Poverty and Its Effects on School Age Children

Poverty Issues in Education: Effects on School-Age Children

Poverty and its effects on school age children

Poverty Issues in Education

Effects on School-Age Children

The child who lives in poverty experiences both challenges and barriers that other children who are not in these 'at risk' will never face. Presently there are number of young children in the U.S. that are growing up in families living in poverty or near poverty (44%). The term 'at-risk' is a reference to children who are "likely to fail in school or in life because of their life's social circumstances." Stated in the work of Pellino (2005) is that, "It does not appear that any one single factor places a child at-risk. Rather, when more than one factor is present, there is a compounding effect and the likelihood for failure increases significantly. (Pellino, 2005) Academic and behavioral problems can be indicators of impending failure. Among such behaviors are: delay in language development, delay in reading development, aggression, violence, social withdrawal, substance abuse, irregular attendance, and depression. The awareness of social and economic differences in status comes at an age younger than one would imagine and as these children grow aware of their personal status and that of their peers the children develop attitudes in relation to these awareness. Teachers are in a unique position to help these children in their development of care and sensitivity where other cultures and social classes are concerned by centering activities and lessons around the educational development of cultural awareness and through nurturing an attitude of respect for instead of stigmatization of the unique differences among the children in view of race, culture, ethnicity, and socially as well

Poverty Issues in Education

Effects on School-Age Children

Statement of Thesis

The purpose of this work is research and state the effects which poverty has on school-age children in terms of the educational challenges for both the teacher and the student.

Introduction

Poverty is an issue, which is a challenge for both the teacher and the student who lives in poverty. Poverty is an issue that more children are destined to face as the poverty class grows both in the United States and abroad. The child who lives in poverty experiences both challenges and barriers that other children who are not in these 'at risk' will never face. Presently there are number of young children in the U.S. that are growing up in families living in poverty or near poverty (44%).

The term 'at-risk' is a reference to children who are "likely to fail in school or in life because of their life's social circumstances." Stated in the work of Pellino (2005) is that, "It does not appear that any one single factor places a child at-risk. Rather, when more than one factor is present, there is a compounding effect and the likelihood for failure increases significantly. (Pellino, 2005)

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to understand the effects of poverty upon the educational attainment and ability through literature review as well as direct observation of students.

Findings

Findings of this study reveal that children in poverty are subject to detrimental effects upon their learning abilities from the experience of poverty however the shorter the duration the less the long-term effects on the child.

Review of Literature

'At- Risk" Characteristics, Problems and Developmental Problems:

Pellino (2005 states that, "Academic and behavioral problems can be indicators of impending failure. Among such behaviors are: delay in language development, delay in reading development, aggression, violence, social withdrawal, substance abuse, irregular attendance, and depression. Teachers may have difficulty reaching a student's parent or guardian. They may also find the student does not complete assignments, does not study for tests, or does not come to school prepared to learn because of poverty related circumstances in the home environment. These children may be unable to concentrate or focus. They may be unwilling or unable to interact with peers and/or adults in school in an effective manner. These issues not only have an impact on the learning of the child of poverty but can also impact the learning of other children." The child who has parents who did not complete high school is more likely to be a child of poverty. Statistics also show that low-income levels are a predictor of low-grades in school. It is very critical to note that the teacher's job is challenging as never before and how much more so with these children. Another problem in the lives of these children is their "high-mobility" (Pellino, 2005) as they often transfer out of one school and on to another. This unfortunate "mobility" is only the tip of the iceberg in relation to the problems and challenges that must be overcome in the education of children of poverty situations.

The awareness of social and economic differences in status comes at an age younger than one would imagine and as these children grow aware of their personal status and that of their peers the children develop attitudes in relation to this awareness. Teachers are in a unique position to help these children in their development of care and sensitivity where other cultures and social classes are concerned by centering activities and lessons around the educational development of cultural awareness and through nurturing an attitude of respect for instead of stigmatization of the unique differences among the children in view of race, culture, ethnicity, and socially as well. When children are between the ages of 7 to 12 years of age their perception is "less egocentric" tending to concentrate more on "internal characteristics or traits of people as opposed to external, observable social class differences." (Pellino, 2005) Although they do not concentrate on the same things as older children they do have the ability at this age to "recognize differences among groups."

According to Pellino (2005), "Taking into account a spiral curriculum, at earlier ages children can become acquainted with social class and other cultural differences. During the latter years, the topic can be revisited for deeper understanding. This is a great opportunity to include community service learning projects in the curriculum, such as volunteering as a class in a soup kitchen. Critically important is the teacher's realization of the fact that these activities should be followed with both group discussion and individual reflection to help children think critically about their experiences" (Chafel, 1997; Gomez, 2000 as cited by Pellino, 2005).

The difference in academic performance varies from class to class and group to group in view of ethnicity or racially as to income and is referred to as the achievement gap. (Pellino, 2005) The children of poverty situations are known to achieve at levels lower than students from homes that are middle and upper-class homes. Some of the primary influences on the achievement of a student's learning behaviors are:

(1) Home environment;

(2) Past experiences with education;

(3) Teacher attitude. (Pellino; 2005)

Pellino (2005) also states that it was proposed by Slavin (1998) that schools, "can have a powerful impact on the academic achievement and success of all children by viewing them as at-promise rather than at-risk and preparing them to reach their full potential." A program that is designed to "close the gaps" for children of poverty between theme and their peers started in 1965 as a part of what was termed the "War on Poverty," there is not much documented evidence in relation to lasting benefits of this program.

The paper entitled "Long-Term Effects of Head Start" (Garces, 2000) states that there exist four indicators which were examined in regards to economic and social success in adults. Findings reveal that a white individual's participation in Head Start was "associated with a significantly increased probability of completion of high school and attendance of college as well as elevated earnings in ones' early twenties. Furthermore, African-American males who attended Head Start are more likely than their siblings to have completed high school as well as those participating being less likely to be charge of a criminal offense. Temple et al. followed a group of CPC children until high schools'

Figure 1.0

The work entitled "Early Childhood Care and Education: Effects on Ethnic and racial Gaps in School Readiness" (Magnuson & Waldfogel, 2005) examines black, white and Hispanic children in relation to their different experiences in early childhood, specifically the care and education received and the links between those experiences and racial and ethnic gaps in school readiness. Children in attendance at centers or preschool programs are more ready to learn upon entrance into school. The study found that "black children are more likely to attend preschool than are white children." (Magnuson & Waldofgel, 2005)

A teacher that comprehends how the functions of the brain work is able to exert great influence in addressing the emotional and cognitive learning of students. This is includes physical learning process. It is well established in research that perceptions and emotions are connected to learning. Other findings are emotions have a connection to memory in that information is stored and recall triggered by emotions. The child of poverty has one primary all-present emotion which is 'fear' and according to research the feelings of 'fear' negatively influences a child's ability to learn. A safe and trusting environment in the class room enhances learning. The ideal classroom is "high in challenge and low in threat." (Pellino, 2005) It is critical that the classroom be a relaxed environment free of stress due to the fact that many children of poverty have a very stressful home life.

Research in related to the brain, or 'brain-based research' has shown that emotions impact memory because "emotion drives attention and attention drives learning and memory." (Pellino, 2005) "Verner (2004) state that poverty on a widespread basis "affects both students' performance and their availability to attend school. Low quality education leads to low income, which in turn perpetuates poverty. Furthermore, low levels of education affect growth through low labor productivity." This study ascertained that the single most important poverty reducing factor is educational attainment" The focus of this study is the estimation of the relationship between welfare receipt on the part of the parent and the adulthood educational attainment of the child. Findings in the study show that "greater parental welfare receipt is significantly associated with children's poorer educational attainment."

Further stated in the findings is that "parental welfare receipt is not negatively related to educational attainment if combined with at least quarter-time work by the mother." (Plotnick, 2000) Further stated in the work of Plotnick (1999) is "Welfare-stigma perspectives emphasize the devastating g effect of welfare labeling on a recipients' self-esteem (Rainwater, 1982; Goodban, 1985; Nichols-Casebolt, 1986; Elliott, 1996)

Welfare recipients lose self-esteem and become isolated, since society defines them as deviant, and recipients share in society's negative evaluations of them. Welfare stigma also may have direct social and psychological effects on children. Some studies have suggested that welfare children are stigmatized by other children and teachers (Rainwater; 1982; Popkin, 1990; Seccombe, 1999, Scott et al. As cited by Plotnick, 2000) Further found in this study was that "a mother's employment in low-income families improves the cognitive development of her children (Moore and Driscoll, 1997; Zaslow and Emig, 1997) which in turn increases chances for higher attainment in education. Also found was that entrance into welfare after a change in the family structure has a "significantly negative effect on children's educational attainment sin many models, while welfare entrance due to income changes does not have a significant effect in most models.

An estimated 25% of children in America are poor. According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census 1996 this is a higher figure than at any time since middle of the decade in the 1960's. Evidence exists that shows poverty to be detrimental to children's well-being and causes decreases in cognitive abilities, school performance, physical health, psychosocial adjustment, and a range of outcomes in adult hood. Persistent poverty is not the norm but instead periodic brief episodes of poverty are that which has been noted. The reaction of the children to poverty experiences are stated to show a variation by race with race being described as fundamental to the meaning of experiences with such factors as cultural identity reflecting these facts. In this study examined is:

(1) The predictive capacity of children's lifetime poverty experiences-characterized by duration and the number of transitions into poverty on their developmental patterns of well-being. (2) The addictive and interactive contributions of past and present poverty experiences; and (3) How these relationships vary by race?

Samples and measure in this study were 12, 686 young men and women ages 14 to 22 in 1979 Center for Human Research Resource, 1995. Conclusions state that the experiences of poverty by children and the psychosocial adjustment are dynamic requiring that inclusive in this study of conceptualizations, measurement strategies and methods that are developmentally-sensitive in nature. The number of years, or the amount or length of time that the child experiences poverty situations and stressors greatly determines the "deprivation and decrement cognitively hypotheses and makes a suggestion that duration and transition time is representative of death and extent of damage or creation of antisocial behavior or other behavioral problems. Stated is,

"In the context or the behavioral sciences, particularly the study of poverty and its effects on young people, the effects of past and current duration are not small and indeed duration and transitions represent the most powerful predictors of theses outcomes in our models." This study "demonstrates the utility of a dynamic approach to children's poverty and well=being that emphasizes developmentally-sensitive concepts and methods. The children of contemporary America are children marked by change and their life-histories, as brief as they may see, add much to the study of their lives beyond cross-sectional descriptions." (Center for Human Research Resource, 1995)

It is the students that are in need of effective teachers the most, the low income and minority students which are less likely to actually have teachers who are highly qualified and experienced.

High-poverty schools have a 50% higher rate of low-scoring teachers (bottom quartile SAT/ACT scores). Education Week, "Quality Counts 2001."

Minority students are twice as likely to be taught by inexperienced teachers (with less than 3 years experience).

Source: http://cie.asu.edu/volume6/number8/

It has been shown through studies in relation to Head Start that the program of Head Start is associated with short-term benefits, as indicated by improved test scores (Barnett, 1995,) "Although many of these studies have been criticized because they use ad hoc control groups, are subject to substantial attrition, or suffer from small sizes, the positive short-term effects of Head Start are relatively uncontroversial." According to one report, while being noted for lagging behind the other countries of the world, the United States government covers an estimated 25% -- 30% of the cost of child care for children under age 3. In contrast, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and France cover 68% -- 80% of the costs.

The more limited U.S. government role is reflected in the way child care is funded. While the United States primarily provides to parents tax credits or subsidies instead of offering care that is public provided the government finds that it has little to no control on a direct basis to child care in assigning models of quality or fairness to the institutions. Childcare in the United States is said to be of "moderate or poor quality."

In other countries where a larger share of child care is provided directly by government, quality standards are more uniform and more rigorously upheld. Thus, the biggest challenge for the United States is to develop policies to improve the quality of child care offered. Although growing up in poverty circumstances is known to cause depression and low self-esteem in adolescents studies reveal that having "a caring mother who feels in control of her life can reduce this effect" states a researcher from Penn State University. A different study found that "maternal mental health and warmth were found to reduce the direct impact of poverty on adolescents, illustrating the importance of maternal emotional resources in impeding the effects of poverty" graduate student in sociology and demography at Penn State: Bridget Goosby. However, mothers who have depressive symptoms and feel less in control of their lives are more likely to have children with low self-worth and depression, she adds. (Harnish and Fong, 2001