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Alexis Freeman

Probe Paper Sources - 6 views

Good sources. I used our book as well to help with my paper and found an interesting article to tie back to some of the unequal opportunity it discusses in the book. My topic geared toward a broad ...

Lauren Tripp

Poverty and Potential: Out-of-School Factors and School Success | National Education Po... - 5 views

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    An academic version of the impact of poverty on schools - good source for your PROBE papers!
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    I'm probably going to use this! Thanks.
Hannah Smoot

The Myth of the Culture of Poverty - 1 views

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    I am thinking of writing my paper on how teachers can sometimes perpetuate the myth of the culture of poverty by treating low-income students differently than middle to upper class students. I would love any advice anyone may have. Either way, this is a pretty interesting article you should check out!
Rachel Manko

Effects of Poverty, Hunger, and Homelessness on Children and Youth - 0 views

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    Here is some helpful information from the American Psychological Association on the impacts of poverty, hunger and homelessness on children.
Rachel Manko

The Effects of Poverty on Teaching and Learning - 0 views

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    Lots of information on poverty and its effects..
Lauren Tripp

"For Poor, Leap to College Often Ends in a Hard Fall" - DeParle - 10 views

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    Use this space to comment on any quote from this reading.
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    I found this quote interesting: "The idea that education can be 'selfish' - a belief largely alien among the upper-middle class - is one poor students often confront, even if it remains unspoken." I think the quote generalizes a bit and, interpreted by a particularly sensitive person, could be seen as trying to induce guilt on the part of rich people (though their guilt MIGHT say something about their unacknowledged privilege). However, I can see that poor students would not want to burden their families by pursuing higher education and thus they get stuck in the cogs of poverty. To close the gap between high and low income students, I don't think we need the privileged to feel guilty for what they have or the underprivileged to feel guilty in asking for easier access to education. Maybe this is an obvious question, but why is college so expensive, anyway? What would really happen if colleges lowered tuition so higher education was actually attainable for a broader group of people? Money isn't the whole issue in why people aren't going to college, but the only argument I've heard in favor of high tuition have been to benefit the already-rich and educated.
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    In response to Lisa: I definitely understand the meaning of the quote you chose and the inherent guilt that any student might feel because of the high cost of higher education. Building on your point about lowering college tuition, it seems that this would be an ideal goal in a society acknowledging, more and more, the growing need for a degree in the competitive global economy. If America wants to remain competitive, we must produce students capable of handling the issues of today. When more and more jobs require a college education, it seems logical that the necessary training would be more readily accessible, to all groups. Perhaps it is simply the static nature of conflicting politics that prevents change. Or, does the lack of change reflect an attempt to protect the already established class privileges, despite all of the discourse revolving around closing these gaps?
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    Lisa, I liked that quote when I read the article too. Its very interesting and makes you think. It is true that this remains unspoken and I never thought of education as selfish but when I think about it, it can definitely be seen as such.
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    Totally agree, Nadia. I don't think we're limited to 4-year liberal arts degrees, either... Vocational/trade schools prepare their students for jobs in the real world too, just in a different way. I'm thinking about that video we watched with the guy who got paid by his company to go to a trade school - that's seriously the best of both worlds! One of my professors says that more than half of the students at UF shouldn't be here because they don't want to be, they weren't wired to study liberal arts. Even though it sounds harsh, I can think of at least a few of my friends who are miserable because they think the only way they'll be happy is to be here and to get this part of their lives over with so they can start getting paid. I'm starting to go off on a tangent here, but I wonder if high school students receive more career counseling, maybe they would actually think about which jobs would give them life satisfaction and not just a 401K... Vocational college could be a great option, but we don't hear about them much! There may be some negative stigma attached to trade schools that make them seem blue collar in a white collar society, and that goes into what you mentioned about the politics of class privilege.
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    Lisa Lee, In response to your last response, I'm not sure if I understand fully what your professor said. I understand that you're trying to say that students should not be here because they don't want to be, but I don't understand why being wired to study liberal arts would be a requirement for attending a college. I agree that high school students should receive more career counseling but for the most part ( I know my career counselor in high school) did not have that large of an impact on my current professional pursuits. By the time students come to college, they change their minds about what they want to do at least four or five times. Also, often what drives students to go for the 401K is because of their family situation. Whether we would like to be in a financially better position than our parents or our parents are pushing us into that desk job, they often have the largest influence on our initial thoughts of our careers. While vocational college has its merits, I think the main issue with that is that jobs that come from a vocational school are usually less respected and paid less than 4-year college jobs, as you said. Having poor students go into vocational colleges to get less well paid jobs just continues the cycle. I think we should lower tuition though. I honestly don't see why it costs so much.
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    Krystal, what I got from my professor was that there's a power structure in place that says you must go to a 4-year liberal arts college, you need that "well-rounded" education to be "qualified" for the job market (and thus achieve a certain status in society). But does an electrical engineer need to have 9 credit hours of humanities to be a good engineer? In that way, some professions shouldn't require students to be in a liberal arts program - thus, they "shouldn't be there." From a functionalist/conflict perspective (not saying it's the right perspective, just one way to look at it), those students in poverty are being denied access to higher paying, higher status jobs because they can't afford this type of liberal arts instruction. I don't know how salaries are determined, but I agree that jobs obtained through vocational schools shouldn't be stigmatized in addition to tuition being lowered at liberal arts colleges. About the career counseling, I was just wondering if high school students were more open to vocational schools, they'd take advantage of them. Sure, a student who wants a liberal arts education should be able to receive one and it's a problem that they can't. I'm not suggesting that vocational schools are the second rung, leftover alternatives where we can hide our inner city students, either. But for those students in poverty who give up altogether and don't pursue ANY higher education at all because of the cost, having guidance counselors who suggest this as an option might be helpful - assuming, of course, that they have guidance counselors in the first place.
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    "Neighborhoods have grown more segregated by class, leaving lower-income students increasingly concentrated in lower-quality schools. And even after accounting for financial aid, the costs of attending a public university have risen 60 percent in the past two decades" Schools get funded through property taxes and because of this low income communities get less money to distribute to local schools as compared to higher income communities with lots of home owners. More home owners leads to more property taxes which gets schools in high income communities more money to contribute to better qualified teachers, better technology, nicer school facilities, etc. The first step to closing the gap between high low income students is allowing schools to provide the same opportunities to all students. This can be done if all schools receive the same amount of money to contribute to student's education. Rather than funding money from property taxes directly to local schools, local governments should collect the money and distribute it evenly among schools in high and low income communities. This way all schools could afford to provide the same learning tools for all students.
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    In the article, I found the following quote to be very interesting: "With school success and earning prospects ever more entwined, the consequences carry far: education, a force meant to erode class barriers, appears to be fortifying them." I chose this quote because its saddening to see that education, typically a path that people choose to overcome low economic status, is not available for those students who are academically qualified. Low-income students already have to endure enough obstacles in order to reach a point where they are ready for college studies. By not being able to attend school or be successful in school, these students will be the ones taking the low income jobs. This is just a continuation of the widening of the gap between high and low income students. I believe that Emory's financial aid program is a beginning step to minimizing the income gap. If a student's family made less than $50K/ year, then Emory would turn some of the student's loans into grants. Also, there could be a highly recommended push for low-income students to apply for work-study programs. These programs are usually not too strenuous and are flexible to student's schedule. Overall, I do agree with the previous posts that college tuition needs to be decreased drastically. I was speaking with a friend of mine about this topic and he asked me why couldn't college be free like K-12 schooling. I didn't really know how to respond besides "Oh that's not going to happen." I did not know any legitimate reason as to why some college programs could not do this. It just seemed unrealistic for colleges to do this. Any thoughts on this question?
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    Its hard to say if it was their low socioeconomic status that led them to not graduate or pass some courses in 4 years, or if it was their social group and the people that surrounded themselves. "schools may have also changed in ways that make parental income and education more important". Education could be reformed in public education by making public schools fair and even for all parents. Taking exams like SAT which determine admissions into colleges, it is important to get a good score. Those who can afford the tutors and prep classes will have a better chance of getting in. I think that there has to be other ways to do this and money should not have to be related to achievement.
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    "It's becoming increasingly unlikely that a low-income student, no matter how intrinsically bright, moves up the socioeconomic ladder," said Sean Reardon, a sociologist at Stanford. "What we're talking about is a threat to the American dream." This quote really stood out to me because it really shows the issues that we are seeing with higher education. These poor, first generation students are going to colleges that they can't afford, not knowing how the process works and how to deal with it. Without any sort of support system, they are setting themselves up for failure. In order to close the gap between high and low income students, schooling should start by being more affordable. Loans and grants should not be as difficult to obtain, and shouldn't be falsified like in this article. I also think that there should be more work-study programs for those students who have to pay their own way through college. There should also be more involvement at the high school level. Guidance counselor's need to be more helpful in preparing students for college. Especially if they are first generation college students, these kids have no idea how college works and that's not really something that you can learn without any help. In this article, one of the professors tried to reach out to the girl, which is awesome, but she wasn't very responsive and I'm concerned that would be the response of most kids who don't know what they're doing and end up failing. No one wants to admit that they failed so it's easier to just ignore it.
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    "Weekends and summers were devoted to a college-readiness program, where her best friends, Melissa O'Neal and Bianca Gonzalez, shared her drive to "get off the island" - escape the prospect of dead-end lives in luckless Galveston. Melissa, an eighth-grade valedictorian, seethed over her mother's boyfriends and drinking, and Bianca's bubbly innocence hid the trauma of her father's death. They stuck together so much that a tutor called them the "triplets." " This article brought up a lot of good points and had great example stories. This quote stuck out to me because of the influence peers and friend groups can have on an individual. Families have a huge influence on one's well being and their ability to excel in education. They also can be supportive or detrimental. Not that I am saying it is all the families fault if a student fails, but there is a strong influence. Families do the best they can and some circumstances are challenging ,like finances or trauma within a household. No matter what, a family's situations will effect someone, especially the children. But, there is an alternative when people thing in terms of support. Friend groups can be extremely influential. In my experience, this is what was where my sister and I found the most support, specifically in scholastic areas. I can relate to the "triplets' mentioned in this article. I had friends like that. Through all the chaos of one's home front, there can be outside support that can undesirably beneficial. Although the girls did not excel the way I hope hoped they would, this still brings up a good point. Another good point was the pressure of needed finances as adults and outside influences. Now as far as education reform. I see a lot of hope and promise in after school programs. An example of this working in a beneficial way is when a student is suppose to go home alone when the parent or parent is still at work. An option of just staying at school and working on homework would be
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    Alexa- That quote stood out to me as well. It is an unfortunate aspect of our economic system, since cost is calculated in relation to the economic condition of the society as a whole, while the individuals are expected to satisfy this generalized goal independently. In other words, what a person must pay is dictated by the wealth of people that have nothing to do with that person, while the individual is left to rely only on his/her resources to pay that cost. It is contradictory to say that an individual has no right to another one's resources, while the resources of all others creates what is demanded of that specific individual.
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    Lisa- That quote stood out to me because some of the friends I graduated high school with didn't attend college because they felt it would be inconsiderate to do so. When I asked a particular friend why he wasn't applying to colleges, he simply said "I couldn't do that to my dad". It was a response that really expanded my view of education, because I hadn't ever thought of the decision to educate oneself as one which negatively affects the family of the individual.
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    Keri- This quote stood out to me because it was shocking. I think people underestimate privilege all the time. We can't influence the family we are born into, the environment we live in, or the financial situation our caregivers are in. It would be easier if we were all dealt the same hand of cards but it's more complicated than that. These girls were not born into privileged families and the fact that these girls needed to travel out of their town because of its suppressing environment shows this lack or privilege. Future educators should work on ways to level the playing field so all students have an equal opportunity to exceed in their education.
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    Lisa-- I like this quote. I remember speaking about this during class discussion one day. Basically, it's the idea that for the wealthy or privileged there is no reason to question the education system as it today. Why would they question something that has worked for them so far?
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    Yes, I agree Lisa. I do not think there is anything positive that can come from the two extreme classes feeling any sense of guilt for their class. The solution has to come out of accepting the facts and moving on. I also agree that college is expensive! Some more than others, of course. Some areas do have no cost tuition colleges. I had a friend that was from Germany and just here for the summer. She did not pay for college. It was free where she lived. She could not understand why we were actually paying for college. Also, why pay for college and not other schooling? This is something we could work on. This system works in some areas. This change could benefit our goal for equality in education.
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    Gabrilla-Exactly! "Future educators should work on ways to level the playing field so all students have an equal opportunity to exceed in their education." I loved this thought. This is so true. Making the students feel as if they are all equal is essential. The fact is if a student "leaves his baggage at the door" in some way, they open themselves up to an entire new world. The world outside of the classroom could slip away during the day. Equality in the classroom could help everyone do well regardless of their SES. This would also promote a solid foundation and a feeling of community. This would encourage a "we are in this together" mentality, as well. There are several different ways we could change the educational structure so that the SES could matter less in terms of individuals being educated. I think the small differences we could start with could change the bigger picture more than we initially think.
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    I can relate to this quote, coming from a working class household where both parents did not have the opportunity to be formally educated, I completely understand it. At times, when students go home and are surrounded by their peers that did not go to a 4 year university, they often feel like an outlier. Some may judge you and think that "you are all that" because you went to college while everybody else stayed here. A lot of families face hardships, and it is a custom to work as a unit to solve them for poor families. Poor families are often very connected, generations and generations can live in a household helping each other out. The guilt comes into play when the student sees that their family is struggling and they are not their to help. This is when they consider themselves selfish, they are thinking about the individual instead of the unit. Middle-class students may not face this dilemma because they are taught to be individuals, competitive, sometimes losing sight of the group. You can even say that they feel entitled to their education, that they have the right to be educated--when it is a privilege.
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    In response to Nadia: It just doesnt make sense to me, while tuition is being raised every semester funding is also being cut. The system is not making an education affordable, and an education is necessary to be competitive. Usually when competition exists, prices decrease but that is not the case. After all, competition is what our system preaches. I've come to learn that a University is a business, and loan companies are enjoying every bit of it. It has come to a point where the costs may outweigh the benefits, students decide not to attend a university because they dont want to deal with crazy amounts of debt. The government always preaches how education is so important, but their actions dont back up their claims. This makes it so much harder for poor kids to move up the latter, just increasing the gap!
Lindsey Wilkinson

Children in Room E4: Educational Inequality - 10 views

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    Page 35-36 "The families claimed that extreme racial and classic segregation in schools enabled and sustained by state-enforced school district boundary lines, denied them the equal educational opportunity guaranteed by Connecticut's Constitution." We feel that this article underlines the book's main focus as it parallels the inequality between economic classes. This book's theme is focused on the inequality between economic and racial education in Connecticut.
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    It is an unfortunate, yet undeniable fact that money opens doors to opportunities. Because of the way schools are funded through property taxes, schools in higher income areas are automatically going to be embellished more so than schools receiving less funds. This fact is obvious in the Oprah video presented in the beginning of the course. However, money isn't the sole factor in a student's success. This is evident in the following excerpt: "'Early life conditions and how children are stimulated play a very important role,' he said. 'The danger is we will revert back to the mindset of the war on poverty, when poverty was just a matter of income, and giving families more would improve the prospects of their children. If people conclude that, it's a mistake.'" It is imperative for parents to positively influence their students from early on in their school careers so that they may overcome obstacles such as little funding.
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    I was so glad to hear that, "the achievement gap between white and black students has narrowed significantly over the past few decades," but at the same time it is unfortunate to hear that, "the gap between rich and poor students has grown substantially during the same period." Race is merely a construct; therefore I hope Americans begin to realize that success does not lie in which race you come from. Now it seems that, "we have moved from a society in the 1950s and 1960s, in which race was more consequential than family income, to one today in which family income appears more determinative of educational success than race." The question is what can we do about this? I think we need to regain our middle class. Nowadays it seems that people are either upper or lower class. We see, "that wealthy parents invest more time and money than ever before in their children (in weekend sports, ballet, music lessons, math tutors, and in overall involvement in their children's schools), while lower-income families, which are now more likely than ever to be headed by a single parent, are increasingly stretched for time and resources." There needs to be a middle ground in which all students are able to have access to these additional resources. It is quite alarming to know that, "by the time high-income children start school, they have spent about 400 hours more than poor children in literacy activities." More focus needs to be put on this issue because if not the gap between the rich and poor will continue to grow, making it more and more difficult to ever resolve.
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    Sean Reardon was quoted in the article saying, "We have moved from a society in the 1950s and 1960s, in which race was more consequential than family income, to one today in which family income appears more determinative of educational success than race." Although this has truth to it, I think money has always been a motivation, even if it was overshadowed by race at one point. However, the statistic that it has grown 40% since the 60s is shocking. Money drives the American economy. It is a sad unfortunate truth. The American dream to come here from nothing and make something of yourself is extremely difficult in today's American society. "One reason for the growing gap in achievement, researchers say, could be that wealthy parents invest more time and money than ever before in their children." I agree with this. Wealthy parents have more time and effort to put into their children. This does not make lower SES parents bad parents by any stretch. However, the lower SES parents are probably single-parent homes. These parents might have to work more than one job in order to cloth and feed their child. The parent is doing the best they can but they do not have the monetary means to provide above and beyond for their child.
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    In this article, the New York Times is quoted saying "One reason for the growing gap in achievement, researchers say, could be that wealthy parents invest more time and money than ever before in their children (in weekend sports, ballet, music lessons, math tutors, and in overall involvement in their children's schools), while lower-income families, which are now more likely than ever to be headed by a single parent, are increasingly stretched for time and resources." I think this is very true in our society today. I think this article is a perfect description. At my high school, this was truly the case. The higher end families children received the best grades and always seem to do the best in school. I agree with this quote that it comes from how the wealthy parents spend more time with their children, helping them become who they want to become. Wealthier parents seem to push their children more than low-income parents do. In my personal experience, the low-income parents don't always know how to push their children and help them through school because they were never taught themselves.
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    The fact that, "the gap between rich and poor students has grown substantially during the same period" only surprised me when it was being compared to race. I have personally heard many times that there is an achievement gap between races, yet never read about so much evidence supporting a larger gap between SES. I agree with the section of the article that talks about parents that have excess money investing in their children with extracurricular activities and services. It makes sense that a child with access to tutors, supplemental stimulation of the brain, and a well rounded up-bringing would have an advantage academically. This relates to the point that the main concern for many of these adolescent students is doing well in school to please their parents, rather than making money to help their parents pay bills. A personal example of this came to my mind while reading this article. When I was younger, my mom used to make my siblings and I help with chores on the weekends, but if we had a lot of homework, projects, or extracurricular activities during the week days my mom wouldn't make us do our chores so we would have time to finish everything else. My mom was fortunate to be able to stay home during that period of time while my dad made enough for both of them. Because she had the time and energy to do the housework, she was able to let us concentrate on schoolwork and activities instead of helping her. This lead to me being able to use my time to take on classes with a larger work load and spend extra time making sure I was successful in school since my mom would continually say, "right now, doing well in school is your job". Yes, the statistics from the article were shocking when I first read them; however, I can see reasons for them that aren't as unexpected. The data has been presented; what we need to focus on now is how to fix this.
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    I found this quote interesting because I never really noticed that more affluent children do better in school. At first, I thought that intelligence is not connected to wealth but then realized that if a student is not necessarily the smartest student in the classroom, more affluent families have the money and resources to push their child academically. More affluent families have the money for tutors, SAT prep courses, and programs that can help their child's development. I think that there should be more programs that are free to all students that can help all students succeed. A child's success should not depend on how much money his/her family has.
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    Education was once thought to equalize opportunities between rich and poor students. Public education was designed to increase the chances for success among the less fortunate. However, recently researchers have found that the gap between rich and poor has grown substantially. The recession may be responsible for the widened gap. Also, it is predicted that wealthy parents invest more time and money into their children. Excessive money may be spent on tutors, music lessons, sports, and overall involvement in school. According to a study by Sabino Kornrich and Frank F. Furstenberg, "Americans at the upper end of the income spectrum were spending five times as much per child as low-income families. By 2007 that gap had grown to nine to one; spending by upper-income families more than doubles, while spending by low-income families grew by 20 percent." Another reason for this gap may be due to the amount of time spent exposed to literacy activities. According to Meredith Phillips, "Affluent children spend 1,300 more hours than low-income children before age 6 in places other than their homes, their day care centers, or schools." It is unfortunate that money opens the doors to opportunities. Because schools are funded by property taxes, schools in higher income areas are going to have better programs and more opportunities for their students. Although money does not solely determine a student's future success it does make it easier to pursue goals because of exposure to academic opportunities.
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    While reading the article the fact that "by the time high-income children start school, they have spent about 400 hours more than poor children in literacy activities" really surprised and upset me. That time spent with reading is 400 hours of extra practice that low income students don't get, which leads me to believe now more than ever schools should offer more reading practices before and after school, which would bring the community together and help out to bridge the gap between rich and poor. That was why I was glad to read that "The connection between income inequality among parents and the social mobility of their children has been a focus of President Obama as well as some of the Republican presidential candidates." The fact that political figures are taking action with this problem leaves me with hope that it become a known problem, which can be fixed.
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    This article discuss the achievement gap in affluent and poor students. That students are being treated differently based on their parent's income. This is harmful because it can cause problems for all students. One of the quotes from our class readings remind me of this article, "even worse, the new black classes provided white school officials with a handy excuse for "doing little or nothing" to alter the so-called regular curriculum, as another scholar warned" from Black Activism, White Resistance, and Multiculturalism by Jonathan Zimmerman (page 109). Even though the quote and the article are quite different since predominately the affluent families are Caucasian and the poor families are mostly African-American this quote can relate to the fact that this type of division of classes can be destructive.
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    I was delighted to read in the article that the racial achievement gap is lower than ever before. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said in terms of family income. While reading, the first reason that popped into my head that could explain this was families of higher income being able to afford the best educational opportunities for their children. As stated in theย ย article, "One reason for the growing gap in achievement, researchers say, could be that wealthy parents and that's more time and money than ever before in their childrenโ€ฆ " Because these parents can afford to make these types of investments, their child is more likely to have a more well-rounded educational experience and more opportunity to engage in extracurricular activities.ย 
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    "One reason for the growing gap in achievement, researchers say, could be that wealthy parents invest more time and money than ever before in their children (in weekend sports, ballet, music lessons, math tutors, and in overall involvement in their children's schools), while lower-income families, which are now more likely than ever to be headed by a single parent, are increasingly stretched for time and resources." This definitely is a big factor contributing between the achievement of kids from poorer and richer backgrounds. Another factor is that property taxes determine how much money schools get. If a child lives in a poor neighborhood and goes to the local school they are at a diadvantage. Children in richers areas that have better schools hire more teachers with masters and doctorate degrees and have better libraries, more computers, and after school activities. If property taxes were not a factor in a school funding, poor students would have the same resources as richer students.
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    "When the economy recovers, you'll still see all these problems persisting for reasons that have nothing to do with money and everything to do with culture," In my opinion it is also the subject of parenting. Yes, higher income families can provide their children with better resources and extra curricular activities, but that does not stop certain "poor" students from excelling, especially if the parents push them. Unfortunately, lower income families don't always support education due to the financial situation. These students may have to work and don't have the time to do extra things outside of the home.
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    I have been thinking a lot lately on ways to change the school system for the better. Out teacher suggested the idea of finding a different way to pay for public schools than property tax. This would give students a more equal opportunity than social class creates. Our current system places the students in a specific environment to fail and tell them hard work will get them out when in all reality the class you are in seems to be a determining factor in America life within the last few years. I believe focusing on the allocation of resources with help bridge the gap between class and education.
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    "Researchers are finding that while the achievement gap between white and black students has narrowed significantly over the past few decades, the gap between rich and poor students has grown substantially during the same period." The quote from this article points out a good fact that the gap is shying away from it being a racial issue to a financial issue. However, with that still comes the idea of which races fit into those categories of who is rich and who is poor. It is still evident that even though society doesn't want to shine light on the idea that racism still exists in today's society. Racism doesn't necessarily have to be about color even though it has a factor in the achievement gap. For instance, the schools in inner-city neighborhoods are over-crowded and the resources for adequate achievement don't exist. However, the same cannot be said for students in suburban neighborhoods, where classes don't exceed more than 25 students and books are available for every student. Another quote that rings true for me from the articles says, "when the economy recovers, you'll still see all these problems persisting for reasons that have nothing to do with money and everything to do with culture." Every season has its reason (in my opinion an excuse) as to why achievement gaps exist.
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    From the article, "the gap between rich and poor students has grown substantially during the same period". When taking that into consideration, I think that there are certain factors that are contributing to the gap between success and income level, not just the mere fact that some parents cannot afford to send their children to private school. Parents who are at the lower income levels cannot afford to provide supplemental materials for their children, so what they learn in public school could be the only type of education they receive. However, it can also be up to the child to want to be in a better position than their parents because they have seen what they go through firsthand, which could potentially spur their desire for a higher level of success. Although this theory is possible, it is not likely that the children of parents in lower income levels will move up. In fact, only about 10% of children will move up in a social class higher than what their parents are.
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    "Now, in analyses of long-term data published in recent months, researchers are finding that while the achievement gap between white and black students has narrowed significantly over the past few decades, the gap between rich and poor students has grown substantially during the same period." Americans say they believe in children getting equal opportunities for education, but not enough is being done about it. In Florida, the public school funding system just isn't working, and this quotes explains why. Children of the same or similar academic achievement should be receiving the same quality of education. If that is not the case, which it isn't, then a new method of funding should be made. We should be working to narrow the gap between rich and poor students, not merely watching it grow.
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    "Now, in analyses of long-term data published in recent months, researchers are finding that while the achievement gap between white and black students has narrowed significantly over the past few decades, the gap between rich and poor students has grown substantially during the same period." Americans say they believe in children getting equal opportunities for education, but not enough is being done about it. In Florida, the public school funding system just isn't working, and this quotes explains why. Children of the same or similar academic achievement should be receiving the same quality of education. If that is not the case, which it isn't, then a new method of funding should be made. We should be working to narrow the gap between rich and poor students, not merely watching it grow.
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    This is an issue that I am very concerned with, and I have gone as far as considering participating in Teach For America to help solve this problem and eliminate the education gap. What I do like about this article is something that is buried in the middle of it and could be easily overlooked. It says "now catching the attention of a broader audience, in part because income inequality has been a central theme this election season." It then goes on to say "focus of President Obama as well as some of the Republican presidential candidates." Although so far this is all talk and no action, I feel like the first step in changing this movement is spreading awareness of the problem and generating interest in a solution. I am glad that this is an issue that is being talked about and openly discusses, because that means we are at least one step closer on the road to solving the problem. I have high hopes that if Americans make it an important issue and make that fact known to our law makers, then we will eventually see change and progress in the system to help solve this problem.
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    "the equivalent of around $160,000 in 2008, when the study was conducted - and children from the 10th percentile, $17,500 in 2008. By the end of that period, the achievement gap by income had grown by 40 percent, he said, while the gap between white and black students, regardless of income, had shrunk substantially". It is clear that race isnt really an issue for our society but economy is. I think it is so sad that the money your parents make can affect a student so drastically. Just how the article mentions that parents are now more than ever spending money of their kids for extra curricular activities and lower income parents which are mostly represented by single parent households are barely making ends meet. Every child should have an equal opportunity regardless of their parents income.
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    The article stated that "It is a well-known fact that children from affluent families tend to do better in school." Rich people can provide better education to their kids. They can pay for private tutors and schools that will have their children's best interest while the unfortunate people must suffer to what the government can offer due to their financial struggle. It's sad to know that there seems to be a cycle of education in poverty level. I think this cycle can be broken if the students who are financially incapable can be provided with resources that are open to public. For instance, libraries are available but if they could be more updated and not being cut off financially, students will get the help that they needed and excel in school.
Lauren Tripp

Children need food, health care, and books. Not new standards and tests. - 1 views

  • To summarize: What should schools focus on first? Food, health care, and books. Not on new standards and tests.
  •  
    Here's the original article on which the previous blog post was based.
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    While reading this article, i found myself agreeing with almost all of what Krashen was saying. Poverty does effect student learning. Fortunately for me, i never had to experience going to school hungry or sick. I always had books available to me in my school library and a school nurse present in case anyone got sick. I cannot imagine what it feels like to go to school without these basic things, nor do i want 25% of american children to go either. It's no wonder that students who live in poverty do worse in school. What is even more heart wrenchings is the fact that our government only cares of how well its country does internationally. What the government doesn't realize is that if it helps to reduce poverty, our children will be able to learn more efficiently and then it can get the international ranking it wants so badly. Until our government starts caring about our hungry children that go to school and not how the United States ranks internationally in education, then we cannot improve.
Chelsea Corrales

Wonk Room ยป Gov. Corbett's Education Cuts 10 Times Higher In Poor Districts T... - 0 views

  • However, it appears that Corbett doesnโ€™t believe in shared sacrifice, at least when it comes to the distribution of his education cuts. Corbett has proposed about $1 billion in education cuts, and as the Education Law Center found, cuts for students living in poverty are in some instances ten times as deep as those for students in wealthier districts:
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    Cuts for students in poverty 10x as deep as for those in wealthier areas???? ARGH!
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    I find it absolutely ridiculous the amount of budget cuts made for schools that are already struggling to give their students a half-way decent education. On top of that to make bigger budget cuts in schools where poverty is much higher than in wealthy neighborhoods is frankly insane and one of the biggest problems within our education system. I plan to use this source and others to explore how socio-economic status of the surrounding neighborhoods of schools negatively affects the quality of education.
Rachel Manko

Poverty Is Rooted In US Education System, Research Finds - 2 views

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    Includes interesting thoughts about the No Child Left Behind Act, if you're interested.
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    Also, look at the related stories sidebar for more interesting articles. :)
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    I think this article is great! I think that it gives a clear overview of everything we chose or are taught to ignore. I think that by learning about poverty we will not always be able to alleviate it, but at least by being aware we can understand others and be more conscious.
Lauren Tripp

Interview with Jonathan Kozol - 2 views

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    I'm so glad Kara posted her link already because this is a great follow-up to it. If you are interested in learning more about the kids in "Shame of the Nation", here is an interview with Kozol talking about the impact of poverty on schools and his new book "Fire in the Ashes".
April Penland

Students Still Have Unequal Access To Educational Opportunities - 10 views

I do agree that students still have unequal access to educational opportunities. Depending on where you live, the "majority" and your intellectual abilities are main concerns as to how "educational...

http:__www.huffingtonpost.com_2011_06_30_unequal-education-access-report_n_887771.html

kashetamundy

The Shame of the Nation- "Early childhood education key to success for poor children" - 24 views

I agree with this article that early education is the key to future success. It is unfortunate that children from low socioeconomic status are at disadvantage from the first day of school. Hopefull...

Alexa Rose

"Shadowy Lines that Still Divide" - Scott & Leonhardt - 25 views

I agree with Nadia's comment on that quote, that being stuck can be blamed on class. Class is tied into resources and income, and if you don't have the resources or income, there's really no way to...

April4assignment

Hope Kim Doit

How the U.S. compares to the rest of the world... - 35 views

It seems like Finish school system has an equal balance between students and teachers performances. Although they seek to help their students and assist them with their educational needs, they also...

curriculum FInland The Common School

Lauren Tripp

Child Abuse In Corporate Education Reform: I Cannot Feed You, But I Will Test You - 1 views

  • we can protect our children from poverty by feeding them, providing them with health care, a clean environment and school classrooms and libraries filled with books.
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    So, here's the plan: ditch the standardized tests, use NAEP instead, and spend those billions of dollars on food, health care, gardens, and books. Okay, education problem solved. Well done, Peg!
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    This article really moved me. After reading the Kozol article in class i was very disturbed by the living conditions of the families in East St. Louis. And this article only exacerbated my feelings. I find it incredible that America, the country of opportunity and prosperity, "neglects" its children in such a way that does not allow them to have either of those things. Ms. Peggy made so many valid points about the inefficiency of standardized tests and i strongly agree with her. It angers me that innocent children are not receiving the same education across the country, and worse, our government thinks that standardized tests are the solution to this problem. How can our government be so heartless?
cleves

An Apple A Day Is Not Enough!! - 2 views

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    healthy students make wealthy earners and not to mention better learners
  • ...3 more comments...
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    i LOVED this video. It was so well crafted and got its point across. I am a big advocated of health, and i do believe that healthier children are smarter children, on both sides of the spectrum. Poverty stricken children who do not get enough to eat do poorly in school. But at the same time, overweight children who crave sugars and fats also do poorly in school. There needs to be a balance of healthy children so that our schools can discover our children's potential. On average children eat 1/3 of their meals at school, so why not make them healthy lunches? Instead some schools don't feed their kids enough, and others feed them too much unhealthy food. Why can't we find a happy medium so that everyone can benefit?
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    This video was really good! I think that a lot of eating habits are learned..if parents don't like a certain food, it's unlikely they will prepare and serve it to their children. Likewise, if parents aren't eating healthily, it's likely that their children aren't eating optimal diets either. Just as we're seeing an increase in obesity and related health conditions in adult populations, the mirror image will be seen in young populations, which is perhaps more unsettling as they have their whole lives ahead of them.
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    The video was great! I like how they call eating healthier a "skill", I think is very true. Yesterday I saw a family eating at Steak n' Shake at 3am...I think that any kind of learning needs to be reinforced by the parents.
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    Awesome video, and loved how it talked about creating new solutions to old problems. This brings up so many points about health, but the main part I took from this was the impact that individual health can have on the global future. What a HUGE (pun intended!) problem we in America are creating with our bad health habits. I loved how this video didn't focus on how sad it is that our children don't get proper nutrition, but more so on the way that we have failed to set an example for our children.
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    Loved this! Although, I'm a little convicted of my own health habits myself. I think this was an excellent portrayal of how health starts in the home, but it's also something teachers should emphasize in their class room. Health is a shared responsibility that must be passed onto children. I also like that the video expresses it as a skill. It's definitely something that we must work toward. I know I'm still working. I agree with a lot of things posted above me. Thanks for sharing this!
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