poverty and education judi sipowicz, m.ed based on a review of the following works: eric jensen,...
TRANSCRIPT
Poverty and
EducationJudi Sipowicz, M.ED
Based on a review of the following works:
• Eric Jensen, Teaching with Poverty in Mind, 2010; • William H. Parrett and Kathleen M. Budge, Turning
High Poverty Schools Into High Performing Schools, 2012• Ruby Payne, Framework for Understanding Poverty, 2005• Gloria Ladson-Billings, The Dream Keepers, 2009• Grant Wiggins/ Jay McTighe, Understanding By Design, 2005
no
social justice
without
addressing
academic
achievement
There Can Be…
Poverty is rarely
about
lack of
intelligence or
ability
It is about not knowing:
• What the options/choices are;
• The hidden rules of the middle class;
• How to use resources to improve their lives.
Poverty
Generational: •At least two generations•Society owes me
Situational: • Divorce, death,
chronic illness• Pride, refusal to
take charity
Poverty and Culture
Look Different
In Every School & Community
Rural Suburban Urban
The Effects We See of Poverty In
School Have lots of excuses Don’t do homework Physically aggressive Like to entertain Partially complete assignments Only see parts of a page or parts of directions Not self-starters (no procedural self-talk) Don’t monitor their own behavior Laugh when disciplined Work ethic depends on if they like you Talks/write in a causal manner Unaware of middle class courtesies May dislike authority Talk back
Which oneactivates your “hot” buttonfast!
Data
Is Not
Destiny• Bad News -poor
students demonstrate significant cognitive lags. (Gottfried et all, 2003)
• Good news -Brains are designed to change!
Remember:
What We Need To Think
Differently
A Bedrock Belief:High performing , high
poverty schools are all about the kid’s needs,
and a “Whatever It Takes” mindset
to meet those needs.
Reject the Can’t Notions:
• that low income parents can’t adequately prepare children for school;
• that their children can’t perform school tasks at a reasonable level; (Comer, 1980)
• that these parents can’t be effective partners;
• that school people are not willing to develop the necessary approaches, interests, and skills needed for kids to succeed academically, socially, psychologically, and morally.
• Extensive use of National, State, & local standards to design curriculum/instruction/assess student work;
• Increased instruction time for reading & mathematics;
• Substantial investment in professional development for teachers;
• Monitor individual student performance and provide help to struggling students before they fall behind;
• Increase parental involvement.
Turning High Poverty Schools Into High Performing Schools
Tried and True Strategies
Use Activity To Boost Brain Power
It’s
What
You Do
and
For
How
Long
• High level of personalization-It is all about relationships!
• Commitment to education ensuring student mastery of content standards-Whatever it takes!
• Purposeful planning and instruction
• Frequent and specific feedback
Students Raised in Poverty Have…
… greater exposure to abuse, neglect, danger,
loss.
…Learned Helplessness/ Hopelessness
as an adaptive response to life’s conditions.
(Bolland, Lian, Formichella, 2005)
Students Raised in Poverty
Experience…
• Explicitly teach procedural self-talk.
• Use confidence building strategies.
• Explicitly teach skill sets in the order they are needed to be successful.
… a small
world view.
Students Raised in Poverty Have…
… experience stress that is cumulative.
It changes them!
Students Raised in Poverty…
Lower Their Stress
• Be real, if you struggled with something in school let them know how you made it past the struggles.
• Let them know that there is honor in the struggle and hard work.
• Introduce the word “yet” “You may not be good at this yet!!”
… low pattern recognition.
Students Raised in PovertyHave…
Did you know that:9x0=09x1=99x2=1+8=99x3=2+7=99x4=3+6=99x5=4+5=99x6=5+4=99x7=6+3=99x8=7+2=99x9=8+1=99x10=90
Make Patterns Explicit
… high levels of need for instant gratification.
Students Raised in Poverty Have…
… low level skills for planning or setting goals.
Students Raised in Poverty Have…
Goals
…low skills for making informed decisions.
Students Raised in Poverty Have…
… low organization skills.
Students Raised in Poverty Have…
Model Organization• Be prepared with
writing utensils, paper, and folder for finished work.
• Implement a regular instructional design for the lessons
• Give genuine and specific feedback for their work
Empower the Students• Explicitly teach how to:• Resolve conflict
peacefully;• Handle anger and
frustration;• Show responsibility and
restitution;• Demonstrate appropriate
social skills;• Engage in stress
reduction without alcohol or drugs.
Is it Kind?
Is it True? Promote honesty?
Is it absolutely necessary?
Do You Know Your Kids?
What is their view of:• Money• Language• Personality• Food• Clothing• Time• Education• The Future
Possessions People Things Unique Things, Legacies, Pedigree
Money To be used/shared, spent To be managed To be conserved, invested
Personality Is for entertainment, humor valued
For acquisition, stability, achievement
Financial, political connections
Social Emphasis
Include people you like Self governance, self-sufficient
For social inclusion
Food QuantityEquated with love
QualityLove and duty
PresentationStatus
Clothing Individual style expressing personality
Quality, norm acceptance, labels
Artistic sense, Designer
Time Here and now most important. Decisions based on survival
Futuristic. Decision based on future ramifications
Tradition, history, decorum
Education Abstract value, not realistic
Crucial-success-money
Tradition, maintain connections
Destiny Fate that cannot be altered
Choice changes things
Noblese oblige
Poverty Middle Class Wealthy
Poverty Middle Class Wealthy
Language Causal-Survival oriented
Formal-Negotiation
Formal-Networking
Family structure Mostly matriarchal Mostly Patriarchal Depends on who has money
Men’s Roles Lover-Fighter *Provider *Status
World View Local National International
Love & Acceptance
Conditional-who likes youAll we have is you and me & my needs come first.
Conditional-achievement
Conditional-social standing/connections
Driving Forces Survival, relationships, entertainment
Work, achievement
Financial, political, connections
Humor Regarding people & sex
Situations
* added
Social faux pas
* added
Culturally Competent
Teachers…
Characteristics ofCulturally Competent Teachers
Communicate that their class is a “family,” a
community of learnersWhen one does well, we all do well, when one fails, we all fail.
• Have an unwavering sense of moral responsibility.
• Plan for and communicate high
expectations for student achievement.
• Ensure that the classroom focus is on
instruction.
Treat students as competent learners
Regularly provide recognition (genuine & substantiated) of excellence both in class and out-of-
class .
• Academics are not used as punishment.
Gloria Ladson-Billings, The Dream Keepers, 2009
Characteristics ofCulturally Competent Teachers
Show passion for acquiring knowledge.
Demonstrate a connectedness
with all students.
Move students from what they know to what
they need to know.
Plan lessons to purposely and explicitly
build skill sets .
Facilitate connections to culture and individual
differences.
Help students understand and
participate in knowledge-building.
Gloria Ladson-Billings, The Dream Keepers, 2009
Make Every Minute ofof Academic Time Count
• Pre-teach to decrease re-teach.• Our goals and assessment for each lesson will be
crystal clear.o What do we want students to:
• Know• Be able to do• Understand…. • What will we do if they experience difficulty?• And……How will we know when they get there!
• Precise intervention given by the most qualified to those who are the most in need!
Increase Student
Engagement
Connect Learning To Real Life
Bernoulli’s Principle
Action Steps
Explicitly teach patterns and skills.Teach in themes (integrate content areas). Group like objectives into units with assessment up front. Identify core concepts, skills and essential questions.
Understanding By Design Grant Wiggins/ Jay McTighe
Explicitly Plan Guided Skill Sets
• How to plan a project (E.g. essay, report);
• Reading multiple complex texts;• Determining the central theme;• Developing a thesis statement;• Highlighting pertinent data;• Choosing quotes;• Organizing paragraph order;• Develop transition sentences/word
choice;• Develop a closing statement;• Editing & revision techniques;• Presentation strategies.
Sample:
Must Haves
Hope Building:
• Standards-based Curriculum - Aligned with Common Core and State standard
• Engaging Instruction – Aligned with Common Core and State Standards
• Arts, Athletics, and Advanced Placement
• Retooling Operating Systems
Teaching with Poverty In MindEric Jensen
2010