RESEARCH REPORT #2: SOCIAL CLASS
Name: Ashley Dawson
EDFD 460
Prof. Joel J. Traver (adapted from Dr. Nicholas Wysocki)
Date: Feb 23, 2017
Points of Analysis:
Main Points of the Eric Jensen article &
applied to your clinical experience or
past experiences working with youth.
(Note: Utilize the phrase For example
early and often!)
Main Point 1: In the article, it mentioned
poor families are exposed to lower nutrient
foods, which affects them in the womb and
in life. An example I can relate to this
would be a story my mom told me. She is a
4k assistant teacher and had a child in her
class who came from a very low-income
family. They had to use food stamps, but
barely had food in their house at all even
with this resource. This girl had a problem
where she could not speak and wanted to
put everything in sight in her mouth. She
probably put everything in her mouth
because she was constantly hungry. Im not
sure why she was not able to speak, but
maybe it was related to this. This girl also
would get more energy after lunch (which
the school gave her even though 4k
students do not eat lunch at school). As a
teacher, I would do what the school did in
this case, and make sure that my students
were fed and ready to learn.
Main Point 2:
Name of Outside Scholar: Virginia H
Burney and Tracy L Cross
Title of Work(s): Impoverished Students
with Academic Promise in Rural Settings:
10 Lessons from Project Aspire
APA citation: Burney, V. H., & Cross, T. L.
(2006). Impoverished students with
academic promise in rural settings: 10
lessons from project aspire. Gifted Child
Today, 29(2), 14-21.
Outline three main points from the article:
Main Point 1:
Lesson 5: Rural high-ability students may
lack foundation for success in advanced
courses (Burney and Cross 2006). Project
Aspire schools found that students do not
want to take advanced classes because of
all of the outside work that they need to
complete outside of school. A lot of them
have jobs to help provide for them and
their families, so there really is no time or
extra stress for it. The authors stated that
the counselors at these schools need to give
better advice to these students so they can
succeed academically in higher level
courses.
Main Point 2:
Lesson8:Ruralhighabilitystudents
fromlowincomefamiliesfrequently
requiresupporttohelpovercomeproblems
ofinadequateselfefficacy,low
selfesteem,andselfconcept(Burneyand
Cross2006).ProjectAspirecounselors
Another interesting thing I learned in this
article was that low socioeconomic
conditions relate to children having a lower
vocabulary. An example of this would be
from my mentorship I did my senior year
of high school. There was one girl who
came from a lower-income family, and she
was constantly asking me what words
meant on her worksheets, when other
students would already know. As a teacher,
I would make sure my students knew the
vocab before I gave them a worksheet, and
try and broaden their vocab by having word
of the days.
Main Point 3:
Another interesting thing I learned would
be that students seem unmotivated due to a
lack of hope in low socioeconomic
homes. An example I have of this would be
from my high school. You could kind of
point out the students who came from low-
income families based off of how they
presented themselves. In classes, they
would argue with the teacher, or say
something is useless to their life, or just not
complete something because they did not
care. As a teacher, I would make sure each
of my students knew they had a place in the
world and that they are needed and wanted,
so they have motivation to complete tasks.
noticedthatthesestudentshadverylow
selfesteem,whichleadstoahighabilityto
failattoughcoursework.Howstudents
viewthemselveshasadirectimpacton
howtheyperformacademically.Schools
needtodevelopachallengingcurriculum
beforehighschoolsotheyareusedtoit
andprepared,whichwillhelphighertheir
selfesteem.
Main Point 3:
Lesson10:Developingapersonal
relationshipwithstudentsofpovertyisof
keyimportance(BurneyandCross2006).
Thiswasthemostimportantthingthat
ProjectAspirelearned.Usuallypoverty
studentshavelessresourcestosucceed,but
positiverelationshipsareamustwhenit
comestotheireducation.Themost
importantfactorinthisrelationshipmust
betrust.

Main Point 4:
Another interesting fact I read would be
that caregivers who are stressed about
health care, housing, and food are less
likely to offer positive comments to their
children. I can use the example to relate to
this based off of my clinical. I am there
when the parents come in to pick up their
kids, and I can just tell which ones are well
off, and which ones are stressed about their
day. For example, one parent always comes
in and is so excited to see his kids. He
helps them put on their coats, asks them
about their day, and is genuinely happy to
see them. An opposite example of this
would be a dad who comes in and doesnt
really want anything to do with his kid. He
just tells him to hurry up and never asks
how his day was. The kids of the dad who
is happy to his kids, are so smart and happy
all of the time. The kid of the dad who is
less positive, is always grumpy every
week. As a teacher, I would make sure my
students are equally given positive
comments at school so they have a good
day at school, despite their home life.

Main Point 5:
Another fact I learned from this article
would be that distressed kids are either
angry with you, or want to be left alone. I
can find an example of this based off of a
kid at my clinical. I always ask if he needs
help on homework or wants someone to
play games with him, and he always wants
to be left alone. I kind of just give him his
independence since that is what he is
probably used to at home, because I do not
want to start a fight with him.

Main Point 6:
The last interesting fact I read about would
be that children who are not familiar with
words, do not want to read. I do not have a
reading example of this, but I do have a
math example of it. In my mentorship
senior year of high school, I worked with a
student one-on-one in math, and she would
give up so quickly if she did not understand
something. She would just shut down and
refuse help, but if she had math help at
home rather than school, I am sure she
would not give up as easily. As a teacher, I
would let my students get after school help
if they needed it so they did not get behind.