Income
equality affects many people in the United States and the world. However, it is
seen as an especially worsening problem with adolescences because they are the
future of our country. Income inequality in adolescence can lead to many
problems including school achievement, peer development, and overall
development and growth. Students with a lower socioeconomic status are at a
loss compared to their peers and classmates whose families have a higher
socioeconomic status.
In
my opinion, and from my research, I have found that young children rely greatly
on their parents for support in their younger years, and children who are brought
into low income families do not have the same support and guidance as students
who are brought into families with higher incomes. Therefore, they perform
worse than their peers who were brought into families with higher incomes. Duncan and Murnane state, “Children growing
up in families with greater financial resources score higher on many dimensions
of school readiness upon entering kindergarten”. The reason for this is because
families with more money are able to purchase books, and more resources for
their children, compared to children with parents who are not as fortunate.
High income parents also tend to spend more time interacting and playing with
their children than low income parents. This also correlates to a student’s
willingness to talk and participate because they feel more comfortable, having
practiced it all their life.
Another
reason for this gap may be that low income students live in geographically bad
and dangerous areas. Therefore, the schools they attend most likely align with
this characteristic as well. Good teachers are more likely to not stay in these
schools, because they can get paid more to teach at a more substantial or
wealthier school that will allow them to feel like they are making a
difference. Therefore, students in these areas are not getting a great
education. Most of the time, teachers are doing more of breaking up fights and
trying to get the children to pay attention than actually teaching. Not only
does this affect the teachers who are coming into the school, but it also
affects the students. Some students may have to walk to school, but because
they live in such a dangerous area, they may feel unsafe going to school so
they stay at home instead. This factor also accounts for dropout rates in
schools. Students need to feel safe if they are going to go to school.
The
graph below shows us exactly how diverse SAT scores can be between students
whose families have a higher or lower income. This is important to take into
account, because clearly there is something that needs to be done to try to get
students with lower incomes to perform at the same level as their peers whose
families make more money.
There
is one school in Snow Hill, North Carolina that is trying to combat the effects
of poverty on the students. Their thinking is, “One of the best ways to help
children of poverty is to extend the school environment into the community. At
Greene County Middle School, the connection between the local communities and
the school is strong” (http://teaching.monster.com/benefits/articles/3049-how-one-school-is-fighting-poverty).
This middle school has the children create homemade banners and hang them
around the school. “When visitors enter GCMS for the first time, they
notice the large banner over the front door announcing the school’s motto: “Creating
a School of Significance” (http://teaching.monster.com/benefits/articles/3049-how-one-school-is-fighting-poverty)
this is important because the students at this school feel safe and they feel
like they actually are making a difference in the world. This school also made
banners and sent them to victims of September 11. The students also see other
banners everyday that motivate them like, “It’s Not If You’ll Go to College,
It’s When You’ll Go to College” to remind students of the larger purpose of
their education. Because children pass these signs repeatedly throughout the day,
the message is driven home” (http://teaching.monster.com/benefits/articles/3049-how-one-school-is-fighting-poverty).
It is important to instill this message into children who live at poverty
level, or whose families are struggling financially, at a young age because the
students have this message drilled in their minds and they feel like they can
actually go to college and make a difference in their lives. Although this
school is one of a kind, it instills values and trust into the students. It is
important to have this feeling of safety and efficacy for the students because
they will actually want to go to school. However, it takes time, teachers and
staff members that care about their students and want to see them succeed. It
is hard to follow through with this everyday, but if schools with children with
lower incomes can slowly start to incorporate this into their everyday, it may
be easier to get the students motivated to come to school.
Overall,
students whose parents make less money, perform worse in school than their
peers and friends whose families earn more. It is important for teachers and
staff to try to take this into account and help students feel like they can
achieve and graduate. Poverty and low income doesn’t have to be a factor when
children attend school.
References
"Growing Income
Inequality Threatens American Education." Education Week.
N.p., n.d. Web.
15 Nov. 2014.
"How One School Is
Fighting Poverty." Teaching. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2014.
Lopez, Linette.
"This Is How Income Inequality Destroys Societies."Business
Insider. Business
Insider, Inc, 01 Nov. 2011. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.
"SAT Scores and
Income Inequality: How Wealthier Kids Rank Higher."Real Time Economics
RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 13
Nov. 2014.
Jamie Hall Response: Shawna, I think you bring up valid points demonstrating your belief that poverty and income should not affect a child’s performance in school. But I strongly see evidence to the contrary. It is a simple social science fact: Outside-of-school factors are three times more powerful in affecting student achievement than are the inside-the-school factors (Berliner, 2009).
ReplyDeleteThe achievement gaps between blacks and whites, Hispanics and Anglos, the poor and the rich, are hard to erase because the gaps have only a little to do with what goes on in schools, and a lot to do with cultural, social and economic factors that affect student performance (Berliner 2006; 2009). Policymakers keep looking for a magic bullet that can be fired by school “reformers” to affect a cure for low achievement among the poor, English language learners, and among some minorities. It is, of course, mostly wasted effort if the major cause of school problems stems from social conditions beyond the control of the schools. Virtually every scholar of teaching and schooling knows that when the variance in student scores on achievement tests is examined along with the many potential factors that may have contributed to those test scores, school effects account for about 20% of the variation in achievement test scores, and teachers are only a part of that constellation of variables associated with “school.” Other school variables such as peer group effects, quality of principal leadership, school finance, availability of counseling and special education services, number and variety of AP courses, turnover rates of teachers, and so forth, also play an important role in student achievement. On the other hand, out-of-school variables account for about 60% of the variance that can be accounted for in student achievement. In aggregate, such factors as family income; the neighborhood’s sense of collective efficacy, violence rate, and average income; medical and dental care available and used; level of food insecurity; number of moves a family makes over the course of a child’s school years; whether one parent or two parents are raising the child; provision of high-quality early education in the neighborhood; language spoken at home; and so forth, all substantially affect school achievement.
Shawna, I think you bring up a very valid argument but it is my firm opinion that it is not until we address the issues outside the classroom that education reform can begin in the classroom.