Episode 58: Tackling Student Poverty — Strategies for Academic Success

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Welcome to another episode of K12 Education Untangled. My name is Dr. Kim Fields, former corporate manager turned educational researcher and advocate, and I'm the host of this podcast. I got into this space after dealing with some frustrating interactions with school educators and administrators, as well as experiencing the microdiscriminations that I faced as an African American mom raising my two kids who were in the public school system. I really wanted to understand how teachers were trained and what the research provided about the challenges of the public education system. Once I gained the information and the insights that I needed, I was then equipped to be able to successfully support my children in their educational progress. If you're looking to find out more about current information and issues in education that could affect you or your children, then you're in the right place. Thanks for tuning in today. I know that staying informed about K12 education trends and topics is important to you, so keep listening. On today's episode, I'll be discussing student poverty and its impact on academic achievement. Student poverty is a growing problem. Recent data from the national center for Education Statistics show that as of the 20182019 school year, low income students comprised 52% of public school students in the United States. In 40 states, at least 40% of public school students were eligible to receive free or reduced price lunches and 18 of those states had student poverty rates of 50% or more. You may be thinking that this is an issue that doesn't concern you, but it does. Life can change in an instant, thrusting you into unforeseen circumstances. When this happens, you are suddenly in a situation for which you need to adjust, pivot and navigate. The educational attainment of all students of color impacts the community as a whole. It's not just about you and your children. It's about uplifting future generations so that they can achieve at their highest level. Low income students tend to perform worse in school than their more affluent peers. In addition, low income children are much more likely to experience food instability, family turmoil, and other stressors that can negatively affect their academic success. I discuss the implications of student poverty on academic achievement and I highlight the strides that are being taken to address this important issue. Let's get started. Poverty can be defined as based on the federal government's formula of the poverty line or based on free and reduced lunch formulas that vary from state to state or or based on particular characteristics and situations people find themselves in because of lack of monetary or material capital, usually due to loss of a job or due to divorce. There are 11 million children living in poverty in the United States, including one in seven children of color and one in six children under the age of five. In addition, children of single mothers and children living in the south suffer from the highest poverty rates. Children living in poverty attend schools in urban as well as suburban neighborhoods. Poverty has become one of the most prevalent indicators of academic achievement in schools today, and the number of students raised in poverty is increasing. Children raised in poverty are more likely to experience emotional and social challenges, chronic stressors, and cognitive lags due to significant changes in brain structure pertaining to memory and emotion. The best strategy for increasing student effort and motivation seems to be that of nurturing a strong relationship between the student and his or her teacher. Some of the social challenges of children living in poverty that are typically seen in the classroom include behavioral issues, impatience, poor impulse control, and lacking the ability to be polite and or socially gracious. They may also lack the ability to empathize with others. Poor social skills may cause decreases in academic performance. The students have a higher level of absenteeism, they struggle with focus and concentration, they have significantly more difficulty in comprehension and memory, and they also struggle with motivation. Given these stressors, the students tend to underperform in school and either give up or become disinterested in their schoolwork. This disinterest or disengagement can can begin as early as age 9. In order to conquer these academic and behavioral challenges faced by children raised in poverty, teachers need to develop strong relationships with their students and embed social skills and lessons, promote inclusiveness in the classroom, recognize the signs of poverty, build core skills, and empower their students. If the student doesn't perceive that a strong teacher student relationship exist, then there will be a low probability of learning. Embedding social skills can be as simple as teaching students to say thank you to their classmates and to learn the correct social etiquette when meeting someone new for the first time and this would involve shaking hands, saying hello, and making small talk. Educators also need to reinforce with parents that education be a priority in the home. There are several core skills that students need in order to be successful in school. These include long and short term memory, focus, attention, problem solving, processing, hopefulness, self esteem, perseverance, and social skills. Adding these core skills into the classroom learning experiences will help in closing the academic achievement gap for students raised in poverty. All students, regardless of their socioeconomic status or poverty level, need support in the educational process. In order to support students living below the poverty line, teachers need to evaluate their mindsets, internal beliefs, and actions about the student's that they teach and their capabilities. Educators also need to examine their own negative views and worldviews which influence their practices in teaching all students. Several outside of school experiences factor into supporting students living in poverty. These factors include 1 student and family homelessness, 2 geography and social context, and 3 parental and family engagement. Homeless students include those who stay with relatives and friends instead of actively living on the street. The experiences of homelessness present certain obstacles to children such as enrolling and attending school, inhibiting the development of executive functioning skills that are required for academic success, and making literacy development more challenging. In addition to homelessness, where students and their families live seem to influence their experiences in education due to structural and systemic inequities. Children of color and those living in poverty are much more likely to be exposed to hazardous environment conditions such as air and water pollution, lead paint, smokestacks, etc. And these can often influence their health and consequently their performance in schools. Students living in poverty can experience several disheartening realities including housing instability, hunger, health and nutrition problems, school instability, physical, emotional, and psychological abuse due to distress and inadequate schools and educational experiences. Parental and family engagement intersects the boundary between schools and communities. This engagement goes beyond parents and families showing up to school PTA meetings. It includes things such as involvement in home based activities like ensuring that homework is completed, monitoring student progress and improvement through school visits and in the home, and phone conversations with teachers and administrators. This engagement also includes attending sporting events, volunteering on field trips, and volunteering in the classroom. Now, many of these activities may not always be feasible due to work restrictions or transportation inaccessibility. Another factor to consider is that many parents living in poverty may not have had positive school experiences themselves and therefore may feel uncomfortable engaging directly with teachers and school personnel because of their past negative experiences. Despite all of this, research indicates that parents can and do support the academic success of their children. A child's socioeconomic status doesn't indicate that the child cannot be a high achieving student. Parents of high achieving students assist their children with homework and have supportive conversations with their children at home about that child's potential. Parents of high achievers also have their children actively engaged and involved in community through extracurricular activities, including religious activities. Families living in poverty understand the importance and value of education and this is supported in several research studies. While parental and family engagement are critical to a student's academic and social success in school, other studies have found that parents place value in and have different expectations and demands of their children's teachers. Parents in poverty seem to be more dependent on schools to lead their children to academic success. In order to support students living in poverty, teachers should focus on two skills to help promote their academic success, language arts skills and study skills. Language arts skills include the ability to read, write, and think critically. These skills should be taught across all content areas in the K12 context. Study skills include the ability to take notes and organize those notes, to read textbooks, and how to interact with teachers in order to get the best results from their courses. As long as there is a dearth in funding from governments and schools for initiatives to combat poverty, the opportunities for students in poverty to close the educational gap will continue to decrease. Students who live in poverty live in an environment that is unpredictable and this makes it difficult for them to make positive connections at school. When students living in poverty start school, there's only a small gap in achievement with their classmates. However, without interventions, this gap increases as they enter high school. Families living in poverty seldom create sufficient opportunities for students to build literacy skills. Literacy skills at an early age are an accurate indicator of later academic success. Although a child's literacy development starts early in life, students living in poverty will not be introduced to their vocabulary as their peers who are not living in poverty. So the vocabulary that they are introduced to is differs than those who are not living in poverty and this is a substantial setback in their development and it is one that is difficult for the child to overcome. Students from low income families are less likely to earn a high school diploma and enroll in college. Many times these students are the first ones in their family to attend college and as such lack the experience and direction from parents, guardians, or or other family members who could guide them as they matriculate. Higher education in the 21st century American economy, citizens should have advanced literacy skills and schools in America are striving to empower poor students to attain these advanced literacy skills. Preparing students to achieve academic success in high school and beyond is a top priority in public education. As reported in the Athens Journal of Education in May of 2018, higher education is beneficial to not only individuals but to society as a whole and the income related gap for academic performance and access to higher education is growing. Ensuring that all children in poverty have the opportunity for academic success is vital to a growing economy and a dynamic society. The responsibility of educating students in poverty is a multifaceted issue. However, financial allocations by school districts noticeably have had an impact on student success. Have you had a chance to check.

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Standardized testing is one of the most commonly used measures of student academic progress. The use of standardized testing remains controversial because these tests have become high stakes for students and school educators and administrators. Student achievement depends on multiple factors including ability, behavior, and socioeconomic status. One of the problems with standardized tests is that they don't take into account the varying experiences of every student and as a result, achievement gaps become the norm for many subgroups. But especially for economically disadvantaged children, standardized tests cannot ascertain creativity, initiative, conceptual thinking, judgment, nuance, or ethical reflection, as well as a number of other valuable characteristics and attributes. You can listen to my expanded discussion about standardized testing in episodes 25 and 34. That's in episodes 25 and 34, poverty is more influential to academic performance than even gestational exposure to cocaine. The economically disadvantaged subgroup in all 50 states never outperforms other non labeled students regardless of the grade level or subject area, which only goes to indicate that the strongest correlation to academic achievement is socioeconomic status. Despite the findings from research, there are many cases in which students rise above poverty and become successful in life. One example is a 2018 study of three female superintendents who came from poverty and how they elevated out of it to become successful superintendents in their school districts and help those students living in poverty. Being encouraged by caring teachers, having the support of family in a loving environment, and having the internal grit and tenacity helped these female professionals achieve their life goals. Each female superintendent indicated that she would not be the person she was if she had not gone through those experiences in her life because they helped her to develop to be the best person she could be. The emergent themes that connected all of these women to elevate out of poverty were positive relationships, love and care from individuals from school and church, encouragement and help from others in their lives and religion. They also identified at least one educator who provided them with support and the perspective of seeing a better future when they were advancing through life. Children living below the poverty line have been called the Invisible Americans and their needs are often ignored. Children living in poverty can be found in every state of the union. There are a number of findings that focus on understanding how the social structures in school organizations need to be reformed in order to serve students who live in poverty better. This is not about fixing the student, but more about addressing the historical and structural causes of poverty. These findings include one Adequate and equitable funding supports student success. Schools serving large numbers of students of color and students from low income families have typically had significantly fewer resources in school serving more affluent students. These resources include qualified teacher, reasonable class sizes, adequate textbooks, computers, facilities, and curriculum offerings. Therefore, there should be a more sufficient level of funding for all students and increased funding for children living in poverty as well as English language learners and students with disabilities two Community Schools and partnerships promote the learning and well being of students living in poverty. This involves schools partnering with community agencies and allocating resources to provide an integrated focus on academics, health and social services, youth and community development, and family and community engagement and three Whole child teaching and learning cultures Build on students Strengths the whole child approach to education will requires secure attachments and affirming relationships. This also involves building a safe and caring learning community in which students feel well supported and the environment is culturally responsive and inclusive. This by no means indicates that education alone can eliminate childhood poverty, but education is a key component for a comprehensive approach to building an enduring equal opportunity society. Education is an essential ingredient in eliminating childhood poverty because it can transform lives from the inside out. Here are some things to be aware of as you take actions. Being sensitive to the needs of children who attend your child's school helps to bring attention to the diverse needs of all. If there are things you can do, resources that you can provide, and conversations that you can initiate, these may all help to uplift, encourage, and support your child's environment so that it lends itself to being more inclusive. Here are this episode's takeaways. Many students in the public school systems across the United States live in poverty in order to support their academic success. These strategies could be one developing the necessary partnerships between educators and communities that address key outside of school factors that shape the learning experiences of students living in poverty and 2 ensuring that educators teach students specific skills in targeted areas that are likely to improve their academic success. Poverty may be an obstacle on the path to academic success, but with the proper support and guidance, it can be overcome. Many homes are filled with love, but for those living in poverty, love doesn't always overcome the deficiencies that poverty can create in the home, community, or school or the implications it can have on academic success. The constant reminder of living in poverty does not escape children and as a result, these children are more focused on daily life than on gaining a higher education. This perpetuates the poverty cycle. Education alone can eliminate childhood poverty, but education is a key component for a comprehensive approach to building an enduring equal opportunity society. Education is an essential ingredient eliminating childhood poverty because it can transform lives from the inside out. Preparing students to achieve academic success in high school and beyond is a top priority in public education. Higher education is beneficial to not only individuals, but to society as a whole and the income related gap for academic performance and access to to higher education is growing. Ensuring that all children in poverty have the opportunity for academic success is vital to a growing economy and a dynamic society. The responsibility of educating students in poverty is a multifaceted issue. However, financial allocations by school districts noticeably have an impact on student success. If this is the type of subject matter and discussion that resonates with you, please follow my podcast on whatever service you're listening via service. Also, I'd love to hear from you, so please leave me a rating, a review, or a comment on apple stitcher or podchaser. You can also rate my podcast@ratethispodcast.com if you like this podcast. The best way to support me and help me grow it is by leaving a review. This helps my ranking and entices other people to listen to the show and share this episode with anyone that you think would find it valuable. Be sure to tell your friends, family and community about my podcast. Thanks for listening today. 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