Reversing the Effects of Poverty on Elementary School Children

By: Amanda Turmel

Poverty and its attendant risk factors are damaging to the physical, socioemotional, and cognitive well-being of children and their families.
(Klebanov & Brooks-Gunn, 2006; Sapolsky, 2005 as cited in Jensen, 2009)

Poverty is an ever growing problem in our country today. More and more children are exposed to the negative effects that poverty creates and they bring these problems into the classroom. Many teachers are unaware of how they can teach these children and state home life and a lack of parenting as the main cause for their academic struggles. My goal for this presentation is to help teachers understand why their students living in poverty behave the way they do in school and why they struggle academically.

According to Jensen (2009): Poverty is a chronic and debilitating condition that results from multiple adverse synergistic risk factors and affects the mind, body, and soul. Persons with income less than that deemed sufficient to purchase basic needs-food, shelter, clothing, and other essentials-are designated as poor.

United States In 2010, 46.2 million (15.3%) people were living in poverty 32 states had an increase in the percentage of people living in poverty between 2009 and 2010
(U.S. Census Bureau, 2011)

North Carolina 1,627,602 (17.5%) people living in poverty in 2010 This number increased by nearly 200,000 people between 2009 and 2010

Out-of-school factors (OSFs) play a powerful role in generating existing achievement gaps. Low birth-weight and non-genetic prenatal influences on children Inadequate medical, dental, and vision care Food insecurity Environmental pollutants Family relations and family stress Neighborhood characteristics

(Berliner, 2009)

To grow up emotionally healthy, children under 3 need:

All children are hardwired to feel sadness, joy, disgust, anger, surprise, and fear. They must be taught humility, forgiveness, empathy, optimism, compassion, sympathy, patience, shame, cooperation, and gratitude. The responsibility for teaching these emotions is placed on the parent; however, when this does not occur, the responsibility falls on teachers.

A strong, reliable primary caregiver who provides consistent and unconditional love, guidance, and support Safe, predictable, stable environments 10 to 20 hours each week of harmonious, reciprocal interactions Enrichment through personalized, increasingly complex activities

Without these positive factors, a child will grow up emotionally dysfunctional.

(Jensen, 2009)

Poverty is known to have negative effects on the performance of students in schools today. These factors affect what teachers are able to accomplish in the classroom. Examples of these factors include, home life, parental support, stress, IQ, attention, motivation, mental health, and a variety of others. Children living in poverty are likely to have trouble learning new skills in school. Statistics show that 60% of these children dropout by the time they reach high school.

(Johnson, Strange, Madden, 2010)

2010-2011 School Year The economically disadvantaged students at Seagrove Elementary scored 60.8% proficient on the End-of-Grade test In the district (Randolph County Schools), the number proficient was 52.4% In the state of North Carolina the number of proficient scores was 53.3%

http://www.ncschoolreportcard.org

Poor students are more likely to display: Acting-out behaviors Impatience and impulsivity Gaps in politeness and social graces A more limited range of behavioral responses Inappropriate emotional responses Less empathy for others misfortunes

(Jensen, 2009)

The reason things stay the same is because weve been the same. For things to change, we must change! (Jensen, 2009)

 The

ability and motivation to defer gratification and make a sustained effort to meet long-term goals Auditory, visual, and tactile processing skills Attentional skills that enable the student to engage, focus, and disengage as needed Short-term and working memory capacity Sequencing skills A champions mind-set and confidence
These skills can be taught through physical activity, chess, the arts, computer programs, and music.
(Jensen, 2009)

In order to reshape the view of students living in poverty, we must first focus on the teachers. 1. Change staff members mind-sets: they need to believe that they can change their students 2. Invest in staff: they need to feel included, supported, challenged, and nurtured 3. Support ongoing collaboration: foster strong relationships and team building every single school year 4. Encourage staff dialogue: have structured conversations 5. Gather quality data
(Jensen, 2009)

Support of the whole child

Schools address the social, emotional, and health-related challenges that children face Schools collect accurate, relevant, and specific data using formative assessments Teachers feel responsible and accountable for the success and failure of their students and they provide a rigorous education that enriches students learning

Hard data

Accountability

Relationship building

Members of a school community form positive, long-lasting relationships: Students, school staff members, caregivers with children, and teachers with children
Fostering intellectual curiosity, emotional engagement, and social bonding. Teachers and students reach their full potential
(Jensen, 2009)

Enrichment mind-set

Standards-based curriculum and instruction

Schools need to align instruction with the state standards in order to improve test scores Teachers need to have high expectations for all students and should show this by their words and actions Each of these areas should be implemented daily in the classroom to enhance learning and decrease depression

Hope building

Arts, athletics, and advanced placement

Retooling of the operating system

Students need to believe they can succeed, have hope and put forth effort, they need attention skills, memory, processing and sequencing skills
Instruction that includes the personal interests of the students in the classroom
(Jensen, 2009)

Engaging instruction

Opportunity NYC-Family Rewards-2007 Attempted to reduce family hardship in the short term, while also helping parents and children develop the skills to allow them to escape poverty over the longer term. Parents in 6 poor communities in New York City were offered incentives for helping their children achieve specific educational goals. Incentives were given to the parents of children in elementary and middle school. High school students received their own incentives. Incentives were offered for attendance and standardized test scores. Results of the study are still ongoing, however, it was observed that families living in poverty need guidance and support.
(Greenberg, Dechausay, & Fraker, 2011)

1.
2. 3.

4.

Helps participants focus on the activities rather than the incentives Gives guidance to help prepare students for long term goals Provides advice to parents on how to communicate with their children about the program Connects students educational efforts with parents financial efforts

(Greenberg, et al., 2011)

Step 1: Sep. 2012, Present PowerPoint on poverty to staff members of Seagrove Elementary Step 2: Sep.-Oct. 2012, Staff members read the Jensen text Teaching with Poverty in Mind Step 3: Sep.-Oct. 2012, School staff meets in vertical teams to discuss possible solutions to the problem of poverty in our school Step 4: Nov. 2012, Staff implements school (SHARE) factors from Jensen text, teachers will meet monthly to discuss the effects of the SHARE factors as a staff, and weekly to have grade level discussions Step 5: Jan.-June 2013, Staff implements classroom (SHARE) factors from Jensen text, teachers meet for weekly grade level discussions

Berliner, D.C. 2009. Poverty and Potential: Out of School Factors and School Success. Education and the Public Interest Center & Education Policy Research Unit, 1-54. Greenberg, D., Dechausay, N., & Fraker, C. 2011. Learning Together: How Families Responded to Education Incentives in New York Citys Conditional Cash Transfer Program. MDRC, 1-109. Jensen, E. (2009). Teaching with Poverty in Mind: What Being Poor Does to Kids Brains and What Schools Can Do About It. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Johnson, J., Strange, M., & Madden, K. 2010. The Rural Dropout Problem: An Invisible Achievement Gap. The Rural School and Community Trust, 1-14. NC School Report Cards. (2010-2011). Retrieved from http://www.ncschoolreportcard.org/src/schDetails.jsp?Pa ge=2&pSchCode=356&pLEACode=760&pYear=2010-2011 United States Census Bureau.(2011). Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/acsbr10-01.pdf