Children living in low-income families are not all alike, and many are very successful in school. It is well documented that children growing up in poorer families tend to have lower levels of educational attainment and participation in post-compulsory education than their more privileged peers. It is the children from some of the low-income families that will qualify for pupil premium money which, if used effectively, is a key part of schools strategies for closing he gaps. However what about those children who find school hard that do not qualify for pupil premium?
Previous work undertaken for JRF by the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the University of Bristol
(Goodman and Gregg, 2010) aimed to clarify the nature of the existing
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• The school’s approach: Allocation of funding towards pupils from the poorest backgrounds and direct teaching support to children falling behind.
However, although these factors may play an important part towards understanding why we have a gap in attainment the conclusions did not pinpoint the exact factor causing the gap.
Another piece of research for JRF (Kintrea et al., 2011) challenged the idea that poorer children and their parents have low aspirations. It actually found that poorer children and families often have high aspirations and that many want to go to university or get professional, managerial and skilled jobs.
It indicated that poorer young people thought school was very important and that their parents tried to support them in any way they could.
The study found that for a lot of these children the problem was actually how to reach their goals.
It also found that there was much more need for parents and children to be offered support with their educational and reaching their future goals.
Currently, one in four children in the UK is growing up in poverty (DWP 2009). For these children, the impact of poverty on their chances of educational and life success can be great. Even though the average overall test scores have improved, there still remains large differences in educational achievement according to socio-economic status, with family income and status by far the most
In the UK, particularly in England and Wales, children’s life chances are determined by the economic status of the families into which they are a part of. Children from poor households are more likely to suffer the consequences of their families’ condition. They will have to endure the stigma of poverty in a profoundly lopsided society where the socioeconomic standing of individuals is determined by their capacity to buy. These poor children also have less access to quality educational opportunities (Welbourne, 2012). Furthermore, children living in poverty at present are likely to remain poor for the rest of their lives because of intergenerational cycles of poverty
Parents can resolve this problem or help to let their children on what is important, the opportunities to reach excellence through
Although there are many factors that contribute to a quality education the one that provokes the most controversy, is the concept of equal funding for every school. While money is not the sole component of education, it is certainly important. Recently I have become very intrigued in this topic. I am passionate about pursuing my educational goal to become a teacher. I also work in an after-school program at an elementary school in Concord, with my own class made up of bright minded kindergartners and first graders. I have seen that in this schools community there is a very low-income rate, causing the school to not get proper funding. As a future teacher, I am determined to do what I can to solve this problem.
(2007) indicated a need for extensive policy interventions if the links between poverty and poor educational outcomes were to be improved. They noted there were no situations that could be fixed without a long-term approach to improving the education of those children in such situations. The key points from the Joseph Rowntree research was that initiatives such as Excellence in Cities (DfE 1999), Sure Start (DfE 1998), Educational Maintenance Allowance (DfE 2006) and Full Service Extended Schools (DCSF 2006) focused mainly on immediate social factors and the problems they cause directly for individuals and communities. These interventions were implemented in a piecemeal fashion and I can find no concrete evidence that there is anything other than a very partial impact in breaking the link between poverty and poor educational attainment. My hypothesis remains that provided children experience their learning guided by a ‘good’ teacher alongside having their basic needs met and supportive parents, there is every chance of them attaining their projected targets without interventions which are often in short bursts and short
Source 3: Ferguson, HB, S Bovaird, and MP Mueller. “The Impact of Poverty on Educational Outcomes for Children.” Paediatrics & Child Health 12.8 (2007): 701–706. Print.
Cuthrell et al., (2010) reported that although children living in or near the poverty level attend school, their socio-economic background places them academically behind their peers as compared to those students from middle and upper class homes living outside the levels of poverty. Howland et al., (2006) contend that students residing in poverty will continually experience an increase in achievement gaps throughout the education process as a result of their literacy deficiencies, skill gaps, and lack of exposure to educationally stimulating events and activities.
( 2014 ) suggest that a child’s emotional health is far more important than academic ability, or economic status, stating that family income accounts only for 0.5% of the variance of life satisfaction, but (Faith and Thompson, 2009) argue that Growing up in poverty is one of the strongest and most persistent unfavourable predictors of children’s well-being. Poverty has ‘multiple diverse impacts on children developmental outcomes’ (P203 emotion in middle childhood). Children from the poorest countries suffer from malnutrition or disease which could be prevented by the correct infrastructure or medical intervention. In Britain, children born into poverty are likely to have a low birthweight more prone to illness. Growing up in poverty affects children development from birth and has lasting impacts throughout life. Poverty causes children to be disadvantaged even in a loving stable home where the children have secure attachments. These children tend to do worse in cognitive and language tests at 4 years old and (waldfogael and washbroke 2010 in P.204) found on starting school they can be up to 18 months behind their richer counterparts. Poorer children are more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety be more hyperactive and show aggression. The effect of poverty on a childs well being is enormous, children feel the sense of difference in their lives compared to their better off friends, many will avoid social situations as they
The total rate of poverty in the United States of America in 2014, according the U.S. Census Bureau, was fourteen point eight percent or forty-six point seven million people. For the aforementioned report poverty was defined as being below the federal poverty line (DeNavas-Walt & Proctor, 2015). The National Center for Children in Poverty, also using 2014 data, state that children under the age of eighteen represent twenty-three percent of the population while comprising thirty-two percent of individuals in poverty. Furthermore, the same report put the population of children under three years of age at eleven million (Jiang, Ekano,& Skinner, 2016). This number, and the implications that surround it, are mind boggling. Children born into low-income families face more challenges throughout their lives than children that are born into families with higher incomes. These challenges typically lead to poorer outcomes thoughtout the life span. The challenges, as well as the poor outcomes they wrought, are particularly evident in education.
Low Income Equals Low Academic Achievement Some may not want to believe that the world revolves around money, but it does. Goals in life cannot be taken anywhere without money. Money is the most important thing when it comes to quality education. The children from low income families academic performance is highly affected. Low income families struggle with educating their children. Income and wealth can affect educational outcomes in a number of ways. Income has a direct impact on the affordability and accessibility of those educational services which charge fees or if transport and other costs are significant.Low-income students as a group have performed than high-income students on most measures of academic success (Jensen). Family income level affects academic performance.
These texts clearly show that the high achieving students will not be fine on their own. All the research indicates high achieving students from lower-income families decrease throughout their educational career. Helping students that are high achieving not only helps the students but would also contribute to closing the achievement gap between lower-income and high-income family students.
The first indication that shows low social mobility in the contemporary UK is the educational disadvantage. The education system in the UK does not provide equal opportunities for children and youngsters from different social backgrounds. This disparity can be seen in the strong connection between educational achievement and social class (!). The State of the Nation 2016 report published by the Social Mobility Commission revealed that in the last ten years, 500,000 children from less privileged families were not ready for school by age five (!). Furthermore, poorer children have no adequate access to high-quality childcare, although they need it most (!). It therefore appears that children from less privileged backgrounds face disadvantages already before school age, which can have a negative impact on their further educational achievements. For example, looking at th7e results of the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) in 2014, it can be
Socio-economic factors are widely acknowledged as important determinants of poverty. If an individual experiences adverse living conditions in childhood, majority of them will have inadequate income and result in low socio-economic status as adults (Carroll et al, 2011). Children born in poor households have difficulty in accessing the basic needs (e.g. food, clothing, and good living environment) and this can affect their learning ability at school, unable to focus. In other words, they have a higher chance of dropping out of school or lower education attainment, unable to provide appropriate qualifications when they move onto adulthood, seeking for job opportunities. These children are finding day-to-day life tough, they are living in cold, damp houses, do not have warm or rain-proof clothing, their shoes are worn, and many days they go hungry (Children's Commissioner, 2012). Often this has taken place over a long period of time, impacting on their development, behaviour and physical health furthermore limiting their potential as they grow into adults.
Poverty is a high indicator of social disadvantage (Ewing, 2013, p. 76). In 2012, one in six Australian children were living in poverty (Ewing, 2013, p. 77-78). Low economic status has a negative impact on a child’s education. According to Thomson (2002, p. 3), children from low socio-economic backgrounds are less likely to complete year twelve level of schooling and are more likely to become unemployed than children from middle to high socioeconomic backgrounds. Educators might have a stereotype image that children from low socioeconomic backgrounds are inattentive and have parents who do not value education (Strauss, 2013). This could lead to teachers having low expectations of these students (Ewing, 2013, p. 86). However, children from working class families have different knowledge and skills they bring to the classroom which may not be relevant for school success
Low Income Equals Low Academic Achievement Some may not want to believe that the world revolves around money, but it does. Goals in life cannot be taken anywhere without money. Money is the most important thing when it comes to quality education. The children from low income families academic performance is highly affected. Low income families struggle with educating their children. Income and wealth can affect educational outcomes in a number of ways. Income has a direct impact on the affordability and accessibility of those educational services which charge fees or if transport and other costs are significant.Low-income students as a group have performed than high-income students on most measures of academic success (Jensen). Family income level affects academic performance.
Low Income Equals Low Academic Achievement Some may not want to believe that the world revolves around money, but it does. Goals in life cannot be taken anywhere without money. Money is the most important thing when it comes to quality education. The children from low income families academic performance is highly affected. Low income families struggle with educating their children. Income and wealth can affect educational outcomes in a number of ways. Income has a direct impact on the affordability and accessibility of those educational services which charge fees or if transport and other costs are significant.Low-income students as a group have performed than high-income students on most measures of academic success (Jensen). Family income level affects academic performance.