Essay on Helping Students With a Low Socioeconomic Status

I teach first grade at Lowe Elementary School; my class is made up of twenty-four very diverse seven year-olds; they come from all over the city of Louisville, from a variety of socio-economic situations. Each student brings a unique personality to our classroom community, and they all work hard to become “smarter and smarter” and to “go to college”. Thirteen students are boys and eleven are girls. Of these twenty-four students, three of them are English Language Learners. Additionally, eight students receive tier two interventions and two receive tier three interventions in reading. In math, five students are tier two and four are tier three. I also teach one student who receives ECE services for a developmental delay. Within my class there is a wide achievement gap.

How does parent involvement affect children’s academic success in low socioeconomic areas? Does socioeconomic status and parental involvement play a major role in the academic success of teens? Many reasons can contribute to the low level of success of some teens. The thrilling memoir, The Other Wes Moore, provides readers with two scenarios, one resulting in success, and one resulting in failure. Teen’s who are raised in low socioeconomic areas, and who have a minimal level of parental involvement, tend to perform poorly in academic settings.

Amanda and Erica’s grades may differ for a variety of reasons. Studies show that the more academic activities a parent is involved in is significantly associated with their child having higher literacy achievement, lower rates of grade retention, and fewer years needing special education (Miedel & Reynolds, 2000). Amanda’s father’s income, education, and occupation also all correlate with her literacy abilities (Buckingham, Wheldall, & Beaman-Wheldall, 2013). Parental education has the strongest influence of the three (Buckingham, Wheldall, & Beaman-Wheldall, 2013).

This chapter is intended to “review the history of SES and provide an overview of the association between SES and children's well-being for three major domains of development (cognitive, socioemotional, health)” (Bradley & Corwyn, 2002, p.372). Since it is a more of a review of knowledge already published than a study in itself, the methodology included reviewing prior studies. Their search ended in finding that there is an extremely complex relationship between socioeconomic status and cognitive attainment that may not always be seen in a concrete answer. Where some researchers argue that specific cognitive skills are reliant on family income and others are completely independents, different researches assert the opposite. Something they mentioned that I would like to consider in my study is the relationship between socioeconomic status and attendance. Bradley and Corwyn (2002) say “SES also appears to affect school attendance and number of years of schooling completed” (p.378). While these two aspects have enough information to be a study of their own, they do play a role in my personal

Sadly, numerous children who don’t meet the mark with Common Core standardized tests, receive placement in special classes. They then become passed on through school without acquiring any assistance in preparing them for college. They leave high school without any aspirations of furthering their education, as in these classes, there is added encouragement to enter the workforce straight out of high school. Another reason these children don’t pursue college is a lack of money as “lower-income families often struggle to cover costs of education” (Mather and Jarosz 13).

All Americans are at risk of developing obesity, with an obesity rate of 36.5% of the population (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017). The increase of obesity in the United States has led to the development of other costly comorbidities, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and even some types of cancer, and therefore should be avoided at all costs (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017). Although all groups are at risk for obesity, vulnerable populations such as low-income children, face

Through this week learning resources, I have learned that there are evidences that demonstrate that when a child has limited experiences he or she is more likely to have difficult comprehending what is read. It is why early childhood professionals affirm that oral language is the foundation for literacy development. Everything that children learn about speaking and listening they use for writing and reading and what they learn from writing and reading they use in listening and speaking. In other words, oral language and literacy develop simultaneously. When parents provide rich language and literacy reinforcement at home, children do better in school than those who do not. It is also known for early childhood professionals that for a child with limited experiences is more difficult comprehending what is read. For example, a child who has being exposed to many environments like a farm or like a museum will have more mentally engagement in classrooms activities about things he or she already know that children who have not had experience in those environments. Many researches showed that children that have not have a literacy development or an oral language development years before formal schooling, are less likely to be successful beginning readers, opening an achievement lag that might last through the primary grades. Some of the reasons why parents are not actively involved into their children’s educations are their socioeconomic or legal status. For example, in an immigrant family sometimes both parents have to work and sometimes they have to work two shifts. I have known families where children are the whole day in school and with nannies. Those children do not develop any skills that help them to succeed at the time of attending forming school.

In the U.S., low income students who live in high poverty neighborhoods do not receive the proper funds for school. The schools that they attend do not get enough of the state’s money in order to get the education they need. Students that come from wealthier families can get the help they need outside of school, if they cannot get it in school. Low income students have to take what they are given and that is not always a lot. Every student might not get a textbook that they can take home and that leaves them with no help to do their homework. This can push the student behind the rest of the class and may take them longer to catch up because

The environment that a child is exposed to is very influential, as a high-quality living environment has been positively linked to cognitive development (Guo & Harris, 2000). Therefore those children living in poverty are at a further disadvantage due to their low-quality living environment.

Everyone knows about the various stereotypes and social stigmas that come with socioeconomic status whether they will choose to admit it or not. Society has come to assume that a child who comes from a family of low socioeconomic status, that they will not do as well as a child who comes from a family of a greater socioeconomic status. Unfortunately these assumptions are so ingrained in our brains that we start to follow the self-fulfilling prophecy. When a child from a noticeably low socioeconomic status walks into a classroom, it is not uncommon for the teacher to automatically assume that the child will not perform well in class, and in turn either grades the child more harshly or does not give the child as much attention as the

Not all children come from homes that have the time or knowledge to incorporate and promote pre-literacy skills, social skills or fine/gross motor development. These particular students do not start school with the same readiness as those of their peers, who were exposed either in their own homes or in a developmental setting.

Parental involvement in education is necessary in order for children to be successful when learning how to read. Children who lack support from their parents and guardians often have difficulty advancing in school, and those who do have parental support and positive home literacy experiences often find academic success at an early age. Children are expected to become fluent readers, and a foundation for reading must be established at an early age with the support of a child’s parents or guardians. Reading activities at home and the influence a parent has on their child is beneficial for young children in so many ways, and at home, parents can reinforce what is being taught at school with their children in order to create a better understanding of learned curriculum and reading skills. Strong parental support in education is an important aspect of a child’s reading development because print rich

1. How may a student's social class origin and related factors impact on her/his learning outcomes and how can teachers intervene to effectively address any resulting disadvantages and injustices for students?

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 Department of Education and Training and TISC have produced research that has indicated that children from low socio economic areas on average have far fewer students that enter university. The reason for this is that these parents have no previous experience with higher education and often don’t value this education in the same way parents from affluent areas do, hence the children do not have the role models to follow. Many of these families also do not have the finances to access school of choice and provide resources within the home that may enhance their development. Many of these parents also lack their own educational knowledge that allows them an understanding of how a child’s development processes. A simple example of this may be the fact that these parents may not understand the value of early intervention with developmental processes such as reading (How Kids Develop, 2008) i.e. simply reading to them each night.