Effects Of School Achievement On Children

Many kids in the United States have been affected by poverty at some point in their lives. In fact, one in five children have been affected by poverty. A survey was done within the last year by the Scholastic company that interviewed a group of the State Teachers of the Year and asked them what they thought were some of the effects of poverty. Some popular answers were that it affects the way you perform in school greatly and that we need more anti-poverty programs to help out with these children. Poverty affects the success of students in many ways. These include not having the academic achievement that more advantaged kids did, not having experiences other kids did, and not having the early development they needed.

Poverty has a great impact on children school lives because they usually face with the overwhelming challenge in their families that is a factor impact on children’s school behaviors and performance. Girls will tend to abuse, while boys may damage in other aspects such as curiosity, learning, and memory. When I read the chapter two of the book, Teaching with Poverty in Mind written by Eric Jensen, I completely agree with him that “A child who comes from a stressful home environment tends to channel that stress into disruptive behavior at school and be less able to develop a healthy social and academic life” (Jensen, 2009, n.p.). In this book, he reported, low-income children “are linked to over 50 percent of all

High minority male imprisonment contributes to high minority child poverty several years later. There are two main mechanisms for this. The first is lower family earnings, especially in two –parent household with little to no education. Poverty poses a serious challenge to a child's ability to succeed in school. Research has suggested that living in poverty in the early childhood years can lead to lower rates of school completion (Brooks-Gunn and Duncan, 1997). Further, growing up in poverty can negatively affect a child's physical health as well as his or her working memory, due to the chronic psychological stress of living in poverty (Evans and Schamberg 2009). According to Brooks Gunn and Duncan, some 18 percent of minority children under age 18 were living in poverty. The percentage of these minority children living in poverty ranged from 5 to 52 percent depending on race/ethnicity and living arrangement.

There are many environmental factors that can affect a child’s behavior such as poverty and maltreatment. Poverty can have an impact on a child’s overall well-being, academic success, and social behavior. The environment these children are raised in can cause challenging behaviors due to the neighborhoods they live in and the lack of appropriate social behavior they observe. Child maltreatment, which consists of physical abuse, sexual

The topic is important to the teaching profession since more and more of our students are experiencing poverty. In 2011, over 15.9 million children under the age of eighteen were in poverty (NCES). In Texas, there was a forty-seven percent increase in the rate of children living in poverty between 2000 and 2011 (MacLaggan, 2013). In 2012, 1,777,000 Texas children lived in poverty and 749,000 lived in extreme poverty (Kids Count). Poverty and its stressors are linked to impairment of cognitive development and have implications for development of brain structure and function (Berliner, 2009). Children in poverty are twice as likely to be retained in school, are more likely to be placed in special education classes, perform less well on standardized tests, have lower grades, and are more likely to not complete their high school education (Berliner, 2009; Woolfolk, 2013,

Lack of money, health insurance, and other poverty related issues have also led to lower academic performance among children in poverty. In David Berliner’s Letter to The President, he explains how “medical problems are harming student learning in our schools” (252). Since poor children may not have health insurance, or their families may not have the funds to see a doctor, poorer children miss more school due to illness. Also, more children in poverty come from single parent homes, which leaves numerous children on their own after school. In fact, “three fourths of all single mothers are in the labor force” which means there happens to be usually nobody at home to assist poor children with their homework, or help them study for tests

Second, poverty also has an effect on students. There are more than half of public school students living in poverty and most students who live in poverty drop out of school and do not graduate or go to college (Kasperkevic). Some children actually think it is their fault that their families are homeless (60 Minutes). Also, poverty can affect students

Children from low-income households are more likely to encounter an increased number of risk factors that encumber their academic successes; these factors are inclusive of (a) low levels of maternal education; (b) high levels of maternal depression; (c) inconsistent and harsh disciplinary practices; (d) and exposure to drug abuse, domestic violence, and child abuse. (p. 11)

Is the rising poverty rate of America negatively affecting the education of high school students across the nation? Unemployment, parents’ level of education and a profound list that continues has shown to impact a child’s education. In 2013, “a majority of of children attending our K-12 public schools [came] from low-income families” (Suitts 35). Poverty-stricken students are more likely to receive poor grades than those living above the poverty line. What seems to be affecting the grades of these impoverished students? The constant need to support their family financially, physically, and emotionally. Teachers may be unaware that some students face these hardships throughout their daily lives. They need to understand that students of lower socioeconomic statuses may not prioritize homework over taking care of their family during a time of need. Teachers should be more aware to better serve and understand their students. There is crucial evidence that supports that socioeconomic status does affect the education of those living under the poverty line, but some researchers believe that it has no effect on students’ education at all. Teachers should be more aware how socioeconomic status affects the grades of high school students.

Poverty can have a strong influence on various kinds of development throughout middle childhood. It can alter socioemotional development, cognitive development, and physical health. (Evans, 2013). Parenting practices, neighborhoods, and overall environment play a significant role regarding to the emotional and physical health during development in middle childhood. Disruption with physical and emotional health could potentially cause harm to the child. In this essay, I will explain how poverty affects children throughout development and the different consequences that can occur. I will also discuss the many different factors that contribute to poverty.

Children living in poverty encounter behavioral and emotional problems that can become persistent throughout their lives. Their problems can be associated with interacting in school among their peers, showing aggressive behaviors, having attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and conduct disorder. They tend to express themselves emotionally with showing signs of depression. Children tend to show signs of distance from society and keeping to themselves. Depression in children can cause higher risk for behavioral problems to be intense amongst their peers at school. Children of low-income mothers appear to show to a greater risk for externalizing behaviors than those children that do not have depressed mothers (Henninger & Luze, 2012).

Poverty has a large impact on students and their ability to engage in school. From a young age, children are influenced by their family and peers behavior. Basic foundations for school subjects such as vocabulary are often the hardest subjects for children in poverty, with the lack of proper background knowledge from their parents. Children in poverty also develop bad habits such as not eating breakfast which can lead to health issues, and a lack of energy and focus in school. When these children grow up in households full of stress and anxiety the are negatively impacted and tend to develop their own stress which can become so severe that they have lost all hope and optimism. Negative influences from their home life and peers can often impact their growth in school because of their lack of nutrition, small range of vocabulary, and their negative approach to school work.

Often a specific area speaks volumes about a community, and there is a correlation present between whether the school consists of students who strive for academics or not. If an individual purchases a dwelling in a low income area, often children within that community are more focused on the environment around them rather than school. This means that the child will lack in demonstrating their full potential, as external factors such as gangs and substance abuse can be a threat to development. This is often due to the cycle of poverty, which can only be broken if the individual is educated enough to move forward with a job, help with finances and etc., Discrimination be also be an effect on the development as depending on negative stereotypes such as an individual of Asian descent do well in mathematics, there might be expectations that are not met, which later impacts the individuals self-worth. It would be of benefit if the author had included further research if there is an exact link to standardized test scores and low income areas. The author could have used the Fraser mustard report, which states that early childhood experiences have a powerful effect on development of children’s physical, emotional abilities, and influence intellectual development. A child’s living environment may expose them to poverty, thus causing malnourishment. Emotional damage can be caused by having a low sense of self-worth if they believe their family cannot break the cycle they are living in, and be in constant state of stress affecting their focus in school. Thus, standardized testing can be useful to assess if an area may or may not be suitable for the well-being of a child’s

Even when children have a stable home there are other family life factors that can affect their progress at school. Child neglect, drugs, alcohol, gangs, violence, and hunger can all have a significant impact on how children learn both at school and at home. A child’s first educational experience should be at home, however with increasing use of drugs and alcohol, and sometimes unintentional neglect from not being able to afford quality daycare means that some children entering the classroom are woefully unprepared.

The environment a child in poverty lives in is a huge factor in that may affect their academic success. Children from low income families tend to live in low-income neighborhoods that are often associated with high crime rates, high concentration, and few opportunities for academic socialization (Engle, Patrice, and Black 5). These neighborhoods have health risks,