The Correlation Between Low Income And Education

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).

America’s school system and student population remains segregated, by race and class. The inequalities that exist in schools today result from more than just poorly managed schools; they reflect the racial and socioeconomic inequities of society as a whole. Most of the problems of schools boil down to either racism in and outside the school or financial disparity between wealthy and poor school districts. Because schools receive funding through local property taxes, low-income communities start at an economic disadvantage. Less funding means fewer resources, lower quality instruction and curricula, and little to no community involvement. Even when low-income schools manage to find adequate funding, the money doesn’t solve all the school’s

Statement of Issue: Many minority children and children from low-income families enter kindergarten without the academic skills they need to succeed. Math and reading abilities at kindergarten entry are powerful predictors of later school success. Research shows kids who start school already behind are unlikely to ever get caught up to standards. Hispanic and African American children are anywhere from 7 to 12 months behind in reading and 9 to 10 months behind on math when they enter kindergarten. Access remains extremely low to high-quality early education do to a couple of problems. First, rates of access to early education vary widely as a function of children’s socioeconomic backgrounds. Secondly, the quality of most early education programs is not high enough to substantially improve academic readiness. Considering the tremendous potential for high-quality preschool to improve children’s outcomes, this policy brief will consider how a universal publicly funded pre-kindergarten program in the United States could decrease both disparities in access to early learning and achievement gaps at kindergarten entry.

Public school funding is unfair and unequal in most states. However, more concerning is out of the 49 million children in public schools, students living in poverty are affected the most. There are wide disparities in the amount spent on public education across the country, from a high of $18,507 per pupil in New York, to a low of $6,369 in Idaho (Baker, Sciarra, & Farrie, 2015). The question that all stakeholders should be asking is school funding fair?

Fifty years after the declaration of war on poverty, an increasing number of children still grow up in poverty in this country. Poverty is now more determinative than race as a predictor of student educational success (Reardon, 2013). The achievement gap between the poor and the more economically advantaged child has actually widened over the last three decades (Reardon, 2013). If we are to provide all children with equal and excellent educational opportunities, it is imperative that we utilize the most effective strategies and enhancements to overcome the educational disadvantages that poor children experience.

Not only are impoverished children suffering from a late start in education, it is known that the neediest schools are the schools who's students are below the poverty line. The students with the greatest needs receive the least funding and resources. In New York the average poor student will receive about $1,000 year in resources at public school; whereas the school's with the least amount of poor children receive around $3,000 per student in public schools. Not necessarily the same number wise but this is the case in at least 37 of our 50 states (Schemo). Inadequate education for impoverished children only worsens their chances of making it out of poverty.

Impoverished parents tend to live in towns with underfunded school districts. They are unable to give their children the proper resources to exceed. Those children go on to struggle to a livable wage, some of them even turning to crime to make ends meet. The government attempting to shorten the gap of children growing up in poverty and those growing up in the middle class. Bargain (2012) describes a few ways the government can make a difference for spending on children. The government can give cash to parents to spend on kids, which has been shown to be ineffective as only a small portion goes to the kids. More effectively, the government can create subsidies for children’s products, which has been shown to increase spending on children. Cascio (2013) speaks about how to close the education gap. Creating cash incentives for schools to increase test scores through programs such as No Child Left Behind has been shown to have some effect on helping bridge the educational gap. However, not enough is being spent to make a large enough

The achievement gap that exists in my school is a socioeconomic one (J. Perkins, personal communication, October 24, 2016). Data for Woodville High School shows an achievement gap for low-income students (J. Perkins, personal communication, October 24, 2016). Additionally, this achievement gap is wider for low-income, first-generation students. ACT Aspire Reading data shows that only 25% of students at the poverty level met or exceeded the content standards. ACT Aspire Math data shows that only 21% of students at the poverty level met or exceeded content standards. The total minority population of the school is 6%, and the largest minority group is Native American (Cherokee). Based on the available data, the target population to combat the achievement gap is the high poverty students. 64% of the school’s total student population is considered economically disadvantaged (Woodville High School). These students qualify for free or reduced lunch. The latest data show that there is a 20.4% gap between economically disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students in math and reading (Woodville High School).

Poverty is an important issue in the United States. In fact, child poverty in the US is at its highest point in 20 years. [Flores & Lesley, 2014] The poor are at a disadvantage, because they have an unfulfilled right to a good education. A majority of children attending public schools come from low-income families. It is hypothesized that a low household income correlates with poor achievement in school. A solution to poverty is for everyone to have a good education so everyone can be equally prepared to take on a high-skill, high-paying job. It’s unfortunate, because the solution to poverty is a good education, but a good education is hardly ever available to children living in poverty.

The differences in academic gaps between children and teenagers from low-income neighborhoods and affluent neighborhoods present themselves in the schools the students attend. A study by the Department of Education showed that students in low-income areas did not have access to the same rigorous courses, and when they did, the resources available to the low-income students was lacking compared to the resources the students in high income neighborhoods had access to. In the low-income areas black and Hispanic students were twice as likely to have teachers with less experience, with one or two years in the profession, compared to schools in affluent neighborhoods with well-to-do white students. Another thing increasing the academic gap is that only 22 percent of local districts reported offering pre-kindergarten or other early learning programs for low-income children.

In the recent past, various policy initiatives have been adopted to minimize educational disparities in the U.S. Notable strides include the enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. This legislative piece prioritized the bridging of the achievement gap at the federal level, leading to the adoption of targeted interventions for diverse student groups (Arceneaux 391). The available evidence suggests that Hispanic and African-American students have improved in such areas as mathematics and reading. However, the achievement gap between Blacks and Hispanics and Whites is still evident. Recent analyses reveal that Hispanic and African-American students trail their white peers by approximately twenty test-score points on

The achievement gap is difficult for children just entering school because the bar has already been set to where some of those children are going to land. At the age of three, children of people with careers have vocabularies that are nearly 1.5 times greater than those of working class children, and nearly double the children whose families are on welfare.” This statistic shows that even children at the age of three experience the achievement gap because of their own home life. It is imperative to reduce or eliminate the Achievement Gap in the U.S. To do this we must identify the problem, balance and control the funding, increase our teachers’ abilities and explain the benefits of closing the gap permanently.

The achievement gap is difficult for children just entering school because the bar has already been set to where some of those children are going to land. At the age of three, children of people with careers have vocabularies that are nearly 1.5 times greater than those of working class children, and nearly double the children whose families are on welfare.” This statistic shows that even children at the age of three experience the achievement gap because of their own home life. It is imperative to reduce or eliminate the Achievement Gap in the U.S. To do this we must identify the problem, balance and control the funding, increase our teachers’ abilities and explain the benefits of closing the gap permanently.

Each year in the United States four million eager young children walk into a kindergarten classroom with big hopes and dreams of success both academically and socially (U.S. DOE, 2015). But the stark reality facing many of these children is that they are several steps behind their classmates on the journey to success. Even as early as the first grade, 30% - 50% of the black-white achievement gap is already present. (Mead, 2012). Similar size gaps also exist when considering socio-economic levels. “Before even entering kindergarten, the average cognitive score of children in the highest SES group are 60% above the scores of the lowest SES group” (Mead, 2012). These children are beginning their journey without the reading, math and social–emotional skills necessary for their success. The “average math achievement is 21% lower for black than for whites, and 19% lower for Hispanics” (Mead, 2012). These gaps are looming large in the lives of young children.

(Kozol, Jonathan. Savage inequalities: Children in America's schools. Broadway Books, 2012..)(Ladd, Helen F. "Education and poverty: Confronting the evidence." Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 31.2 (2012): 203-227.)(U.S. Census)(Alexander, Karl, Doris Entwisle, and Linda Olson. The long shadow: Family background, disadvantaged urban youth, and the transition to adulthood. Russell Sage Foundation, 2014.)(Rock, Donald A, and Judith M Pollack. "Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K): Psychometric Report for Kindergarten through First Grade. Working Paper Series."