EDU 508 Challenges Affecting Children Today: Educators Managing Adolescent Societal Issues

Dale Laughner Joyce Meixner Aaron Seiser Petra Glaze

The United States has one of the lowest poverty rates in the industrialized world.

Fact: At about 17 percent, the U.S. actually has the third-highest poverty rate of all the OECD countries, coming in only slightly ahead of Turkey and Mexico, Denmark boasts the lowest poverty rate, an inspiring five percent.

Income inequality isn’t a big problem in America.

Fact: The U.S. still has above average income inequality joining the likes of Poland, Portugal, and, once again, Mexico and Turkey.

Due to our exquisite health system, Americans live longer than residents of other countries.

Fact: The average life span of an American is below the OECD average, right above the Czech Republic.

Due to our exquisite health system, the U.S. has a lower infant mortality rate than other countries.

Fact: We rank third to last in terms of infant mortality. Mexico and Turkey joins us.

At least Americans don’t have to spend as much money on health care as people from other countries.

Fact: The truth is quite the opposite. Americans spend substantially more on their health than people from any other OECD country.

The U.S. spends more money on helping the poor than any other industrialized nation.

Fact: The United States ranks fourth to last in public social expenditures as a percentage of GDP, beating only Turkey, Mexico and Korea.

Persons with income less than that deemed sufficient to purchase basic needs such as food, shelter, clothing, and other essentials-are designated as poor.

The Risk Factors of Poverty Nature or Nurture?

Genes, DNA accounts for 30-50% of our behaviors (genes can be turned on and off by environmental factors, such as stress and nutrition)

Environment, the remaining 50-70% of behaviors (prenatal care, exposure to toxins & STRESS)

Socioeconomic status forms a great part of the overall mix of our individual behaviors. The most significant factors being:

E Emotional and Social Challenges A Acute and Chronic Stressors C Cognitive Lags H Health and Safety Issues

Each of these factors will be discussed.

The challenges exist because poor families tend to have higher rates of teen motherhood, depression, and inadequate health care which leads to decreased sensitivity toward the infant. Children don’t get the attention they need to thrive.

Also, the infants don’t have access to healthy learning and exploration which is required for optimal brain development this can later result in poor school performance and (perceived) poor behavior on the child’s part.

Attachments formed at birth between parent and child predicts the quality of future relationships with teachers and peers.

At birth, brains are hardwired for six emotions:

Joy, anger, surprise, disgust, sadness, and fear

Additional emotions that need to be taught include: humility, forgiveness, empathy, optimism, compassion, sympathy, patience, shame, cooperation and gratitude.

Students might display “acting-out” behaviors,

impatience & impulsivity, gaps in politeness & social graces, inappropriate emotional responses and less empathy for others’ misfortunes.

Impoverished students not having the full range of emotions at their disposal might be considered rude or disrespectful, but the truth is they just don’t have the full repertoire of emotions to work with.

Like playing the piano with only a few of the keys!

Acute stress resulting from trauma or abuse

Chronic stress resulting from exposure to high stress sustained over time

Living in crowded, substandard housing or unsafe neighborhoods; enduring domestic violence, separation or divorce, or the loss of a family member and financial stress.

Studies show that caregivers disciplinary strategies grow harsher as income decreases

The frequency and intensity of both stressful life events and daily hassles are greater among poor families.

For example - in any given year, more than 1/2 of all poor children deal with evictions, utility disconnections, overcrowding, or lack of a stove or refrigerator, compared with only 13 % of well-off children.

Chronic stress… Linked to over 50% of all absences Impairs attention and concentration Reduces cognition, creativity, & memory Diminishes social skills and social judgment Reduces motivation & effort Increases likelihood of depression

Socioeconomic status is strongly associated with a number of indices of children’s cognitive ability, including IQ, achievement tests, grade retention rates, and literacy

This holds true from infancy through adolescence and into adulthood

The five key systems of the brain that students operate with are:

Executive system - create plans, make decision, and hold thoughts in mind

Language system - the foundation of our reading, pronunciation, spelling, and writing

Memory system - allows us to process and store learned material

Spatial cognition system - important for organizing, sequencing, and visualizing information (math & music)

Visual cognition system - pattern recognition and visual mental imagery

If all of these systems aren’t nurtured, there will be lags in cognitive development.

One example of this relates to language, which is the area with the largest gap

- a child’s vocabulary competence is influenced by the mother’s socio-demographic characteristics, personal characteristics, vocabulary and knowledge of child development. Low income caregivers speak in shorter, more grammatically simple sentences. There is less back-and-forth-fewer questions asked and few explanations given. As a result, children raised in poverty experience a more limited range of language capabilities

Low income children are often subject to such health and safety issues as malnutrition, environmental hazards, and poor health care.

Health and achievement overlap… a body and brain cannot function with these stressors! The cells in their bodies are always under siege!

Research shows that the lower the parents’ income is, the more likely it is that children will be born premature, low in birth weight, or with disabilities. Expectant mothers living in poverty are more likely to live or work in hazardous environments; to be exposed to pesticides and to smoke, drink alcohol, or use drugs during pregnancy, all factors linked to prenatal issues and birth defects and adverse cognitive outcomes in children.

Low income families typically don’t have access to adequate health insurance

The greater incidence of health issues in low income families can lead to: School absences Longer duration of school absences Tardiness rates Increased incidents of illness during class Higher rates of undiagnosed and/or untreated

health problems or disabilities

Although this information regarding the affects poverty has on behavior and academic performance is bleak, there is hope of these children rising above their situations.

As a child’s behavior adapts to the chronic situation they are in, it is equally susceptible to adaptation to positive, enriching effects.

Our next segment takes a closer look at the differences between the culture of poverty and the middle class.

Ruby Payne, author of A Framework for Understanding Poverty and founder and president of aha! Process, Inc., provides workshops and training to educators and other professionals to work effectively with children and adults from that culture.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0WHShsSBjc&feature=related

Handouts

CULTURE OF POVERTY MIDDLE CLASS

A person living in poverty is driven by survival, relationships, and entertainment. The individual in poverty truly values people over possessions.

Middle class individuals are driven by work and achievement, and the ability to have things (possessions).

CULTURE OF POVERTY MIDDLE CLASS

A person in poverty tends to believe that money is to be used on an immediate need. If that need is food, quantity is of most importance – is there enough?

In a middle class environment, money is viewed as something to be managed, in order to plan for upcoming needs. When it comes to something as trivial as buying food, a person in the middle class will consider quality over quantity – do I like it?

CULTURE OF POVERTY MIDDLE CLASS

For a person in poverty the future is not so important, because there are always present survival decisions that need to be made immediately. The person in poverty rarely dwells on the future because they believe that they can’t do much to affect it. They tend to leave their futures’ up to fate.

The middle class tends to value the future, and make decisions based on ramifications. The middle class also believes that they can change their own future by making good choices.

CULTURE OF POVERTY MIDDLE CLASS

People in poverty see the world in terms of a local setting, where there is power in personal respect, but no power large enough to stop bad things from happening to them. As a result, education is valued, but not viewed as truly being helpful to their reality.

A person of the middle class sees the world in a national setting, where there is power in information and institutions. As a result, they value education and see it as the way to be successful and make money.

The above information demonstrates that a great discrepancy could occur between how a students living in poverty view their education and their school, compared to their middle class teachers and administrators. In order to reach these children, school personnel can be proactive and implement strategies that can create a caring and loving school environment.

Support the Whole ChildHard DataAccountabilityRelationship BuildingEnrichment Mind-Set 

High expectations are great if all children have high levels of support. Children in poverty often have social, emotional, and health-related challenges. These challenges need to be addressed before learning can occur.

Schools should not rely on state or district test to determine their sole measurement of success. Instead, schools should create their own measurements to help with the data analysis of students living in poverty.

School personnel should work together to create a goal(s) for children in poverty. Changes in teaching practices will occur if everyone buys into the goal(s).

Due to their circumstances, parents in poverty tend to have a hard time developing healthy relationships with their children. The children, in turn, carry issues regarding forming healthy attachments. School personnel need to recognize this and take the time to form solid relationships with their students.

Instead of remediating, think enrichment. An enrichment mind-set creates intellectual curiosity, emotional engagement, and social bonding.

Schools must come up with their own specific plan as to how to reach children living in poverty. An example of how this could look is demonstrated by Gladwin Intermediate School – Based on Ruby Payne’s work on Poverty. Gladwin Intermediate has implemented, or has plans to implement in the near future, the following activities:

Research shows that children living in poverty aren’t always guaranteed a proper breakfast. Cost is determined by free/reduced lunch status.

The focus of S.P.A.R.K.S. is to provide a safe environment that offers academic reinforcement, enrichment, and recreation. Staff works to enhance the regular school day curriculum as well as help develop character and leadership. All of which are areas that a child living in poverty may be lacking.

Once a week, each grade has a meeting in the cafeteria before the day officially begins. The purpose of these meetings is to create a safe caring environment, develop a sense of community, and recognize achievement. The principal tells about any special announcements, gives a mini-lesson based on character, and leads them in their grade’s clap. He then invites all of the teachers to come up and recognize students who have achieved things inside and outside of school.

Teachers are encouraged to pick out a specific student for the day, and give that student at least three verbal praises during their time with him/her. The purpose is to create a positive relationship, and to show each student that he/she is achieving.  

The feeling of the staff at Gladwin Intermediate is that some of our students in poverty truly do not understand what behaviors are expected, and why they are important. This class would cover topics such as respect, bullying, etc. It has yet to be implemented.

Despite good intentions, students living in poverty do not always have the means to complete homework, study, etc. There has been heavy discussion as to how homework grades affect children living in poverty. Teachers have been encouraged to limit homework and/or limit it to weekly review.

Gladwin Intermediate is scheduled to move away from letter grades on report card for the 2012-2013 school year. Letter grades may not truly indicate what a child knows/does not know. A child living in poverty may be unintentionally penalized for things outside of their control. When these scores are averaged together it often equals poor report card grades. By assessing individual content expectations with a score of 1-5, the student, parent, and teacher can see where the child stands on in class instruction/work.

Teaching that is best for children from poverty is teaching that

is best for all students!

Standards-Based Curriculum and Instruction

Hope Building Arts, Athletics, and Advanced Placement Retooling the Operating System Engaging Instruction

Turn standards into meaningful units Pre-assess to determine students’

background knowledge Adjust your lesson plans

Daily affirmations (verbal and posted) Telling students specifically why they can

succeed. Telling true stories of hope about people

to whom students can relate. Treating all the students in your classes

as potentially gifted. Teaching students life skills in small daily

chunks.

“The arts and a challenging curriculum enhance essential learning skills and cognition, whereas sports, recess, and physical activity increase neurogensis and reduce kids’ chances for depression.” p118

Implement a strong arts program Step up the activity Implement an AP curriculum

“The better students’ operating systems are, the better they’ll be able to handle the complex and rigorous challenges that

school and life throw at them.” p128

“CHAMP”

Champion’s Mind-set Hopeful effort Attentional Skills Memory Processing Skills Sequencing Skills

“The best way is to engage them in instruction that includes them and their interests in the process.” p134

“Generally speaking, engaging instruction is any strategy that gets students to participate emotionally, cognitively, or behaviorally. p134

Switch up social groups Incorporate movement Ask more compelling questions; avoid

unanswerable rhetorical questions Appreciate/acknowledge every

response. Use energizers, games, drama, etc. Be passionate about what you teach!

The Connecting Link Inc. (2011). Challengers Affecting Children Today: Educators Managing Adolescent Societal Issues - Participant Manual. Ventura, California: Author.

Jenson, E. (2009). Teaching with Poverty in Mind: What Being Poor Does to Kids’ Brains and What Schools Can Do About It. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Payne, R., DeVol, P., & Smith, T. (2001). Bridges Out of Poverty: Strategies for Professionals and Communities. Highlands, TX: Process Inc.