Poverty impacts ability in learn

[AlphaCentauri]

More than a century ago, as nations were moving toward compulsory education for all children, educators were surprised to learn so many normal-appearing children met with frustration and failure.

The French minister of education commissioned Binet and Simon to find an explanation, which resulted in a test that measured a child's intelligence or her or his ability to learn in school. A century of research provides amazing knowledge on learning ability.

At mid-century, Donald Hebb gave neuroscientists an elegant theory: The brain develops by experience - by being used!

This theory stimulated several hundred studies. Infant animals raised in enriched environments had brains that differed markedly from the brains of infants raised in impoverished environments. Animal brains in enriched environments had more connections between brain cells, more chemical needed for synapse functioning, more gial cells to nourish the brain and larger brains.

The animal, through its activity, became the architect of brain development. These early years were crucial.

The Carnegie Council on Education concluded its five-year study with this statement: "The greatest single harm to children is poverty." The major determinant of successful schools is successful families. U.S. schools are hurt when children arrive at school lacking the intelligence to learn.

Schools work with the children parents provide them. "Schools in the United States are hurt when children arrive at kindergarten with underdeveloped brains because our nation has the highest level of poverty among advanced industrial nations, and its rate of poverty is more than twice that of comparable nations." (Patterson, Thomas, American Democracy, page 531).

The United States has substantial income inequality. The top 20 percent of citizens receive half the total income, while the other 80 percent get the other half. The bottom 20 percent receive less than 5 percent of the income and most live in serious poverty.

Our democracy does not carry out our moral obligation to our neighbor but creates the possibility for us to do so. As citizens we need to shift the blame for poverty from the characteristics of the poor to the failings of our economy, government and culture.

We must not expect schools and teachers to do things they can't do: care for children before they arrive at kindergarten.

http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20090519/OPINION04/905190322/1014/OPINION

[AnneD]

1. I had a horrible experience with this....

I had a step sister that was drug addicted and totally ignored her child. She came down and visited us and basically dumped the child with us for a couple of weeks. This precious child and I were on a walk when she asked what that was-pointing up to the sky. I was shocked-she didn't know what the moon was. I started asking her a few questions and immediately saw what the problem was.

I worked non stop for the next few weeks filling that little head with as much as I could (nursery rhymes, songs, games, her own books, colours, play dough. She was like an oxygen starves fish. She just couldn't get enough-from the minute she got up til I tried to get her to sleep at night. I would have loved to know how many IQ points she went up in those few weeks. She knew her colours, and some culturally appropriate references, and a better vocabulary before it was over.

I often wonder how she did? I see kids like that in kinder every year. The light just has not been turned on so to speak. All we can do is give them as much enrichment as we can. If it doesn't work-they have a long hard haul in the educational system and they never catch up. The sad thing is...they were born born normal but they did not get what they needed.

You don't need things really-just give them love and attention. With poverty, parents are so focused on survival that stimulating a child's imagination is a luxury. But if you can get their imagination going, they can self stimulate and make their own toys etc with the megarest of materials (we didn't have a whole lot of toys when we were kids and made a lot of our own-corn husk dolls-match box cars made from razor blade dispensers)

[AlphaCentauri]

2. Sadly many politicians don't want to touch this subject

because helping poor children makes them look socialist or leftist

thanks for sharing your experience.

[undergroundnomore]

3. I have taught in

inner city schools most of my life. I can't tell you how many kids I've had to bring breakfast to each morning. It's difficult for a kid to learn when they haven't eaten.

I wish more schools had free breakfast programs. By the time some kids get to high school they are super embarrassed about getting "free lunch" so the free breakfast program administered at our school makes it more likely that these young people will eat breakfast.

You would wish in a free nation that no child would ever have to go to school hungry yet it happens again and again and again. For some kids the only meal they get is that free lunch at school.

Lack of health insurance can prevent kids from getting exams that would detect hearing or vision problems. Some people see the statistics. Every day in my job, I see the reality.

[bemildred]

4. Thank you for all that you do.

I think the OP states the obvious, and that the government does not care also states the obvious.

[Tutankhamun]

5. I've taught in many different schools that are almost exclusively composed of Mexican-American kids.

These students are very often two or more grade levels behind in reading, math, and critical thinking skills. Many of the students are unable to grasp the most fundamental concepts.

They have been taught virtually nothing at home, and receive little, if any behavioral supervision from their parents, making them wild, erratic and unruly in the classroom. The behavior problems compound their cognitive deficits, increasing the gap in academic skills between them and their more fortunate peers.

The problem is multifactorial. Poverty makes it difficult at best for many parents to actively educate and discipline their children. When both parents work long hours, or there is only one parent raising and providing for the family, children receive little or no parenting. Reading, writing and arithmetic take a back seat to food, shelter and clothing. Poor nutrition, childhood obesity and its detrimental effects on cognition are also common in these homes.

For hispanic students in particular, the language barrier also plays a significant role in hampering academic skills. Bilingual students who speak English all day at school but only Spanish with their non-bilingual parents at home also tend to fall behind as a result.

Culture can also benefit or impede a child's academic career. Parents who were taught a strong set of academic and thinking skills, and imparted with a strong foundation of knowledge in the home bear children who do the same for their offspring. Unfortunately, the reverse is also true. Education is passed on from generation to generation, but so is a lack thereof. Uneducated parents can't pass on what they never received, nor are they likely to believe such an inheritance is necessary. Further, it may never occur to them to teach academic skills in the home or even simply stress the importance of learning at school.

Good teachers are familiar with the hurdles disadvantaged students must conquer to succeed. We can't always bring every student up to speed, but with an understanding of these challenges, a little compassion and a lot of patience, the gap can often be closed bit by bit.