Elizabeth Marotti 1

ED 460
Research/Reflection Paper
February 18, 2016

Poverty and Public Education

Children who come from financially poor households often deal with challenges and

hardships that financially privileged children do not. Therefore, there are many reasons why

children living in poverty might not succeed in school. However, there are also skills, traits, and

funds of knowledge that may be unique to children living in poverty that they can bring to the

classroom. There are many ways in which teachers can work toward providing low-income

students with an educational setting that is equitable and relevant to this massive population of

students. There are millions of children in the United States living in poverty. Many of these

children never finish high school. When children from low-income households do not succeed in

school, more often than not, the cycle of poverty is perpetuated thus exponentially increasing the

number of children living in poverty. Teachers can do their part to break this cycle of poverty

through implementing culturally responsive teaching practices, educating themselves, getting to

know each individual child, and advocating for the success of all students regardless of

socioeconomic status.

It is no secret that in the United States poverty has been on the rise for some time and the

current population of people living in poverty has reached astonishing numbers. According to the

United States Census Bureau, over 45 million people living in the United States are living in

poverty ("Population Estimates," 2015). The term poverty can be a bit confusing and many

people have various ideas and definitions of what it means to be living in poverty. Technically, to

be defined as living below the poverty line, a family of four needs to have a gross yearly

household income of $24,250 or less (Department of Health and Human Services, 2015).

However, looking at a dollar figure hardly paints an accurate picture of what it means to live in
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poverty. Paul C. Gorski (2013), in his book Reaching and Teaching Students in Poverty, suggests

that we not limit our understanding of the term poverty by merely associating it with a specific

dollar amount but rather as a "financial condition in which an individual or family cannot afford

the basic human necessitiesincluding food, clothing, housing, healthcare, childcare, and

education (p. 8). This definition does give us a glimpse of what the realities are for a person or

family living in poverty.

For many people, the idea of not being able to afford basic human necessities is

unfathomable. Nevertheless, for millions of people, this is the norm. Economic disadvantage is

something that all people living in poverty have in common. However, financial issues aside, it is

safe to say that there are as many individual differences among people living in poverty as there

are similarities. Because each individual family living in poverty is unique to the next with

regard to beliefs, customs, and values, poverty is not technically a culture. That being said, there

are many misconceptions about a "culture of poverty" that often result in stereotypes and unfair

generalizations toward people who are financially poor. In order to better understand the truths

about people living poverty, it is necessary to first assess and debunk the myths associated with

poverty. Education is the first step to getting rid of biases and building an equitable society.

There are many stereotypes and myths about people who are financially poor. Two

common misconceptions that are particularly relevant to the discussion about inequity in

education are 1) that people living in poverty are lazy and 2) that low-income parents do not care

about their children's education. Many Americans believe that if people work hard enough they

can get ahead financially. These people subsequently believe that if people cannot make ends

meet then they must not be working hard enough and therefore poor people must be lazy. This

way of thinking could not be further from the truth. The truth is that adults living in poverty
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work just as hard, if not harder, than adults living higher on the socioeconomic scale (Gorski,

2013, p. 62). The fact is that there are a limited number of jobs available that pay a living wage.

This means that many people have to work two or more jobs and still wind up living below the

poverty line.

Working multiple jobs is one reason that parents may not be able to have the level of

school involvement that they would like. The types of jobs generally held by people in poverty

are jobs that don't offer time off for things like field trip chaperoning or parent-teacher

conferences. Additionally, parents living in poverty may not be able to afford childcare and/or

transportation to attend school functions even if they were able to get the time off work. It would

be unfair and misguided to not take these factors into consideration and just assume that low-

income parents do not care about their children's education. "It might be said more accurately

that schools that fail to take these considerations into account do not value the involvement of

poor families as much as they value the involvement of other families" (Gorski, 2008, p.33).

When school faculty members buy into the negative stereotypes about families who live

in poverty, it is the student who suffers. Individual students and their families have strengths,

knowledge, and unique perspectives to contribute to the school community. It has been

determined that the idea that people living in poverty do not value education is an incorrect

assumption. It might even be said that low-income families may value education more than

others. Parents may view their child's education as a means to break the cycle of poverty. Most

parents want their children to have the best life possible and many see an education as a step in

the direction of a better life. All families living in poverty are not the same and there is not a

specific set of values and beliefs that are held by all people in this group. That being said, it is

common for financially poor individuals to have values that include family closeness and
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traditionalism. "They are said to embrace a type of solidarity and to share ambitious attitudes

toward education" (Spradlin, 2012, p. 170). Additionally, people living in poverty who are forced

to work multiple low-paying jobs to survive are often incredibly resilient and undoubtedly

develop honorable traits such as strong work ethic as well as unwavering commitment to

responsibilities. Many of these traits are then passed down from the working adults in the home

to the children. Children living in poverty from working-parent parent homes may have qualities

and funds of knowledge that they can bring to the educational setting that could help them to be

exceptional students. Because the stereotypes about people living in poverty are so deeply rooted

in our society, it is hard for some teachers to see past a child's exterior. Children living in poverty

are often labeled as "troubled" and are shown lower academic expectations than students from

higher socioeconomic households.

Children living in poverty do often face challenges that many other students do not face.

Some children from low-income homes may deal with issues associated with social and

emotional instability, stress, and/or health and safety issues. Children living in poverty also may

not have the same access to resources as their wealthier peers which can have a negative effect

on their education. At least twenty two percent of students who have, at some point in their

childhood, lived in poverty never graduate high school ("Poverty Facts," 2011, p.24). These are

serious issues that should not be ignored by teachers and other school faculty. However, it can be

detrimental to only focus on the negative aspects of a child's life. There are many elements that

make up a whole child and it is important for teachers to focus on each individual child's unique

set of strengths and abilities in order to help the child succeed. With over 8.5 million children

under age nine living in poverty in the United States ("Young Child Risk Calculator," n.d.),

millions of whom do not succeed in school, it is safe to say that there need to be some significant
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changes made to the public school system in order for all children to have equal opportunities for

success. Until then, there is much that can be achieved by individual teachers to make the

classroom more equitable for students living in poverty.

For teachers, the first step to ensuring that the classroom is a safe and equitable space for

all students is to evaluate personal biases. It is important for teachers to determine whether or not

they hold any opinions about people living in poverty that may cause them to unfairly judge

students or their families. If so, the only way to work toward having an equitable classroom is to

eliminate, or at least suspend, judgments. The next step is to be educated. More often than not

stereotypes and biases are embedded from an early age and do not come from a factual place. If

teachers are really going to provide the best education for their low-income students, they need

to understand the realities of poverty and be able to differentiate between fact and myth.

Additionally, teachers need to understand that no two children, low-income or otherwise, are the

same. Teacher need to get to know each student individually and discover each child's strengths

and learning styles. From there, teachers can begin to build a culturally relevant environment and

design a curriculum that is inclusive and engaging for all students including those living in

poverty.

One effective and essential strategy for creating an equitable environment is to have

equally high expectations for the academic success of all students. Having high expectations is

not enough on its own. Teachers need to communicate these expectations to their students often

and with enthusiasm. Through his research, Paul C. Gorski (2013) discovered that having and

demonstrating high expectations can have a remarkably positive impact on students' intellectual

development. He states, "Students learn more, and more deeply, when we demonstrate that we
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believe in their abilities to do so. This is especially true for students who are unaccustomed to

experiencing high expectations from authority figures" (p.121).

Without doubt, having faith in students is essential to their success. In addition to having

high expectations, it is also important for teachers to make sure that the curriculum is designed in

such a way that it is relevant to students living in poverty. Low-income students are at risk of

feeling disconnected from their education if they cannot relate to the curriculum, as is any

student. Children will learn better when class materials, literature, and even artwork in the

classroom are carefully selected with each student's individual strengths and cultures in mind.

While it may be impossible to have all classroom materials be relevant to the personal lives of

each low-income student, an effort should be made to at the very least identify which materials

being used in the classroom show bias or stereotypes against people living in poverty. A great

resource for selecting appropriate literature for the classroom can be found on

http://www.tolerance.org/. If there are biases within learning materials in a classroom, it is best to

replace those materials. If the materials happen to be required for the classroom by the school

district, it is best to help students analyze the material discuss the about biases and stereotypes

presented.

Teaching students about class, poverty, and the injustices associated with these topics is

another way to make the curriculum relevant to low-income students. Obviously, the way these

topics are presented should be age appropriate for the class. It is important for students of all

ages to learn issues associated with poverty. Weaving these topics into the curriculum will not

only will provide low-income students with an opportunity to connect with the curriculum, but it

will also help all students to learn the truth about poverty and social injustices from an unbiased

perspective.
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If everyone was taught about poverty and social injustice in school, there may not be so

many people in the world who unfairly judge and hold stereotypical views of the millions of

people living in poverty in this country. The bottom line is that if people educate themselves they

will find that the generalizations and stereotypes about people living in poverty are misguided

and more often than not false. It is especially important for teachers and anyone working within

the school system to rid themselves of any biases they may have against people living in poverty.

With such a massive number of people living in poverty in the United States, all teachers will

undoubtedly encounter many students throughout their careers who come from low- or no-

income homes. Each of these children will come to the classroom with a unique set of skills and

knowledge and most importantly, potential. It is the job of teachers to help all students tap into

that potential and do everything they can to help their students succeed regardless of their

family's socioeconomic status. Additionally, teachers and school faculty need to make it a point

to be aware of each student's home and family situation. It is of the utmost importance that

teachers and other employees in the education system find ways to work with families to ensure

that each child's needs are being met.

When I began my research for this paper, I thought that I held no stereotypical or

judgmental views about people living in poverty. I am, after all, a single mother living in poverty

myself. I quickly realized that I did in fact have a little unconscious bias that I had to overcome

in order to accurately assess the information I was collecting on the topic. I am ashamed to admit

that I had unfair assumptions about low-income parents and their level of involvement in their

children's education. Prior to writing this paper, I had never really taken the time to wrap my

head around why a parent wouldn't attend a parent-teacher conference or other school function

for his/her child. I may have unintentionally subscribed to the fallacy that low-income parents
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don't value their children's education. Now that I have identified this stereotype that was tucked

away in my brain, I am able to rid myself of it, and for that I am grateful.

As I progress on my path to becoming a teacher, I am appreciative of assignments like

this that help open my eyes to the disadvantages of many school children. I would like to believe

that in a classroom, each child has equal opportunities for success. This is simply not the case.

After reading the statistics of children living in poverty and seeing that so many students drop

out before completing high school, I am inspired to become a teacher who advocates for the

success of these children. While I may not, in my career as a teacher, be able to reform the entire

system and make education more equitable for low-income students, the least I can do is make

my classroom a place where all children are encouraged to succeed. I can do this by getting to

know each of my students individually and teaching to each child's strengths. I aspire to become

a teacher who celebrates each of my students and the diversity that each unique child brings to

the classroom.
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References

Department of Health and Human Services. (2015). Federal register (Vol. 80, pp. 3236-3237).

Washington DC: GPO. Retrieved February 13, 2016

Gorski, P. (2008). The myth of the "culture of poverty''. Educational Leadership, 65(7), 32-36.

Gorski, P. (2013). Reaching and teaching students in poverty: Strategies for erasing the

opportunity gap. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Population estimates. (2015, July 1). Retrieved February 07, 2016, from

http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/00,41

Poverty facts and figures. (2011, November). Phi Delta Kappan, 93(3), 24-25.

Spradlin, L. K. (2012).Learning from the poor and working-class stories. Diversity matters:

Understanding diversity in schools (pp.164-179). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Young child risk calculator. (n.d.). Retrieved February 07, 2016, from http://nccp.org/tools/risk/