The elephant that Obama and Lauer ignored: Poverty and student achievement

[Hannah Bell]

About two-thirds of the way through President Obama’s interview Monday with NBC’s Matt Lauer on school reform, I thought the two were about to really dive into the biggest issue plaguing the country’s most troubled schools.

Already discussed were the usual subjects raised by the Obama administration when it addresses school reform: charter schools, standards, how to get terrific teachers in every classroom, the length of the school year, Race to the Top and did I mention charter schools?

Then, there it was, the moment when Lauer raised the issue of poverty and the new Census Bureau figures showing that one in seven Americans live at or below the poverty line, defined as an annual income for a family of four of $22,000....I thought Lauer would make the obvious connection between poverty and student achievement. After all, the most consistent link in education and social science research is between family income and standardized test scores.

Today’s breed of school reformers, however, have ignored this link and adopted a “no excuses” policy, which essentially claims that good teachers can overcome anything, including medical, sociological and psychological problems that children who live in poverty bring into the classroom.


http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/race-to-the-top/the-elephant-obama-lauer-ignor.html?wprss=answer-sheet

[xchrom]

1. i'm sure ignoring was agreed upon in advance.

it hurts the narrative.

[madrchsod]

2. some neighborhoods in chicago have safe corridors.

adult volunteers form patrols that protect kids to and from school. there are policemen patrolling hot spots around schools.

last year at least 50% of the chicago school children experienced or knew of violence in one form or another. that just going to ,being at,and going home from school.

barack and his wife refuse to address this and other problems in the inner city schools and the surrounding communities.


the new education policy is separate and unequal

[apples and oranges]

3. Are you saying teachers should assume poor students can't learn?

and go from there? What exactly are you saying? What if someone had said that to Bill Clinton or Oprah when they were in school?

[LWolf]

5. It is a fact.

The largest factor affecting student achievement is parent SES. We've known this for decades.

That doesn't mean that poor students can't learn. It does mean that they start behind, and they often don't learn at the same rate that other students do.

There are numerous reasons why this is so. Less of the kind of stimulation needed for optimum brain development birth - 4 years; not coincidentally, less of the kind of interaction that fosters language development. Maslow's hierarchy: stressed students are focused on the stresses in their lives, not on academics.

[Hannah Bell]

8. tasty straw.

[LWolf]

4. If they acknowledged the link, they'd have to abandon

the scapegoating of schools and teachers and address poverty. Poverty, and the growing gap between the rich and poor, are not on the neoliberal or neoconservative table.

[raccoon]

6. Off to Greatest with you! nt

[Fumesucker]

7. K&R, thanks for posting..

[dajoki]

9. K&R

[Zenlitened]

10. K&R. -n/t