their academic achievement. To be more specific, the goals are to determine (a) what defines low income; (b) review identified student characteristics (e.g. parental involvement, ethnicity, and school location) that have an effect on student achievement; and (c) what current research is saying about the best practices are for addressing the needs of low income students within the school setting. This literature review is not intended to provide a comprehensive review of the available literature, but to serve as a starting point for future directions for research and policy.
It can be argued that the academic performance of children has nothing to do with their socioeconomic status, because there have been many cases of children from very poor families who have excelled greatly in academics (APA, 2017). Furthermore, many predominantly high-end schools have posted poor results when compared to school with poorer backgrounds. This is despite the fact children from lower socioeconomic classes do not have access to the best forms of learning materials. The high performance of children from poor backgrounds is often attributed to the fact that they are not preoccupied with many activities which would otherwise hinder them from concentrating on their studies (Sacerdote, 2002). Therefore, some believe it is false to say that poor performance is associated with children who come from low socioeconomic classes. Rather, they believe academic achievement is genetic (Sacerdote, 2002).
For the most part it is not the students fault as to why they are failing, but the teachers. In run down schools in poor towns, most teachers can only do so much with what they are given. In most cases it leads the teachers to just give up. In David K. Shipler’s The Working Poor: Invisible in America, Shipler states, “It had been a science class, and the teacher had given up and allowed a student who had brought a Nintendo game to plug it in” (Shipler 240). If the teacher ends up giving up or stops caring all together, the student will follow suit. In the student’s mind if the authority does not see it as important, why should they. It is important that the teachers, no matter the school, not give up on the students, for most it is the only the students have to look up to. According to Lyndsey Layton, writer for the Washington Post, just about 11 million children were living below the poverty level (Layton). For that amount of children to be living that low in life is unacceptable, but because of how education is in these areas where the children are living in are bad, they don’t have much hope for their future. Education is the only outlook these kids have for a better future and if that is corrupt or interfered with than there is a really good chance of them not being able to escape the poverty. Although there are millions of teachers that do strive to provide the best for his or her