Poverty in Schools
Content
Outline
Thesis: No other reasons are examined and looked at as reasons why minority students tend to
not excel as they should in school. This paper is to prove that poverty, not race holds back urban
students.
Body:
-Stereo types that effects a student abilities.
-Stanford University of “Stereo Type Threat”
-Failure in the dividing of students test scores
-How family social and economic factors and the education levels of students' parents and the
adults
that surrounds minority students, effect their learning abilities
-Poverty consequences that effect them: Single parent homes, not being able to afford health care
teachers with low education levels etc.
Conclusion: This paper was to show that poverty not race holds minority students back. It is
due to less money, the environment that surrounds, single parent homes, teachers of low
education levels and the list goes on. This paper is not to say that minority students need more
attention than wealthier students. It is to say that minority students need a school environment
that shows them that they too can succeed. They should not be taught under the same principles
that wealthier students are taught under, for life is completely different for them, and they should
have a different approach. Social justice refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that
is based on the principles of equality, and this is what should be analyzed in the situation of poor
versus wealthier students. If they are all students and given the same standardized test should
students of poverty also be given the same resources as wealthier schools? The answer to this
question is yes, but since this is not our reality, it is poverty that will continue to create the gap
amongst students.
Nasiyah Richardson
LIBS
2/3/2012
Social Justice
Poverty as a Factor to Urban Youth Failure in School
In today's time teachers and educators face a major issue. The issue that they
most face is the difference amongst white and urban (minority) students.
Educators are told to fix this problem. They are to apply knowledge the best
way they can in order to fix this gap. To measure performances, schools are
compared amongst topics. There comparisons are to explain how students are
performing in the educational field. Although this is the method, this doesn't
show the type of students they are comparing. They compare the size and the
type of school. With these small factors they barely touch on the students that
are actually there. Many big city school systems including those in Illinois track
performances on the standard achievement test by race or gender in order to see
how different groups compare with one another.
Significant differences do appear between races and between genders. It is wellestablished that black students generally perform below their white peers on
standard achievements. The news and media continues to report this gap in
minority achievement. Almost always, such reports leave the impression that
gaps in performances are related to skin color. No single cause for such
problems has been determined, but no concrete evidence has ever been found
that a characteristic such as race itself affects students abilities. No other reasons
are examined and looked at as reasons why minority students tend to not excel
as they should in school. This paper is to prove that poverty, not race holds back
urban students.
In all, it has been proven that stereotypes do matter. Some evidence suggests
that the very act of focusing on race influences students' abilities. “Research
from Stanford University shows that if students know about the historic poor
performance of their group on tests, their own performance might suffer. This
controversial phenomenon is called the stereotype threat” (Kenrick 1).
In the past, a Stanford University study by the name of The Stereotype Threat
was performed. When black and white students were told they were being tested
on their academic abilities, blacks did worse than whites. But when a control
group was told the tests did not matter and was basically just a tool, the
difference was non existent. Similar findings apply to other racial groups and to
gender. When women were told their performance was being compared with
men's, women's scores decreased. When white males were told their
performance was being compared with Asian students, the white's scores fell.
Take away the threat of being compared, and all groups of students tend to
perform better. In all natural this is proving that no minority is more
academically equipped than the next, or that no race is more academically
equipped than the next. It is proving that because a race knows that it will be
compared to another race in which they feel are more “smarter” or less
challenged they tend to become intimidated. This is what knocks out race as
being the natural factor of failure.
Dividing test scores by race might have another effect. Though this effect may
not be intended, it is increasing the unjustness between more wealthy white
schools and less wealthy, minority schools. Teachers of minority schools are
often told to use tactics that they think will raise scores for minority or poor
students. With that they set aside the regular teaching to spend class time
teaching to the test. Scores might go up for these students, but the teachers have
lost time needed for quality learning. The attention paid to improving the test
scores of minority students might actually reduce their overall performance and
knowledge over time, they are learning less. Even with the special teaching
surrounded around the test we still see big differences between races.
But what, if not race, accounts for the differences? The answers involve social,
family and economic factors. Far more relevant than race or gender in
predicting academic achievement are family social and economic factors and the
education levels of students' parents and the adults that surrounds them. A good
prediction of a of a child's success in school is the education level of the parents,
particularly the mother. Recent studies show that early childhood experiences
affect learning and development, with children from poor environments causing
them to achieve less than those who are from wealthy environments.
Researchers now know that race matters, but that it does not determine a
students performance. In the words of Professor Amitai Etzioni at George
Washington University: ''Race does not determine a person's response and often,
on all important matters, Americans of different social backgrounds share many
convictions, hopes and goods, even in recent years as we see the beginning of
the decline of the white majority. Moreover, each racial group is far from
homogeneous in itself. Differences within each group abound” (Brainbridge 1).
Poverty shares its many consequences when it comes to minorities and
education. Those who tend to live in poor neighborhoods amongst entering
school faces many things in life that differ greatly from those of wealth
environments. Urban neighborhoods tend to possess poverty, unemployment,
crime, drug addiction, poor physical health and surrounded by people of low
education levels, and due to low education levels school are not pushed as well
as other things in the environment. Upon entering grade school this is the world
around them. Environmental factors are a significant cause of student
performance, then all who educate poor children in my opinion have a special
job to do. Teachers can and do make a difference in how much students learn.
Yet their job can be more effective by influencing students lives before they
begin school. Society often expects teachers to get the same results from
students who have totally opposite backgrounds. What students have
experienced before they enter school differs dramatically and greatly effects
there performance.
Neighborhoods of poverty have a great amount of single mothers. “According to
a recent report issued by the Population Reference Bureau, children of motherheaded families are more likely to live in poverty, with 42% of all low income
children are living in single-mother families” (Sims 2) If a household is living in
poverty and the only parent available is the mother, this forces the parent to
work more and be away from the home. A child should already know what we
would call school basics. Parents are to take the time to teach the necessary
things to put there child ahead in school. Although this is the tactic to use many,
homes of poverty are at a disadvantage because the only parent at home is not
usually in a place where they have the time to do this. Parents of wealthier
homes are more likely to have both parent there, in which they have more time
to focus on their children. Where there is a Dad present, providing for the family
is not all based on one person and gives them more time to focus on learning
with their children. Once again what a child knows before entering school
greatly effects their performance, and students of poverty are at a more
disadvantage due to majority having single parent homes.
Poor families usually are also are less able to afford good health care, buy
nutritious food or provide enriching experiences for their children. Students
need these things to succeed at school. Poor families are sometimes unavailable
to afford computers and the high tech calculators for there children to excel, yet
these students are given the same ACT and SAT test and told to compete with
those who are wealthy and have these advantages.
Many other factors play into why urban youth tend to not excel as high as other
youth. Wealthy schools have the best text books, teachers with higher education
levels, better food, cleaner building, cleaner bathrooms, better security and all
around better school experiences. Although all children are made equal even in
2012, many minorities face these differences among their schools. And once
again these minority youth are given the same standardized test as the children
who are being educated in state of the art school with state of the art technology.
All students in this country are put in the same judging arena even though
minority students face such broad dis advantages.
This paper was to show that poverty not race holds minority students back. It is
due to less money, the environment that surrounds, single parent homes,
teachers of low education levels and the list goes on. This paper is not to say
that minority students need more attention than wealthier students. It is to say
that minority students need a school environment that shows them that they too
can succeed. They should not be taught under the same principles that wealthier
students are taught under, for life is completely different for them, and they
should have a different approach. Social justice refers to the idea of creating a
society or institution that is based on the principles of equality, and this is what
should be analyzed in the situation of poor versus wealthier students. If they are
all students and given the same standardized test should students of poverty also
be given the same resources as wealthier schools? The answer to this question is
yes, but since this is not our reality, it is poverty that will continue to create the
gap amongst students.
Thesis: No other reasons are examined and looked at as reasons why minority students tend to
not excel as they should in school. This paper is to prove that poverty, not race holds back urban
students.
Body:
-Stereo types that effects a student abilities.
-Stanford University of “Stereo Type Threat”
-Failure in the dividing of students test scores
-How family social and economic factors and the education levels of students' parents and the
adults
that surrounds minority students, effect their learning abilities
-Poverty consequences that effect them: Single parent homes, not being able to afford health care
teachers with low education levels etc.
Conclusion: This paper was to show that poverty not race holds minority students back. It is
due to less money, the environment that surrounds, single parent homes, teachers of low
education levels and the list goes on. This paper is not to say that minority students need more
attention than wealthier students. It is to say that minority students need a school environment
that shows them that they too can succeed. They should not be taught under the same principles
that wealthier students are taught under, for life is completely different for them, and they should
have a different approach. Social justice refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that
is based on the principles of equality, and this is what should be analyzed in the situation of poor
versus wealthier students. If they are all students and given the same standardized test should
students of poverty also be given the same resources as wealthier schools? The answer to this
question is yes, but since this is not our reality, it is poverty that will continue to create the gap
amongst students.
Nasiyah Richardson
LIBS
2/3/2012
Social Justice
Poverty as a Factor to Urban Youth Failure in School
In today's time teachers and educators face a major issue. The issue that they
most face is the difference amongst white and urban (minority) students.
Educators are told to fix this problem. They are to apply knowledge the best
way they can in order to fix this gap. To measure performances, schools are
compared amongst topics. There comparisons are to explain how students are
performing in the educational field. Although this is the method, this doesn't
show the type of students they are comparing. They compare the size and the
type of school. With these small factors they barely touch on the students that
are actually there. Many big city school systems including those in Illinois track
performances on the standard achievement test by race or gender in order to see
how different groups compare with one another.
Significant differences do appear between races and between genders. It is wellestablished that black students generally perform below their white peers on
standard achievements. The news and media continues to report this gap in
minority achievement. Almost always, such reports leave the impression that
gaps in performances are related to skin color. No single cause for such
problems has been determined, but no concrete evidence has ever been found
that a characteristic such as race itself affects students abilities. No other reasons
are examined and looked at as reasons why minority students tend to not excel
as they should in school. This paper is to prove that poverty, not race holds back
urban students.
In all, it has been proven that stereotypes do matter. Some evidence suggests
that the very act of focusing on race influences students' abilities. “Research
from Stanford University shows that if students know about the historic poor
performance of their group on tests, their own performance might suffer. This
controversial phenomenon is called the stereotype threat” (Kenrick 1).
In the past, a Stanford University study by the name of The Stereotype Threat
was performed. When black and white students were told they were being tested
on their academic abilities, blacks did worse than whites. But when a control
group was told the tests did not matter and was basically just a tool, the
difference was non existent. Similar findings apply to other racial groups and to
gender. When women were told their performance was being compared with
men's, women's scores decreased. When white males were told their
performance was being compared with Asian students, the white's scores fell.
Take away the threat of being compared, and all groups of students tend to
perform better. In all natural this is proving that no minority is more
academically equipped than the next, or that no race is more academically
equipped than the next. It is proving that because a race knows that it will be
compared to another race in which they feel are more “smarter” or less
challenged they tend to become intimidated. This is what knocks out race as
being the natural factor of failure.
Dividing test scores by race might have another effect. Though this effect may
not be intended, it is increasing the unjustness between more wealthy white
schools and less wealthy, minority schools. Teachers of minority schools are
often told to use tactics that they think will raise scores for minority or poor
students. With that they set aside the regular teaching to spend class time
teaching to the test. Scores might go up for these students, but the teachers have
lost time needed for quality learning. The attention paid to improving the test
scores of minority students might actually reduce their overall performance and
knowledge over time, they are learning less. Even with the special teaching
surrounded around the test we still see big differences between races.
But what, if not race, accounts for the differences? The answers involve social,
family and economic factors. Far more relevant than race or gender in
predicting academic achievement are family social and economic factors and the
education levels of students' parents and the adults that surrounds them. A good
prediction of a of a child's success in school is the education level of the parents,
particularly the mother. Recent studies show that early childhood experiences
affect learning and development, with children from poor environments causing
them to achieve less than those who are from wealthy environments.
Researchers now know that race matters, but that it does not determine a
students performance. In the words of Professor Amitai Etzioni at George
Washington University: ''Race does not determine a person's response and often,
on all important matters, Americans of different social backgrounds share many
convictions, hopes and goods, even in recent years as we see the beginning of
the decline of the white majority. Moreover, each racial group is far from
homogeneous in itself. Differences within each group abound” (Brainbridge 1).
Poverty shares its many consequences when it comes to minorities and
education. Those who tend to live in poor neighborhoods amongst entering
school faces many things in life that differ greatly from those of wealth
environments. Urban neighborhoods tend to possess poverty, unemployment,
crime, drug addiction, poor physical health and surrounded by people of low
education levels, and due to low education levels school are not pushed as well
as other things in the environment. Upon entering grade school this is the world
around them. Environmental factors are a significant cause of student
performance, then all who educate poor children in my opinion have a special
job to do. Teachers can and do make a difference in how much students learn.
Yet their job can be more effective by influencing students lives before they
begin school. Society often expects teachers to get the same results from
students who have totally opposite backgrounds. What students have
experienced before they enter school differs dramatically and greatly effects
there performance.
Neighborhoods of poverty have a great amount of single mothers. “According to
a recent report issued by the Population Reference Bureau, children of motherheaded families are more likely to live in poverty, with 42% of all low income
children are living in single-mother families” (Sims 2) If a household is living in
poverty and the only parent available is the mother, this forces the parent to
work more and be away from the home. A child should already know what we
would call school basics. Parents are to take the time to teach the necessary
things to put there child ahead in school. Although this is the tactic to use many,
homes of poverty are at a disadvantage because the only parent at home is not
usually in a place where they have the time to do this. Parents of wealthier
homes are more likely to have both parent there, in which they have more time
to focus on their children. Where there is a Dad present, providing for the family
is not all based on one person and gives them more time to focus on learning
with their children. Once again what a child knows before entering school
greatly effects their performance, and students of poverty are at a more
disadvantage due to majority having single parent homes.
Poor families usually are also are less able to afford good health care, buy
nutritious food or provide enriching experiences for their children. Students
need these things to succeed at school. Poor families are sometimes unavailable
to afford computers and the high tech calculators for there children to excel, yet
these students are given the same ACT and SAT test and told to compete with
those who are wealthy and have these advantages.
Many other factors play into why urban youth tend to not excel as high as other
youth. Wealthy schools have the best text books, teachers with higher education
levels, better food, cleaner building, cleaner bathrooms, better security and all
around better school experiences. Although all children are made equal even in
2012, many minorities face these differences among their schools. And once
again these minority youth are given the same standardized test as the children
who are being educated in state of the art school with state of the art technology.
All students in this country are put in the same judging arena even though
minority students face such broad dis advantages.
This paper was to show that poverty not race holds minority students back. It is
due to less money, the environment that surrounds, single parent homes,
teachers of low education levels and the list goes on. This paper is not to say
that minority students need more attention than wealthier students. It is to say
that minority students need a school environment that shows them that they too
can succeed. They should not be taught under the same principles that wealthier
students are taught under, for life is completely different for them, and they
should have a different approach. Social justice refers to the idea of creating a
society or institution that is based on the principles of equality, and this is what
should be analyzed in the situation of poor versus wealthier students. If they are
all students and given the same standardized test should students of poverty also
be given the same resources as wealthier schools? The answer to this question is
yes, but since this is not our reality, it is poverty that will continue to create the
gap amongst students.
