Students Learn Differently. There Are Four Types Of Learners,

When relating poverty to the achievement gap, one can see the correlation. The achievement gap is the discrepancy in academic performance between groups of students, it is more often used to describe the troubling performance gaps between African-American and Hispanic students at the lower end of the performance scale. Many students who are living in poverty fall within these backgrounds and it is understandable why their grades and school performances are suffering. Abraham Maslow’s pyramid of hierarchy needs show that before a child is able to learn or perform any kind of activity, the basic needs must be met, food, shelter, and water (Shaffer, 2014, pp 158).

Writer Gregory Mantsios in his article “Class in America”, talks about these things, and how wide the gap is between the rich and the poor and also discusses how the rich continue to get richer, while the poor continue to get poorer. Mantsios gives his readers the profiles and backgrounds of three hard-working Americans, two of them are white males, whose family background as well as education played a role in their success, while the other person is a black woman who is just above the poverty line despite her work as a nurse’s aide. Through these profiles, Mantsios article shows exactly how sex, race and shows how your parental and educational background of a person can play a role in the things that you achieve. Mantsios also talks about one’s performance in school and the level of school completed can suggest whether or not class that person may belong in.

As a first generation child whose parents immigrated from another country, I was fortunate enough to receive excellent education and opportunities that was not offered to them. During that era, those privileges may have been difficult to obtain due to racial segregation, poor living circumstances, and/or lack of time and commitment due to work. As of today, these issues are no longer a major problem. Although, education has never been better and opportunities have been even more achievable, David Brooks argues that the upper/middle classes are preventing the lower class from “joining their ranks” because of the egocentric methods that modern day families now utilize to their advantage. In his New York Times editorial “How We Are Ruining America,” Brooks explains how we (as the upper/middle class) have been ruining America by preventing the lower class from receiving the same privileges. Brooks then elaborates his argument by giving several examples like: improved parent supervision and planning, zoning restrictions, cultural codes, and even gives a personal experience. Even though Brooks provided a substantial amount of evidence, he mostly utilizes his powerful tone and writing skills to support his argument.

Social class is a large faction of people who have similar positions in an economic system. In an exemplary world, all students would have an equal shot at success, excellent schools, and educators that dedicate themselves and their time to achieving this goal. However, social class can significantly affect a student's success, highlighting the correlation between low socioeconomic statuses and academic problems. In all social groups, class plays a significant role in the attainment of children in education. Unfortunately, this has always been the case and the effects are just more evident today. Families from high social classes are more likely to obtain a greater level of education than those in low social classes. Members of upper social classes tend to be better educated and have higher incomes; therefore, they are better able to supply educational advantages to their children as well. Being in a financially disadvantaged can also affect a child’s performance during school.  It is important, therefore, to examine the way in which education is distributed through social class. Between societal pressures, expectations and parental negligence, children can be negatively impacted in their pursuit for future success through their education as exemplified through “College Pressures” and “The Sanctuary of School”.

In most if not all cases, the class you are born into will determine how you will be raised, and who you will grow up to become. Whether you can speak up for yourself, if you are humble with what you have or you have a more hectic schedule or not, it all plays into what class you are from. No two childhoods are equal and Annette Lareau in her book, Unequal Childhoods explains why this is the case. I will be examining chapters four, five, and seven. These chapters examine poor and working children and teenagers and how their childhoods differ and relate to each other based on the class they were born in whether that be lower class to the poor. What can be learned from examining these three kids, Harold McAllister, Katie Brindle, and Tyrec Taylor is the advantages and disadvantages of having a childhood in the class of the poor or working class.

(Wagstaff 2002, p.97). Students may be socio-economically disadvantaged and the teachers must remember that poverty is in no way a deficit; merely that they may not have the same level of resources or exposure to educational experiences as more advantaged students (Groundwater-Smith,S., Le Cornu, R. & Ewing, R

Kozol recalls how these people would have been vilified during the social movements of the 60s, but when he was writing this book, in the early 1990s, these attitudes seemed commonplace. Even the youth in the wealthier schools had lots of excuses to explain why they deserved better schools than kids sometimes living within a few miles.

Johnson, H. B. (2014). The American dream and the power of wealth: Choosing schools and inheriting inequality in the land of opportunity. Routledge.

“The socioeconomic achievement gap in education refers to the inequality in academic achievement between groups of students. The achievement gap shows up in grades, standardized test scores, course selection, dropout rates, and college-completion rates, among other success measures” (Ansell, 2017). Typically, when discussing the achievement gap, educators are comparing the academic progress of African-American students or Hispanic students to the progress of white students. More-often-than-not the white students will have more educational achievements than their non-white colleagues (Ansell, 2017). The most widely accepted theory as to why students with higher socioeconomic status (SES) do better academically is high parental involvement, access to economic resources and access to highly qualified teachers (Huang, 2015. Pg.6). Students of low socioeconomic status often live in poverty. This means that the student may not have sufficient school supplies or even someone at home to help him with his homework. There are numerous children in the United States’ school systems that are failing due to the achievement gap. These students are at a disadvantage because the school systems and teachers do not notice or even care about their home life and how it comes into play in their education. It is important for our nation to not only understand the achievement gap but take steps toward correcting it.

In Robert Putnam’s “Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis”, we are introduced to stories that give us glimpses into the lives of youth across America. The stories represent and act as examples of the two very different groups of youth living in our nation today: children born to parents who are educated, and children born to those who likely only graduated high-school and are struggling to stay afloat economically. There are the rich kids and the poor kids, and, as his book and his research illustrate, the gap between the two continues to grow. National trends regarding rising income inequality, the disappearance of the working-class family, and growing class segregation show that the lives and experiences of rich kids and poor kids are drastically different and continue to veer further and further apart. The subject of his book is the “nationwide increase in class inequality- how the class-based opportunity gap among young people has widened in recent decades” (p. 19) and his thesis is that instead of simply talking about inequality of income among adults, we have to focus on this opportunity gap and work to begin closing it.

In the early 1900s, we see that one’s social class greatly affected their financial stability, health, and life-chances. For example, if you were born into a wealthy family, your father worked and maintained a stable income. Because of this, you, as a child, would enjoy the luxury of playing with many toys, receiving a good education, and eating full meals that your mother prepared after staying home most of the day. You and your family were living the American dream. Your father wakes up in the morning, makes himself a cup of coffee, and reads the newspaper in his La-Z-Boy chair in the living room.

As part of her research method for the book, Julie Bettie spent about a year observing and interviewing with more than 60 Mexican American girls and white girls from middle-class families asking them about various subjects like school, family, friendships, college, popular culture, and their plans for their futures. She named the school “Waretown High School” in order to respect the students and people at the school. Her research revealed that class differences are part of our everyday lives however it is uncommon to talk about it openly. She talks about how class differences are one of the key sources to middle-class practices of

Children just starting school experience different forms of hierarchy at early ages, primarily differences between social and economic classes, but easily can be labeled victims. There are numerous arguments that support the awareness between the upper, middle, and lower classes, and these arguments are often talked about. There are also specific theories and ideologies that follow the sociological and psychological actions of the victims. The poorer communities are less fortunate, following a cycle, representing the breaks of education and limited community support. With the American Democratic system, public issues are often ignored in the systematic association of poverty. Issues such as health, privacy, and protection are common, and education is pushed to the side. Plausibly, these issues represent a wider picture of the vast issues in America, and economic

Kozol argues that during the Reagan era of economics, poor and often-black students are the ones fighting for social policies that for many decades have been denied to them. Kozol begins with the examination of life in East St. Louis. All throughout this portion, he draws back on the notion that the schools in which he visited were depressing in nature, examples of this include; barbed wire fences leading up to the school, steel covered windows, and drug-free police patrol greet students every morning (Kozol, 1991). The concept of school zones are referred to as death zones in the neighbors surrounding East St. Louis, some research indicates that as much as one-third of the population lives on $7,500 a year. The racial makeup is 98% black, the community in East St. Louis has no means of garbage disposal and live in one of the heaviest polluted areas. Kozol interviewed students in the school district and asked them when school began, four students responded with answers that varied so significantly, no one was able to figure out the time for which school was actually supposed to begin at.

“Chapter 5: Community” of Robert Putnam’s Our Kids deals with growing opportunity gap within American communities. Inequality and class segregation are major factors when honing in on communities. Families with more wealth have more resources and are better able to shield their children from stress and the hardships of life. Eleanor and Madeline went through some tough times between the divorce of their parents and their father’s depression. But, the resources found in the well-off Lower Merion Township allowed the girls to still do very well compared to other children in nearby towns. Prosperous and educated parents enjoy the benefits of “weak ties” (198), which are acquaintances in different social niches such as psychiatrists, friends of