The Final Visual needs to be an aide to your paper and topic that you would use if you were asked to present your topic to the rest of the class. Remember, you do not need to present anything, simply submit the visual aide you would use if you had to convey the importance of your topic to others.
Remember, when presenting, we want the audience to learn what we say, but remember what they see.
How will the audience remember your key points? Act as if the presentation needed to last ten minutes or so. (Final Essay is Attached)
Soria 2
Name
Teacher
English 101
21 April 2020
The Impact of Poverty on Education in America
Poverty is an element of sociological and economic total measure of an individual’s experience and social-economic position compared to others. Social-economic status is commonly broken down into three levels, these include low, middle and high class. When placing families in one of these classes, any of the three variables are likely to be assessed: occupation, education and income. Poverty is classified under low income and involves limited resources to meet basic needs. The level of poverty is approximately 15%, implying that about 1 in every 6 Americans are living in poverty. This slater translates that 1 in every 5 children in the United States is living in poverty. Further, it has been noted that 30% of children raised below poverty lines barely complete their high school education. In that light, children are one of the most hit by the implication of poverty and this is evidenced in their poor cognition and overall educational development.
Education is a basic human right and without it, there is no concept of prosperity but unfortunately, education is not an independent entity, it is connected to many other factors. Among the factors having the most influence on education facilities, the most important factor is poverty. There is a direct link between education and poverty. These two factors are co-dependent as one of the reasons for poverty is illiteracy and absence of quality education but at the very same time, absences of education are because of absences of not enough resources to afford quality education. These two factors go in loops deteriorate the social life further and further. The level of poverty is much higher in the United States which is quite shocking for people whose only perception of the US is of a superpower with prosperity and success. This is evident from the ever-growing gap between rich and power (Slade).
Among other things, low income has been noted to be a strung predictor of a series of issues such as physical and mental health that later affects the learning and education development of children. Poverty as a problem later affects the living and learning environments of the children, or, in the case of inadequate learning resources, maybe the entire cause of the child’s social predicament to start with. Education in affluent families is often stressed as much more crucial, both within the household and in the local communities. However, in poorer families, where necessities are a priority, education has taken a “backseat” (Capra, 76). These children face a series of health and social challenges such as negative social influence, drug and substance abuse.
The implication of poverty on children is one of the complex issues and has been noted to result in complex challenges for children and their families. While it can be argued that the United States economy is stable (compared to its peers), poverty is still an issue in various parts, particularly the south. The study by (Capra, 77) noted that poverty is an urgent problem that affects education among children living in the south. School readiness reflects the ability of a child to succeed educationally and socially within a school set up. This demands that the child is well suited to manage different experiences in the school. Further, it expects that the students have adequate support, emotional health and positive approach to different experiences, appropriate motor development and physical wellbeing, cognitive skills and age appropriateness.
Poverty reduces the readiness of a child for school as it results in poor motor skills and physical health, diminishing the capacity of these children to concentrate and memorize details. further, it affects their attentiveness, motivation and curiosity. According to Taylor (par. 4), intelligence is linked to health and children from poor families are less likely to receive prompt medical care and interventions. Students experiencing poor health and diminishing health practices find it harder to listen, concentrate and learn. Further, one of the reasons that demotivate children is lack of hope and optimism. Poverty and accomplishing social-economic challenges are linked to depression and stress (Silva-Laya, et al. 15) stress and frustrations form poor nutrition, housing conditions and other factors have been noted to affect the physical and cognitive development of children.
A series of studies in and outside the United States have noted a significant relationship between poverty and academic readiness of children. Accordingly, children from low income families are likely to score low grades on copying and symbols, knowledge and numbers, vocabulary and communication skills and ability to relate with other students. A study by Hannum and Alvarado-Urbina (83) also noted that a majority of students form low income families come from neighbourhoods with higher prevalence of crimes and other socially risky behaviours. In that regard, the evidence is clear ad unanimous that these students join schools at a behavioural and cognitive disadvantage. However, individual schools are barely capable of narrowing this gap. The disparity between learners from high income families and their counterparts from low income families is evident by grade 3. Notably, children from poor families have a greater chance of failing a grade three standard test.
Over the past decades, the unprecedented reality has been that the social economic gap is on the rise (Hannum and Alvarado-Urbina, 85). Educational outcomes have been one of the key elements influenced by the level of family incomes. Children from low income families have been noted to begin their education at a later stage compared to their peers in high income families. The incidences of duration, depth and timing of poverty all have adverse implication on the academic success of a child.
Longitudinal studies have demonstrated that socioeconomic disadvantage and other risk factors linked with poverty (including high family stress and other issues such as lower parental education have adverse implication on the cognitive development and academic success of a student (Kelley Taylor, 17). These studies have significantly demonstrated that poverty is one of the crucial factors that lead to poor educational success. These findings have gone beyond the models that attribute the failure to schools systems and the weaknesses of learners in particular subjects. A Comparison of the growth of academic success curves of learners during school years and while in holidays noted a significant gap between students from different social economic classes. This result demonstrates that while schools play a significant compensatory role in a childes educational success, a significant part is as a result of their outside environments, which is largely their neighbourhoods and families.
Quality of Education has direct implications from the presence and absence of resources necessary for life. According to the Census Bureau of the US as per 2015, it is stated that over 20% of children in the US are living below the poverty line. In other words, one out of 5 children have to face poverty in early childhood. The standard for poverty line was defined as a family of two adults with two children and an annual income of $ 24,339 (Capra). Furthermore, the reduced and partially free lunch program by the federal government provides assistance to kids from pre-k to 12th grade and these children have a high number of 51% of total kids. These statistics show that the classrooms of public schools in the US have a large proportion of children belonging to economically unstable backgrounds. According to Jonah Edelman, “the impact of poverty on a child’s academic achievement is significant and starts early”. In short, children belonging to economically disabled backgrounds face hardships in their education from early years till college (Taylor). (536)
Teacher quality and educational resources are crucial in the academic success of a child, the limited academic resources and revolving doors in low income areas exuberates the low quality of education. Motivating this population demands some level of engagement in all aspects of their wellbeing and in some cases, close supervision both inside and outside the classrooms. This approach is unpopular in disadvantaged public schools (Capra, 80). The paradigm shift should be an increase in the treatment and acknowledgement of the social economic difference from the curriculum change, impossible restrictions, and increased testing. While it can be argued that the public schools have made a significant development by offering physical, mental and social services, a lot needs to be done. Similarly, the increased earned income tax credit and minimum ages that reflects the rising costs of living is likely to help support vulnerable families educate their children.
The top 1% of the US population own more resources than 40% of poor Americans. This difference has grown more and more in the past 70 years. An estimated number of people living in poverty was 36.5 million in the year 2006 which has increased to 37.3 million in the next year 2007. Similarly, poverty has discriminatory behaviour for genders with women as household heads face more extreme conditions of poverty as compared to men heading households because of pay gaps and limited opportunities for women as compared to men. Research shows that earning of women and men have a ratio of 78: 100 which shows the difference between pay gaps for the same jobs. Poverty has an impact on every aspect of human life including food, shelter, health and education. Consequently, one of the clear implications of poverty to the educational development of children is that they enter schools with the readiness gaps, which widens as they develop further. These children later feel alienated from society, suffer from insecurities as a result of their social-economic status; and dread the implications of their poverty. Further, Poverty is noted to increase the risk of mental disorders including substance addiction, anxiety, depression and schizophrenia.
Works Cited
Capra, Theresa. “Poverty and its impact on education: Today and tomorrow.” Thought & Action (2009): 75.
Hannum, Emily, Ran Liu, and Andrea Alvarado-Urbina. “Evolving approaches to the study of childhood poverty and education.” Comparative Education 53.1 (2017): 81-114.
Kelley Taylor (2017). Poverty Long-Lasting Effects on Students’ Education and Success.
Slade, Sean. Sean Slade – Senior Director of Global Outreach. n.d. Website. 19 March 2020.
Silva-Laya, Marisol, et al. “Urban Poverty and Education. A Systematic Literature Review.” Educational Research Review (2019).
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