Effects of poverty on performance of children aged 3-8 years in ECDE centere in Kabaru zone

of kieni East division, kieni East District

By

Mwangi Susan Wanjugu

Index number

Supervisor

A research project proposal submitted in partial fulfillment for the award of diploma in Early child
development Education Studies Kenya national examination council

December 2010

Table of contents

Declaration……..ii

Dedication…………iii

Acknowledgement….iv

Abstract……vi

Chapter one introduction

Introduction

Background

Statement of the problem

Purpose of the study

Scope and limitation

Limitation of the study

Operation definations of terms

Chapter 2 literature review

Introduction

What does poverty pertain

Characteristic condition of poverty

Causes of poverty

Longterm poverty

How poverty affects a child

Effects of poverty in teaching and learning

Chapter tresearch methodologye: research methodology

Introduction

Research design

Variables definition

The independent variable

Site selection and descriptiom

Population sample

Sampling techniques

Research instruments

Interview schedule

Tests

Data collection

Ethical consideration

Data analysis

Chapter four summary, ciononclusion and recommendation

Introduction

Summary
Conclusion

Recomandations

Further research

References

Appendi 1 teachers interview schedule

ii

Declaratiom

I declare that this project is my own original work and has not been presented for marking for the
award of diploma in Early Development Education studies in any other college

Name mwangi susan wanjugu

Index number

Date

This project is presented for marking with my authority as the college supervisor

Name

Designation: lecturer

Signature

Date

Dedication

iii

I dedicate this work to my dear children, Esther mukami, Alex Mwangi, Zipporah Wambui and my
grandchildren

iv

Acknowledgement
My sincere gratitude goes to the following people for their contribution towards the success of this
study my s who superviser………, my research project lecturer who introduced me to world of
research, lecturer Kamau for a continuous support of the same, mrs. Tharara my staffmate for having
given me the courage to start the project

Introduction

This chapter will discuss the background of the study statement of the problem, purpose of the study
objectives, scope and limitation significance of the study and operational definition of terms.

Poverty is the lack of basic human needs, such as clean water, nutrition, health care, education,
clothing and shelter, because of the inability to afford them. This is also referred to as absolute
poverty or destitution. Relative poverty is the condition of having fewer resources or less income than
others within a society or country, or compared to worldwide averages. About 1.7 billion people live
in absolute poverty; before the industrial revolution, poverty had mostly been the norm. The claim
that industrial activity reduces poverty is disputable. Poverty could be defined in terms of quality of
life.

A child needs no capital if everything they need is in their environment, and the environment is not
contaminated. Likewise, if people have a quality of life, a safe, uncontaminated environment, and
freedom from being harmed and used by others; then the need for capital is superfluous. Such people
need not be considered to be in poverty. Industrial systems can produce a surplus, when the costs of
environmental damages are externalized (paid by others). But this surplus is distributed
disproportionately, by design. The poverty of today is directly attributable to such activity.

Poverty reduction has historically been a result of economic growth as increased levels of production,
such as modern industrial technology, made more wealth available for those who were otherwise too
poor to afford them. 

Today, economic liberalization includes extending property rights, especially to land, to the poor,
and making financial services, notably savings, accessible. Inefficient institutions, corruption and
political instability can also discourage investment. Aid and government support
in health, education and infrastructure helps growth by increasing human andphysical capital.

photos illustrating poverty level

 kibera slums

housing in kibera slums

“Fundamentally, poverty is a denial of choices and opportunities, a violation of human dignity. It

means lack of basic capacity to participate effectively in society. It means not having enough to feed
and cloth a family, not having a school or clinic to go to, not having the land on which to grow one’s
food or a job to earn one’s living, not having access to credit. It means insecurity, powerlessness and
exclusion of individuals, households and communities. It means susceptibility to violence, and it
often implies living on marginal or fragile environments, without access to clean water or
sanitation” World Summit on Social Development in Copenhagen in 1995: Poverty is a condition
characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water,
sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also
on access to services. It includes a lack of income and productive resources to ensure sustainable
livelihoods; hunger and malnutrition; ill health; limited or lack of access to education and other basic
services; increased morbidity and mortality from illness; homelessness and inadequate housing;
unsafe environments and social discrimination and exclusion. It is also characterized by lack of
participation in decision making and in civil, social and cultural life. It occurs in all countries: as mass
poverty in many developing countries, pockets of poverty amid wealth in developed countries, loss of
livelihoods as a result of economic recession, sudden poverty as a result of disaster or conflict, the
poverty of low-wage workers, and the utter destitution of people who fall outside family support
systems, social institutions and safety nets. Amartya Sen: To meet nutritional requirements, to escape
avoidable disease, to be sheltered, to be clothed, to be able to travel, and to be educated. Irish
government: People are living in poverty if their income and resources (material, cultural and social)
are so inadequate as to preclude them from having a standard of living which is regarded as
acceptable by Irish society generally. As a result of inadequate income and resources people may be
excluded and marginalised from participating in activities which are considered the norm for other
people in society.

Causes of povety

Scarcity of basic needs

Barriers to opportunities

Illiteracy

High competition

Higher cost of education

Lack of industrialization .

Poor health and education severely affects productivity. Inadequate nutrition in childhood undermines

the ability of individuals to develop their full capabilities. Lack of essential minerals such
as iodine and iron can impair brain development. 2 billion people (one-third of the total global
population) are affected by iodine deficiency. In developing countries, it is estimated that 40% of
children aged 4 and younger suffer fromanemia because of insufficient iron in their diets. See
also Health and intelligence.

Similarly substance abuse, including for example alcoholism and drug abuse can consign people to

vicious poverty cycles. Infectious diseases such as Malaria and tuberculosis can perpetuate poverty
by diverting health and economic resources from investment and productivity; malaria decreases
GDP growth by up to 1.3% in some developing nations and AIDS decreases African growth by 0.3-
1.5% annually.

War, political instability and crime, including violent gangs and drug cartels, also discourage

investment.
Effects of poverty

The effects of poverty may also be causes, as listed above, thus creating a "poverty cycle" operating
across multiple levels, individual, local, national and global.

Health

Main article: Diseases of poverty

Hunger, disease, and less education describe a person in poverty. One third of deaths - some 18
million people a year or 50,000 per day - are due to poverty-related causes: in total 270 million
people, most of them women and children, have died as a result of poverty since 1990. Those living
in poverty suffer disproportionately from hunger or even starvation and disease. Those living in
poverty suffer lower life expectancy. According to the World Health
Organization, hunger and malnutrition are the single gravest threats to the world's public health and
malnutrition is by far the biggest contributor to child mortality, present in half of all cases.

Every year nearly 11 million children living in poverty die before their fifth birthday. 1.02 billion
people go to bed hungry every night. Poverty increases the risk of homelessness. There are over 100
million street children worldwide. Increased risk of drug abuse may also be associated with poverty.

According to the Global Hunger Index, South Asia has the highest child malnutrition rate of the
world's regions. Nearly half of all Indian children are undernourished, one of the highest rates in the
world and nearly double the rate of Sub-Saharan Africa.[67] Every year, more than half a million
women die in pregnancy or childbirth.[68] Almost 90% of maternal deaths occur in Asia and sub-
Saharan Africa, compared to less than 1% in the developed world.[69]

Women who have children born in poverty cannot nourish the children efficiently with the right
prenatal care. They may also suffer from disease that may be passed down to the child through
birth. Asthma is a common problem children acquire when born into poverty.

Education

Research has found that there is a high risk of educational underachievement for children who are
from low-income housing circumstances. This often is a process that begins in primary school for
some less fortunate children. In the US educational system, these children are at a higher risk than
other children for retention in their grade, special placements during the school's hours and even not
completing their high school education.[70] There are indeed many explanations for why students tend
to drop out of school. For children with low resources, the risk factors are similar to excuses such as
juvenile delinquency rates, higher levels of teenage pregnancy, and the economic dependency upon
their low income parent or parents.[70]

Families and society who submit low levels of investment in the education and development of less
fortunate children end up with less favorable results for the children who see a life of parental
employment reduction and low wages. Higher rates of early childbearing with all the connected risks
to family, health and well-being are majorly important issues to address since education from
preschool to high school are both identifiably meaningful in a life.[70]

Poverty often drastically affects children's success in school. A child's "home activities, preferences,
mannerisms" must align with the world and in the cases that they do not these students are at a
disadvantage in the school and most importantly the classroom.[71] Therefore, it is safe to state that
children who live at or below the poverty level will have far less success educationally than children
who live above the poverty line. Poor children have a great deal less healthcare and this ultimately
results in many absences from the academic year. Additionally, poor children are much more likely to
suffer from hunger, fatigue, irritability, headaches, ear infections, flu, and colds.[71] These illnesses
could potentially restrict a child or student's focus and concentration.

Housing

Afghan girl begging in Kabul

Slum-dwellers, who make up a third of the world's urban population, live in a poverty no better, if not
worse, than rural people, who are the traditional focus of the poverty in the developing world,
according to a report by the United Nations.

Most of the children living in institutions around the world have a surviving parent or close relative,

and they most commonly enteredorphanages because of poverty.[73] Experts and child advocates
maintain that orphanages are expensive and often harm children'sdevelopment by separating them
from their families.[73] It is speculated that, flush with money, orphanages are increasing and push for
children to join even though demographic data show that even the poorest extended families usually
take in children whose parents have died.[73]

Violence

slavery and human trafficking

According to a UN report on modern slavery, the most common form of human trafficking is for
prostitution, which is largely fueled by poverty. In Zimbabwe, a number of girls are turning to
prostitution for food to survive because of the increasing poverty. In one survey, 67% of children
from disadvantaged inner cities said they had witnessed a serious assault, and 33% reported
witnessing a homicide.[77] 51% of fifth graders from New Orleans (median income for a household:
$27,133) have been found to be victims of violence, compared to 32% in Washington, DC (mean
income for a household: $40,127).[78]

Drug abuse

Further information:  Drug abuse

Unemployment and distance from rural areas are where most drug abuse occurs. Drug abuse can
result in a community shouldering the impact of many nefarious acts such as stealing, killing, theft,
sexual assault, and prostitution. Drug abuse is synonymous with poor performance in school & work,
and a general malaise of intra-personal intelligence[citation needed]. People who have abused drugs and
have spent all of their money buying substances—i.e. heroin, alcohol, methamphetamines etc.—
become addicts. This induces a downward spiral in the functionality of most addicts, as the drugs and
poverty can be cyclical. When an addict has no other way to support their addiction they resort to
illegal measures to obtain income. This is where a community becomes affected by drug abuse. The
urge—or "Jonesin"—for many different substances begins to take over an addict's life.

Poverty reduction

Main article: Poverty reduction

Historically, poverty reduction has been largely a result of economic growth.[4][10] The industrial

revolution led to high economic growth and eliminated mass poverty in what is now considered the
developed world.[3][10] In 1820, 75% of humanity lived on less than a dollar a day, while in 2001, only
about 20% do.[10][dubious  –  discuss] As three quarters of the world's poor live in the country side, the World
Bank cites helping small farmers as the heart of the fight against poverty.[12] Economic growth in
agriculture is, on average, at least twice as effective in benefiting the poorest half of a country's
population as growth generated in non-agricultural sectors.[79] However, aid is essential in providing
better lives for those who are already poor and in sponsoring medical and scientific efforts such as
the green revolution and the eradication of smallpox.[41][80]

Economic liberalization

Information and communication technologies for development help to fight poverty.

Ian Vásquez, director of the Cato Institute's Project on Global Economic Liberty, wrote that
extending property rights protection to the poor is one of the most important poverty reduction
strategies a nation could take Securing property rights to land, the largest asset for most societies, is
vital to their economic freedom. The World Bank concludes increasing land rights is 'the key to
reducing poverty' citing that land rights greatly increase poor people's wealth, in some cases doubling
it.[15] Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto has estimated that state recognition of the property of the
poor would give them assets worth 40 times all the foreign aid since 1945.[10] Although approaches
varied, the World Bank said the key issues were security of tenure and ensuring land transactions
were low cost.[15]

Aid from non-governmental organizations may be more effective than governmental aid; this may be
because it is better at reaching the poor and better controlled at the grassroots level.[109] Critics argue
that some of the foreign aid is stolen by corrupt governments and officials, and that higher aid levels
erode the quality of governance. Policy becomes much more oriented toward what will get more aid
money than it does towards meeting the needs of the people.[110] Supporters of aid argue that these
problems may be solved with better auditing of how the aid is used.[110] Immunization campaigns for
children, such as against polio, diphtheria and measles have save millions of lives.[80]

A major proportion of aid from donor nations is tied, mandating that a receiving nation spend
on products and expertise originating only from the donor country.[111] For example, Eritrea is forced
to spend aid money on foreign goods and services to build a network of railways even though it is
cheaper to use local expertise and resources.[111] US law requires food aid be spent on buying food at
home, instead of where the hungry live, and, as a result, half of what is spent is used on transport.[112]

One of the proposed ways to help poor countries has been debt relief. Many less developed nations
have gotten themselves into extensive debt to banks and governments from the rich nations and
interest payments on these debts are often more than a country can generate per year in profits
from exports.[113] If poor countries do not have to spend so much on debt payments, they can use the
money instead for priorities which help reduce poverty such as basic health-care and education.
[114]
 For example, Zambia began offering services, such as free health care even while overwhelming
the health care infrastructure, because of savings that resulted from the rounds of debt relief in 2005.
[115]

Empowering women

Empowering women has helped some countries increase and sustain economic development.

[121]
 When given more rights and opportunities women begin to receive more education, thus
increasing the overall human capital of the country; when given more influence women seem to act
more responsibly in helping people in the family or village; and when better educated and more in
control of their lives, women are more successful in bringing down rapid population growth because
they have more say in family planning.[122]

Demographics

InSub-Saharan Africa extreme poverty went up from 41 percent in 1981 to 46 percent in 2001[citation

needed]
, which combined with growing population increased the number of people living in extreme
poverty from 231 million to 318 million.[128]
n the early 1990s some of the transition economies of Eastern Europe and Central Asia experienced a
sharp drop in income.[129] The collapse of the Soviet Union resulted in large declines in GDP per
capita, of about 30 to 35% between 1990 and the trough year of 1998 (when it was at its minimum).
As a result poverty rates also increased although in subsequent years as per capita incomes recovered
the poverty rate dropped from 31.4% of the population to 19.6%[130][131] The World Bank issued a
report predicting that between 2007 and 2027 the

Since the world's population is increasing, a constant number living in poverty would be associated
with a diminishing proportion. Looking at the percentage living on less than $1/day, and if excluding
China and India, then this percentage has decreased from 31.35% to 20.70% between 1981 and 2004.
[137]

Relative poverty

Relative poverty views poverty as socially defined and dependent on social context, hence relative
poverty is a measure of income inequality. Usually, relative poverty is measured as the percentage of
population with income less than some fixed proportion of median income. There are several other
different income inequality metrics, for example the Gini coefficient or theTheil Index.

Relative poverty measures are used as official poverty rates in several developed countries. As such
these poverty statistics measure inequality rather than material deprivation or hardship. The
measurements are usually based on a person's yearly income and frequently take no account of total
wealth. The main poverty line used in the OECD and the European Union is based on "economic
distance", a level of income set at 60% of the median household income.[139]

Other aspects

which poor people identify as part of poverty.[148] These include:

Precarious livelihoods

Excluded locations

Physical limitations

Gender relationships
Problems in social relationships

Lack of security

Abuse by those in power

Dis-empowering institutions

Limited capabilities

Weak community organizations

Child Poverty and Health

Many poor young children are resilient and able to overcome tremendous obstacles but poverty poses
serious threats to children’s brain development. Recent advances in the study of brain development
show a sensitive period when the brain is most able to respond to and grow from exposure to
environmental stimulation. This window of optimal brain development is from the prenatal period to
the first years of a child’s life. While all children are potentially vulnerable to a number of risk factors
which can impede brain development during this sensitive period, a disproportionate number of
children in poverty are actually exposed to such risk factors.

A recent study by Zéphyr Ehounoux, Maria Victoria, Louise Séguin et al. (the Quebec Longitudinal
Study of Child Development) suggests long-term poverty in early childhood creates a risk of growth
retardation between the ages of two-and-a-half and four. According to their research findings, poor
children are shorter than their richer peers.

Researchers questioned 1929 mothers about the size of their children and economic situation, firstly
when the children were two-and-a-half years old and the second time, when they were four.
Questions mothers were asked included whether the mothers had sufficient money to provide for the
essential needs of their children including food, clothing, heating, housing, drugs and transport. 

It was found that under privileged children were smaller than their non-poor friends, regardless of
their mother's size. According to Dr Louise Seguin, a professor with the University of Montreal,
poverty often generates health issues like malnutrition, problems in development and stress.

Poverty, Low-income Households and Child Development

In another study, Jeanne Brooks-Gun and Greg J Duncan focused their attention on national
longitudinal data sets to estimate the effects of family income on children's lives independent of other
family conditions that may be related to growing up in a low-income household. Their aim was to
understand the relationship between low income and the consequences of children growing up poor.

These studies showed that children from low-income families in the United States suffered higher
incidences of adverse health compared with non-poor children. 

How Does Poverty and Low Income Affect Child Development?

It was found that deficits in children's nourishment was associated with poverty. Children living
below the poverty threshold are 1.3 times as likely as nonpoor children to experience learning
disabilities and

 developmental delays. Poverty status has a small negative impact on high school graduation and
years of schooling obtained and poor children suffer from emotional and behavioural problems more
frequently than their richer peers.

Research Studies on Child Poverty in London

In London, the 4 in 10London based project coordinated by End Child Poverty. Using case studies to
determine the real impact that poverty has on the lives of children and their families, the projects two aims
are to raise awareness of the extent of child poverty in London and to identify projects and schemes that
have been shown to have a positive impact on the levels of child poverty in London. The project looks at child
development, education and well-being, parental support, housing and minority ethnic group. : The End
Children Poverty London Project is a two year

World Poverty and Children's Development

According to a study by the UNICEF in 2005, countries with the largest proportion of children in
poverty are Mexico(27.7 percent) and the US (21.9 percent). In the EU, Italy has the highest
proportion of child poverty, with 16.6 percent, followed by Ireland (15.7 percent), Portugal (15.6
percent) and Britain (15.4 percent).

These countries are followed by Canada, Australia and Japan, each with more than 14 percent of
children growing up in poverty.

Research into the effects of poverty on child development helps go toward the formulation,
implementation and improvement on anti-poverty strategies focused on families with children.

The Effect of Poverty on Infant Development

The effects of poverty on a child's development have been significantly linked to deficient nutrition,
home environment, parental mental health, and neighborhood conditions. Although the effects last a
lifetime, they are most noticeable in the the child in the first five years of life while living in poverty
conditions.

Living Conditions Linked to Nutrition

Insufficient funds to purchase nutritious food, prenatal vitamins, and health care are at the top of the
list impacting the pregnant woman living in poverty. Not only are these basics denied, but also a lack
of transportation and phone limits access to any medical or nutritional assistance.

Substance Abuse

Smoking and substance abuse are common coping mechanisms of depressed pregnant women living
in poverty. Substance abuse is directly linked to prematurity and low birth weight in infants. It also
affects brain development and can lead to serious neurological disorders.

Poor Nutrition Impacts Learning

Children who have been deprived of proper nutrition often have learning disabilities. They
demonstrate a lower vocabulary and reading comprehension and have problems with math and
general knowledge.

Daily Care

Children living in poverty often lack positive daily child care. Children need positive stimulating
activities to enhance their learning and motor skill development, as well as, speech and language.

Abuse

Physical and emotional abuse are more likely to occur as a result of the stress in a home in poverty
conditions. The abuse leads to traumatic events for many children.

Read more: The Effect of Poverty on Infant Development |

eHow.co.uk http://www.ehow.co.uk/facts_5752466_effect-poverty-infant-
development.html#ixzz14ta6NDUk

Long-Term Poverty Affects Mental Health Of Children

ScienceDaily (Feb. 9, 2006) — Children in low-income families start off with higher levels of
antisocial behaviour than children from more advantaged households. And if the home remains poor
as the children grow up, antisocial behaviour becomes much worse over time compared to children
living in households that are never poor or later move out of poverty, says new University of Alberta
research.
"In other words, the lowest levels of antisocial behaviour are found in kids whose parents start and stay
in the highest income bracket while their kids grow up," says Dr. Lisa Strohschein, author of the study
and sociologist at the U of A.

While the findings show that the effects of low income at an early age on antisocial behaviour--
conduct such as bullying, being cruel, breaking things, cheating or telling lies--persist as kids get
older, depression seems to have the opposite effect. The effects of starting off in a low-income
household on child depression lessen as time goes on, regardless of later income levels. The research
is published in the current issue of the "Journal of Health and Social Behavior."

"These findings might mean that antisocial behaviour is an example of biological embedding--it is
possible that poverty early in life helps to set into motion a consistent pattern of antisocial behaviours
that are difficult to change once learned," says Strohschein. This finding supports at least one
developmental theory that posits that early childhood constitutes a sensitive period of development in
which insults suffered during this time are likely to have long lasting effects on child development.

Strohschein used the data from an American survey, the Child Supplement of the National
Longitudinal Study of Youth, to study the mental health status of more than 7000 children. Between
1986 and 1998, more than 3300 mothers reported on the health of their kids--aged four to 14--and
were reinterviewed up to six times during that span.

She also found that changes in income are associated with changes in child mental health. If
household income improves after early childhood, child mental health improves. Conversely, drops in
income increase depression and antisocial behaviour.

However, Strohschein notes that the effects of these income histories on child mental health are not
large. "It may be that the things that are associated with loss of income such as parental divorce and
unexpected job loss are much more important. In the future, it will be important to explore how such
events intersect with income loss to affect child mental health."

How Poverty Affects a Child, from the Womb to Adulthood

Poverty is one of the most devastating preventable phenomena working against the healthy
development of children. The effects of poverty can reach from childhood into adolescence and
adulthood, even if the family's

 Poverty can influence a child's physical health, emotional and psychological health, and intelligence
from early childhood throughout their life span. 

Poverty can begin to affect the child's development while it is still in the womb. The mother's life of
poverty includes a number of issues that can affect her unborn child. Her lack of prenatal care, or of
health care even before getting pregnant, will certainly have a negative impact on her child's health.
The lack of good, consistent medical care and poor nutrition are important factors in the baby's birth
weight; and low birth weight babies have an increased risk of health problems, lower levels of
intelligence and educational achievement, and increased risk of infant mortality. 

Once children are out of the womb, poverty still effects their development. Mothers living in poverty
are going to have a more difficult time obtaining the food and supplies they need to raise the baby
well. They will have less access to quality health care and often have trouble finding the emotional
and social support they need to be the best parent possible. In addition, children living in poverty are
more susceptible to environmental toxins. In fact, a study from the National Health and Nutrition
Examination Survey from the years 1988-1991 discovered that 16.3% of children living in poverty
had levels of lead poisoning above the current intervention threshold as determined by the Centers for
Disease Control as opposed to only 4.7% of children living above the poverty level. 

The Effects of Poverty on Teaching and Learning

The price that children of poverty must pay is unbelievably high.  Each year, increasing
numbers of children are entering schools with needs from circumstances, such as poverty, that
schools are not prepared to meet.  

 The Concept of Being At-Risk

The term at-risk refers to children who are likely to fail in school or in life because of their
life’s social circumstances.  It does not appear that any one single factor places a child at-
risk.  Rather, when more than one factor is present, there is a compounding effect and the
likelihood for failure increases significantly. Poverty is considered a major at-risk factor (Leroy
& Symes, 2001). Some of the factors related to poverty that may place a child at-risk for
academic failure are: very young, single or low educational level parents; unemployment; abuse
and neglect; substance abuse; dangerous neighborhoods; homelessness; mobility; and exposure
to inadequate or inappropriate educational experiences.

Being able to identify and understand children who are at-risk is critical if we are to support
their growth and development.   In order to do this, warm and caring relationships need to be
developed between teachers and children.  This will enable teachers to detect any warning signs
that may place children at-risk for failure, interfering with their chances for success in school
and life (Leroy & Symes, 2001).  Academic and behavioral problems can be indicators of
impending failure. Among such behaviors are: delay in language development, delay in reading
development, aggression, violence, social withdrawal, substance abuse, irregular attendance,
and depression.  Teachers may have difficulty reaching a student’s parent or guardian. They
may also find the student does not complete assignments, does not study for tests, or does not
come to school prepared to learn because of poverty related circumstances in the home
environment.   These children may be unable to concentrate or focus. They may be unwilling or
unable to interact with peers and/or adults in school in an effective manner. These issues not
only have an impact on the learning of the child of poverty but can also impact the learning of
other children.

Challenge: Diversity

The rise in the number of children in poverty has contributed to making our nation’s classrooms
more diverse than ever before. This, indeed, makes both teaching and learning more
challenging.  This issue can remain a challenge for teachers, as opposed to becoming a problem,
if focus is placed on student learning as opposed to teaching. 

Teachers need to be tuned in to the culture of poverty and be sensitive to the vast array of needs
that children of poverty bring to the classroom.  Social contexts have a significant impact on the
development of children.  The social world of school operates by different rules or norms than
the social world these children live in. Focus should be placed on finding a harmonious
relationship between the cultural values of students and values emphasized in
school.  Considering that so many different cultures are represented in our society, we often
encounter students who belong to more than one cultural group. They may be poor in addition
to being non-English speaking or of an ethnic/racial/religious minority group (Bowman, 1994;
Marlowe and Page, 1999). 

High-mobility is a symptom of poverty and its surrounding social factors. Children of poverty
may live in places that rent by the week or even day.  They may move from town to town as
their parent searches for work or runs from problems (such as an abusive spouse, criminal
record, financial responsibilities).  They may live in homeless shelters or battered women’s
shelters that only allow brief stays.  They may live on the streets. The conditions they live in
and their day-to-day life experiences can have a significant effect on their education and
achievement.  Moving is a very emotional event for children. Combine this issue with the
multitude of other issues faced by mobile and homeless children and the impact on their
emotional, social and cognitive development can be overwhelming.

School attendance is often irregular. Transfer to a new school becomes the norm.  Aside from
the differences from the general school population due to other aspects of their poverty,
mobility compounds the difficulty these children have making friends. They may behave
hostilely or be totally withdrawn due to past attempts to make friends. With regard to both the
academic and social aspects of school, they may figure, “Why bother? I’m just going to move
again.” They also often come to school with no records from their previous schools; and it may
be difficult for schools to track the records down.  Teachers have no idea what these students
have learned. It is challenging for schools to place these children in classrooms and get them
additional services they may need.  Even if placement is successful, these children will likely
move again within the school year.  It is also challenging to help these students to learn at least
something of value while they remain in our classrooms.

Children become aware of social and economic status differences at a very young age.  They
also grow increasingly aware of both their own social status and that of their peers, developing
class-related attitudes during their years in elementary school.  Teachers can help children to
develop caring and sensitivity toward different cultures including social classes. Activities and
lessons should be based on how children perceive themselves and the world at the various
stages of development.  For example, children who are in the age range of 7-12 years are less
egocentric. They focus on internal characteristics or traits of people as opposed to external,
observable social class differences.   They also recognize similarities and differences among
groups.  At around age 11, children can consider causes and solutions to poverty. 

Taking into account a spiral curriculum, at earlier ages children can become acquainted with
social class and other cultural differences.  During the latter years, the topic can be revisited for
deeper understanding.  This is a great opportunity to include community service learning
projects in the curriculum, such as volunteering as a class in a soup kitchen.  It is important that
these activities be followed with both group discussion and individual reflection to help children
think critically about their experiences (Chafel, 1997; Gomez, 2000).

As teachers, these aspects of poverty make planning and preparation absolutely critical. Content
needs to be related in varying ways to meet the needs of the diverse students in the
classroom.  We have to consider the cultural values of these children as we arrange their
learning.  Constructivism is a key concept in that it respects student differences and allows
students to use their own prior knowledge and experiences to make connections and learn.  It
affords students the opportunity to become active learners by questioning, hypothesizing and
drawing conclusions based on their individual learning experiences.  If there is limited
foundation for children to draw upon, we need to help them develop a base of knowledge and
experiences so they have somewhere to start.

By providing emotional support, modeling, and other forms of scaffolding, teachers can help
students use their strengths, skills, and knowledge to develop and learn (Marlowe and Page,
1999). Learning experiences and problem solving based on real-life problems can help them
deal with some of the issues they may be faced with in their lives. Learning by doing gives
students the opportunity to be active and imaginative problem solvers (Bassey, 1996).   Thus,
diversity actually presents us with a chance to enhance the quality of education for all our
students and provide them with a variety of opportunities to develop into productive citizens. As
our schools and nation become more diverse, the need for understanding and acceptance of
differences becomes more important.  Our challenge is to provide children with an effective
multicultural education that will foster awareness, respect, and acceptance.
Challenge: The Achievement Gap

The difference in academic performance among children from different classes or groups
(ethnic, racial, income) is referred to as the achievement gap.  Children of poverty generally
achieve at lower levels than children of middle and upper classes. The causes are numerous and
are related to both the social environment in which poor children live and the education they
receive in school.  Factors such as the quality of student learning behaviors, home environment,
past experiences with education, and teacher attitudes are among the many influences on student
achievement.  Slavin (1998) proposes that schools can have a powerful impact on the academic
achievement and success of all children by viewing them as at-promiserather than at-risk and
preparing them to reach their full potential.

A good education is often the only means of breaking the cycle of poverty for poor
children.  These children need an education that is founded in high standards and high
expectations for all.  Curriculum alignment must exist to ensure that a rigorous curriculum and
assessment accompany and are aligned with the standards.  What occurs in our classrooms has a
significant impact on student achievement. The curriculum should be challenging to prevent
decreased opportunity for higher education, which translates into less opportunity in life for
them.

Content should be of high quality and be culturally relevant.  A watered-down curriculum is

unacceptable.  Teachers should be knowledgeable of the cultures in which their students live so
they can plan effective and engaging lessons. Additionally, instructional and classroom
management techniques that work well with some students don’t necessarily work well with
poor children.  The perspective and experiences of the children need to be considered
(Goodwin, 2000). Other aspects that can help close the achievement gap are discussed in the
following sections: motivation, readiness and parent/family involvement.

An article by Haycock (2001) addresses issues related to poverty and the achievement gap
through research conducted by The Education Trust in the late 1990’s.  They questioned both
children and adults on what they suspect are causes of this achievement gap.  One comment
among those made by the children was, “ ’What hurts us more is that you teach us less.’
“  Haycock (2001) concludes: “…we take the students who have less to begin with and then
systematically give them less in school.”  What schools do obviously matters.  What also
matters is effective teaching.

Challenge: Student Motivation to Learn

One of the social issues facing children of poverty is emotional trauma. The emotional climate
can often be very stressful and emotionally depriving.  The lack of emotional nurturing can lead
to feelings of alienation, inadequacy, depression and anxiety. Aggressive or impulsive behavior
and social withdrawal can also result. Emotional security and self-esteem are often
lacking.  There is a craving for attention and a need to belong (Ciaccio, 2000; Brophy, 2000).
The characteristics that are lacking in the poverty environment are those that help foster
effective learning and academic success.  Emotional draining and negative self-status can
literally zap the motivation to learn out of children.

We need to place an emphasis on sparking that desire to learn or (motivation) by not only
helping to restore the child’s self-image but also by encouraging students to see the demands
and rewards of schooling.  Children will work hard, for intrinsic rewards, only if they have a
very good reason (Ciaccio, 2000). We need to make them feel that they are lovable, important
and acceptable human beings by making them feel secure and good about themselves and by
building trusting respectful relationships with them (Bassey, 1996).  The teacher may be the
dependable and caring adult, often the only adult of this kind, who is a consistent and reliable
figure in their lives of unpredictability and change (Bowman, 1994).  Positive and respectful
relationships of this nature are essential for at-risk students (Hixson and Tinsmann, 1990;
Ciaccio, 2000).

Educators also need to work to foster resilience in children, focusing on the traits, coping skills,
and supports that help children survive in a challenging environment.  Children need our help if
they are to adapt successfully despite adversity; alter or reverse expected negative outcomes;
and thrive in spite of negative circumstances.  We need to set high expectations for all that
communicate guidance, structure, challenge, and, most importantly, a belief in the innate
resilience of children.  We need a curriculum that supports resilience (Benard, 1995).

Ciaccio (2000) also discusses the technique of total positive response to student misbehavior as
a method of developing relationships with students and a method of effective classroom
management. Every incidence of student misbehavior is dealt with in a positive versus negative
manner in an effort to disarm students that may exhibit some of the most challenging
behaviors.  Total positive response involves the use of positive strategies to meet student needs,
combined with caring and total acceptance. The challenge is to find the positive in the negative.
Because at-risk students have egos that are often severely damaged, criticism can cause them to
tune teachers and authority out.  Additionally, emotionally damaged students cannot effectively
deal with criticism and channel it to improvement.   We must make it our responsibility to find
ways to generate and maintain student interest and involvement on a consistent basis by making
our classrooms safe, accepting, interesting and engaging places (Haberman, 1995).  By creating
lessons that have meaning to these children, teachers are responding actively and constructively
to the background or prior knowledge and experience of their students.

The concepts of agency and conation, which encompasses self-efficacy and self-regulation, are
key to understanding motivation as it relates to children of poverty.  The living environments
and the culture of poverty often leave poor children with low levels of motivation to
learn.  Besides the fact that all of their energies may be directed elsewhere in their struggle to
survive, they may have poor experiences with schooling or may perceive that they don’t really
need school to be successful. They may translate money or belonging into success, and perceive
careers in criminal activity that permeate poorer neighborhoods (such as drug dealing,
prostitution, gambling, theft and gang involvement) as lucrative careers and as the only ones
possible for them.

Children from low SES live in environments with social conditions over which they have little
control. It is not their choice where they live. It is not their choice that their parent may be
unemployed or disabled.  It was not their choice to be born into poverty.  They often have the
feeling they want or need to escape this environment and do better; but they feel they have no
control over the nature and quality of their lives.  The concept of agency is that an individual
can intentionally make things happen through their actions.  This is an underlying concept in
social learning or social cognitive theory.  If we can show children that they can be agents, we
can enable them to play a part in their self-development and take responsibility for their
learning, personal development and achievement (Brophy, 1998; Bandura, 2001).

As agents, children do not simply undergo experiences. They become actively engaged
participants by using sensory, motor and cognitive processes to accomplish tasks and goals that
give their lives meaning and direction. They explore, manipulate and influence the environment.
We need to get children to act mindfully to make desired things happen rather than let
themselves be acted on by their environments.

When many children from low SES run into difficult challenges they engage in negative self-
talk and may perceive their failures as challenges they cannot overcome.  They may not increase
their efforts and may become despondent if they interpret failure to mean they are personally
deficient.  Because of the culture they live in, they may also feel exploited or disrespected and
respond hostilely or apathetically.  Goal setting is a critical aspect of agency because it allows
individuals to construct outcome expectations.  This provides direction, coherence and meaning
to life, elements often lacking in low SES students, and can also enable these students to
transcend the dictates of their environment.

Conation refers to the connection between knowledge, affect and behavior.  It is the intentional,
goal-oriented component of motivation that explains how knowledge and emotion are translated
into behavior.  Conation is a proactive aspect of behavior that is closely related to volition (the
use of will or freedom to make choices about what to do).  It is necessary in order for an
individual to become self-directed and self-regulated.  Conation is especially important when
addressing issues in learning.  It is something that is often lacking in low achieving students,
particularly those from low SES backgrounds (Huitt, 1999).  A critical task facing teachers is to
help students develop conative attitudes, skills for self-regulation (goals, plans, and
perseverance), and self-efficacy (the belief that something can be done).

SES affects behavior through its impact on an individual’s aspirations, sense of efficacy,
personal standards and emotional states.  A strong sense of efficacy can help strengthen
resiliency to adversity often found in the environment of the low SES student.  Low SES
students often live in chaotic and unstructured environments.  They live day to day. They may
be unable to manage their emotions, have poor role models, and feel they have no choice or
control over their destiny.

Students with low SES may also be depressed, have a fear of failure due to past experiences or
have acquired failure expectations from their parents.  They may be truly capable children who,
as a result of previous demoralizing experiences or self-imposed mind-sets, have come to
believe that they cannot learn. If they doubt their academic ability, chances are they envision
low grades before they even complete an assignment or take a test. This has an effect on goal
setting in that these individuals also tend to set lower goals for themselves.  They may have no
real personal goals or vision, but only fantasies of what they hope for.  If they do have goals,
these children need to learn how they can achieve the goals and develop awareness of the
possible self.  Goals need to be difficult but attainable in order for significant achievement to be
recognized. We need to assign challenging tasks and meaningful activities that can be mastered
(Huitt, 1999; Pajares, 1996).

Through exercises designed to help these children identify what is important to them, we can
begin to help them develop conation.  Personal reflection, through the use of a journal, can be a
very effective tool for this purpose. Periodic journal reflection on what they think their lives
would be like if money and time were not limiting factors and what they think they would do in
the future can also be helpful to students.  Inquiry learning can help to foster the development of
conation, focusing on skills such as problem solving, fact finding, probing, organizing,
reforming, adapting, improvising, revising, constructing and envisioning.

If a student can become self-regulated, they can mediate the negative environmental influences
they may encounter. Unless they believe they can produce desired results, students have little
incentive to persevere in the face of difficulty.  Efficacy beliefs influence whether people think
pessimistically or optimistically and in ways that are self-enhancing or self-hindering. Teaching
the use of self-talk techniques through role playing and group activity can be helpful in
identifying thoughts that are often inaccurate and negative. This can also help students to persist
longer at challenging tasks as opposed to simply giving up, resulting in higher levels of
achievement (Huitt, 1999; Pajares, 1996).

The social environment has an impact on goal-oriented motivation.  We need to work towards
developing conative components that enhance self-direction, self-determination and self-
regulation.  Low SES children need to realize the possibilities in their lives, set goals that they
can attain and experience success directly, through mastery experiences, and vicariously,
through the success of others.  Teachers should focus on the learning process, effort and
striving, not solely on the ability of the child or results.  Personal standards should be stressed as
opposed to normative standards.  Because success helps to raise self-efficacy, we should do
whatever possible to help our students succeed and work to strengthen confidence through our
words and actions.

Student self-beliefs have great influence on whether they fail or succeed in school.  We need to
provide intellectual challenge and create classroom climates of emotional support and
encouragement to help students meet the challenge.  We need to nurture the self-beliefs of our
students and provide them with successful models that transmit knowledge, skills and
inspiration.  Improving self-efficacy can lead to increased use of cognitive strategies and, in
turn, higher achievement.  A high sense of efficacy also promotes pro-social behaviors such as
cooperativeness, helpfulness, sharing, and mutual concern for welfare. Many of the difficulties
students encounter are closely connected to beliefs they hold about themselves and their place in
the world they live in. Academic failure is a consequence of the beliefs that students hold about
themselves and about their ability to have control over their environments.

Challenge: Lack of Readiness to Learn

Readiness is a multi-dimensional concept that considers behavioral and cognitive aspects of a

child’s development as well as adaptation to the classroom.  When considering the poverty
factor as related to readiness, it is important to note that poverty is not just about money; it is
about how an individual does without resources and with all of the baggage that goes along with
being poor (Slocumb and Payne, 2000). When readiness is considered, it is generally considered
with regard to readiness for school entry.  However, after researching the topic of poverty,
readiness really needs to be considered at all age levels as the student approaches any new
learning experiences or activities.  Regardless of when intervention begins, the whole idea is to
educate children beyond their poverty and give them the intellectual and social skills needed to
succeed in life (Renchler, 2000),

Children from poverty start out in life at a disadvantage.  Their mothers may have no or
inadequate pre-natal care. They may have insufficient early health care.  If the parents are
fortunate to have jobs, affordable day care may be of poor quality (Slavin, 1998). Additionally,
poor children do not have the same kind of experiences that children of other social classes
do.  The experiences they miss out on are those that could help in the development of skills and
academic achievement. Some examples would be the use of home computers; visits to zoos and
museums; attendance at pre-school programs; availability of literature and educational reading
materials; interaction with educated, literate and well-spoken adults; and being read to by a
parent.

The social environment that is present in conditions of poverty affects the development of these
children by limiting the ways they learn to live in social groups. Opportunities for intellectual
development, such as the development of cognitive skills and thinking patterns, are the result of
social interaction. Children who live in poverty conditions are unable to develop mutually
satisfying social relationships. Language is an important tool in the process of learning to think.
If children have limited opportunity to learn language, organize perceptions, and develop other
higher order cognitive processes, their ability to solve problems and think independently is
negatively affected (Benson, 1995; Bowman, 1994; Guerra and Schutz, 2001). 

The quality of a child’s earliest experiences has great influence on future development and
potential to succeed.  Intervention should be implemented at an early stage to stop the process
of failure before it begins (Slavin, 1998).   Early childhood education programs (such as Head
Start) can help at-risk pre-schoolers overcome the disadvantages that come with being poor and
ensure that they enter school ready to learn by providing emotional nurturing and intellectual
challenge. These programs foster the development of language abilities and cognitive skills.
They provide children with experiences that will serve as a foundation of knowledge for future
learning. They also provide children with the opportunity to observe pro-social behavior and
develop positive relationships with adults and peers (Spectrum, 1999).       

Readiness from the perspective of older children has not only to do with the development
discussed above but also with creating a support system that will enable children to be free to
focus on learning.  By encompassing more aspects of the lives of these children, schools can
give them a better chance at succeeding.  This may include developing a support network with
community partners by offering or referring students and families to community programs that
meet health, social, and recreational needs.  It may also involve keeping schools open and
accessible to children and their families during evening or early morning hours so they have
safe, quiet places to study and have access to athletic facilities, recreational activities,
computers, libraries, tutoring and other resources. This can provide poor children with a full
range of support so they can develop a sense of connectedness or belonging with their schools
and can concentrate on learning and being students (Maeroff, 1998).

Challenge: Relationships with and Involvement of Parents and Families

Developing positive relationships with parents and families of low socio-economic status and
getting them involved with their children’s education and school activities is a challenge.  In
order to address this challenge it is first necessary to understand the dynamics of parenting in
the context of poverty.  Parenting is a critical process affecting many developmental outcomes
for children living in poverty.  Parent ability is weakened by living in poverty conditions and by
the emotional and psychological stress associated with living in poverty (Kaiser and Delaney,
1996).
Parenting is the means through which children experience the world. Because the parent-child
relationship is the primary context for early behavioral, social and cognitive development,
negative effects on parents due to poverty factors in turn have a negative effect on the
development of the child.  Children rely on their parents to mediate their environment, respond
to their needs and provide emotional stimulation and support.  If, because of poverty related
stresses, the parent does not do this, the child’s development could be delayed or be otherwise
negatively affected (Kaiser and Delaney, 1996).

Conditions required for families to be successful are often lacking in the environment of
poverty: stability, security, emotionally positive time together, access to basic resources, and a
strong shared belief system.  Thus, family relationships suffer when individuals live in
poverty.  Parents exhibit less capacity to be supportive and consistent in their parenting, provide
less vocal and emotional stimulation, are less responsive to their children’s needs and model
less sophisticated language. Parenting style is more punitive and coercive and less consistent
(Kaiser and Delaney, 1996). Overall, parental support and involvement in school activities is
lower among poor parents. This does not necessarily indicate a lack of interest.  It reflects issues
related to poverty such as time (especially if they work shifts or more than one job), availability
and affordability of child care and/or transportation, as well as possible negative personal
experiences between the parent and his or her own school when growing up (Kaiser and
Delaney, 1996).

The importance of strengthening and supporting parents and families cannot be emphasized
enough. Areas of positive functioning need to be supported in programs that help families and
children work to build or re-build their lives.  Preventive programs can also help families of
poverty.  Any of the programs can build on the children’s strengths while simultaneously
providing needed services to families (Schmitz, Wagner and Menke 2001).  Research shows
that most parents, regardless of their socio-economic status, love their children and want them
to succeed.  Many of these parents need to learn strategies that can help them cope and help
their children get a chance at breaking the cycle of poverty (McGee, 1996).

Home-school collaboration is particularly important for children of poverty in helping to

facilitate better educational outcomes (Raffaele and Knoff, 1999).  Because relationships with
these families are often the most difficult to cultivate, teachers and schools need to make an
extra effort to reach out to parents and families of poverty, helping them to help their
children.  Research suggests that the more parents participate, the better student achievement is.
Sometimes reaching a parent can be difficult if they have no phone, do not speak English or
cannot read.  It is even more critical that we find ways to reach these parents.  Once we do reach
them, however, there is no guarantee that they will be positive, cooperative, or receptive.  We
must do our best to attempt to foster a positive relationship with them in face of resistance,
keeping in our minds and trying to convince them that their involvement is for the benefit of the
child.  McGee (1996) mentions that a significant discovery was made by researchers studying
poverty and homeless families. They discovered that human relationships must take precedence
over academics. They found that only if parents trusted teachers and felt accepted by teachers
could the teachers stand a chance of getting through to them.

Teachers can inform parents of simple, time-efficient ways to help their children at
home.  Activities involving parents with their children can be scheduled such as family math,
science, reading or technology nights. Teachers can provide literature and articles for parents to
read on parenting issues. Teachers and schools can schedule conferences and activities at school
during convenient times for parents. Child-care and activities can be provided for children while
conferences are held.  Meetings and activities can also be held at community centers or
locations more accessible to families without transportation. One author mentioned the
importance of providing food at meetings and activities when homeless families are involved.
However, this sounds like a good idea when any families of poverty are involved (McGee,
1996).

Parents should know that they are welcome to observe the class and spend time helping out in
the classroom, lunchroom or during activities.  Parents should be encouraged to view student
work, accomplishments and portfolios when they come to school so they can become more
aware of their child’s abilities and talents and can discuss them with their children in a
meaningful way. Parental involvement sends a message to all children, not only the child of the
involved parent, that school is important. Parental involvement can also be contagious,
especially when other children observe positive interaction among the teacher, student and
parent.

Teachers should keep parents informed of what is going on in the classroom and encourage
parents to talk to their children about school. A monthly calendar of topics and activities can
help parents to discuss topics both as they approach and after they have been studied.  We can
encourage parents to read with their children or have their children read to them.  A class trip to
the local public library where every student signs up to receive a library card is a great
opportunity for children to get excited about literacy. Parents can then receive mailings from the
library as to free activities for children and adults that can help to develop literacy and
technology skills and give parents an opportunity to spend time with their children. Libraries
can also provide parents with resources for finding employment and writing resumes.

Brain-Based Research, Learning and Poverty

Knowing how the brain functions can have a great influence on how teachers address the
emotional, social, cognitive and physical learning of students.  Because it is known that
perceptions and emotions contribute to learning, brain research provides rich possibilities for
education.  Research findings encourage us to expose children to a variety of multi-sensory
early learning experiences and encourage even very young children to work with patterning,
sorting, classifying, using number games, and exploring shapes.  Emotions are a significant
aspect of life for children of poverty.  Emotions have a connection to memory in that they help
to store information and also trigger recall.  Emotions affect the actual capacity of children to
grasp ideas.  One of the most prominent emotions in children of poverty is fear.  Brain research
indicates that constant fear has a negative effect on learning.  Additionally, a person’s physical
and emotional well-being are related to their ability to think and learn.    Considering that
children of poverty may be poorly developed, both physically and emotionally, and that their
home environments are often emotionally stressful can explain why they often encounter
difficulties in school (SEDL).

Classroom environments that are safe and trusting can enhance learning. Environments should
be high in challenge and low in threat. An atmosphere of relaxed alertness should be
maintained.  The living environment of many poor children is high-stress, so one of our
immediate concerns should be to keep the stress level and perceived threat in the classroom at a
low level.  Fear and threat can cause the brain to downshift.  Downshifting is biological
response that focuses solely on survival needs.  Poor children often have a feeling of
helplessness, low self-esteem and may be fatigued.  Thus, when their brains downshift they will
not go any further than addressing survival needs.  New information and experiences will be
shut out. Attention will be affected because the brain keeps repeating thoughts or unresolved
emotional issues. Additionally, cortisol, a stress hormone, will be in abundance; and the result
will be emotional volatility. Downshifting can also cause behaviors such as vigilance and
resistance or defiance.   Students under these conditions can only learn in concrete ways, not
abstract ways.  This needs to be considered when planning lessons and when considering
classroom management (Caine, 2000).

Cooperative learning and shared decision making can help to build a sense of community and
foster development of relationships, both student-teacher and student-student
relationships.  This can help students of poverty to develop a sense of belonging and a sense of
connectedness to their school (Kovalik and Olsen, 1998). Helping students to find ways to
handle strong emotions productively can help them to deal with emotions such as anger, fear,
hurt and tension in their daily life experiences and relationships. If students can deal with these
emotions effectively, they will be free to learn.  Brain based research supports the constructivist
theory of learning: students build understandings based on prior knowledge and
experiences.  Intellectual development is gradual and dependent on external stimulation.  If
there is deprivation, as may be the case for children of poverty, their intellectual development
will likely be delayed. 

We need to be aware of the emotional needs of our students. If children are lacking in emotional
and intellectual development, they may have difficulty with language development. Difficulty
with language development may prevent a child from developing higher order thinking skills
that eventually lead to independent problem solving.   This will make it difficult for them to
learn and develop several of Gardner’s multiple intelligences. Gardner’s theory states that all
seven intelligences are needed to function productively in society.  In order to help motivate
students, teachers can use a teaching style that engages all or most of the students, with the goal
of exciting students about learning.

While all students possess all seven intelligences, each child comes to school with different
areas developed. Poor children may come to school with musical or bodily-kinesthetic
intelligences more developed due to the types of experiences and modeling children of poverty
may have in their home environments.  This is also an indicator of the child’s learning style and
possible strengths and weaknesses.  This information can tell teachers what a child’s learning
style is by indicating how easy or difficult it is to learn when lessons are presented in a certain
way. Learning styles also allow teachers to properly assess student progress (Brualdi, 2000).

Emotions have an impact on memory, as previously mentioned, because emotion drives

attention and attention drives learning and memory. If content has no motional relevance to
students, they will not recall it. Thus, when developing lessons and units we need to find topics
that are both relevant to our students’ lives and of interest to our students.    Again, in order to
do this, we need to have developed relationships with our students.  We cannot just guess at
what they find interesting or what is relevant to their lives.  We need to find ways to relate
content to their lives (Kovalik and Olsen, 1998).

Brain-based learning research has shown that the brain does not store memories, but recreates
them every time we recall. We have pathways for specific types of learning. We can use
methods of instruction to help students to access information stored in different pathways and
retrieve memories needed to learn new information (Jensen, 1998). Since the brain learns by
capturing, sorting and holding onto information, we should create classrooms and experiences
to capitalize on the brain’s natural abilities and promote student learning (Parry & Gregory,
1998).

Sensory memory decides what should go on to short-term memory and what should be
discarded. Our attention is focused on anything the brain finds new, exciting, pleasurable or
threatening.  The more closely new information conforms to what the learner perceives as
interesting, useful and emotionally stimulating, the more likely it is to be integrated. This
supports the importance of anticipatory set, contingent value and engaging activities (Parry &
Gregory, 1998).

We, as teachers, need to introduce information in new and exciting ways and make the learning
experience challenging yet enjoyable.  Children must be exposed to language patterns and have
interactions on which to build a foundation of knowledge. New information should be
introduced and examined in context in order to create a link for the student to help recall the
learning experience and the information learned. Retrieval is better in contextual, episodic,
event-oriented situations (Jensen, 1998). We need to refocus attention frequently, change
activities and vary modalities to keep the learner stimulated (Parry & Gregory, 1998).  Lessons
should be multi-sensory and employ the use of motion, rhythm and manipulatives in an effort to
facilitate learning (Jensen, 1998).

Activating prior learning at the start of a lesson is beneficial because it enables the students to
bring information up to the level of conscious thought, from long-term into short-term or
working memory. Making connections between separate pieces of information aids the
formation of concepts or generalizations, which increases the possibility the material will be
transferred into long-term memory and made available for recall. Poor children may need more
attention in this area because of the level of their emotional and intellectual development or lack
of a knowledge or experience base.

Additionally, advance organizers help students to organize, integrate and retain information to
be learned.  Research has shown a high correlation between the use of advance organizers and
increased learning and retention of material. Graphic organizers and maps organize knowledge
into conceptual frameworks, making it easier to understand and recall the information. They
organize and present information in an accessible way. They display relationships, connect new
learning to prior learning and organize information into a more usable form (Fogarty, 1997).

Rehearsal is important because information can be held much longer if it is given conscious and
continuous attention. Repetition and review help to practice retrieval of information. Without
rehearsal information stays in short term memory for less than 20 seconds. This is an important
concept when considering literacy and reading instruction. Children of poverty often have
difficulties with reading development.  For a new reader or a reader with problems, the
repetition and patterns found in multi-sensory instruction help to keep information in short-term
memory long enough for it to be processed and transferred to long-term memory (Fogarty,
1997).

Brain congruent activities can help make the curriculum more meaningful.  If the brain can
access stored information that is similar to new information, it is more likely to make sense of
the new information.  Activities should help children to link new and existing information.  This
can help students see that they already possess some knowledge about the new topic and are, in
fact, dealing with information that has meaning or relevance for them.  This is important for
poor children in helping boost self-esteem and confidence in learning situations.  Since students
retain and apply information in meaningful ways when it is connected to real-life experiences,
lessons that involve solving authentic problems and simulations should be used.  This can also
help children of poverty to develop their problem solving skills and begin to realize their
abilities (Westwater and Wolfe, 2000).

One last issue in brain research has to do with nutrition and children of poverty.   The foods that
children eat or do not eat affect their brain development, functioning and behavior.  Chemicals
released in response to both stress and from foods can prevent higher order thinking.  Children
of poverty are exposed to great amounts of stress and their nutrition may be poor. Chronic stress
causes the body to deplete nutrients, inhibits the growth of dendrites and limits interconnections
among neurons. The results are: no nutrients are available for learning; thinking is slowed;
learning is depressed.  When protein foods, often lacking in diets of poor children, are digested,
tyrosine is released into the bloodstream. Tyrosine becomes L-dopa in the brain and is then
converted into dopamine.  Dopamine produces a feeling of alertness, attentiveness, quick
thinking, motivation and mental energy.   Fear of failure, isolation and trauma, usually present
in poor children, cause dopamine to be converted into norepinephrine.  This causes alertness to
be converted into aggression and agitation.  Thus, when nutrition is poor, children: have
difficulty tolerating frustration and stress; become apathetic; and are non-responsive, inactive
and irritable (Given, 1998).  How can they even attempt to learn?

Given (1998) also discusses serotonin, carbohydrates and their effect on brain functioning.
Carbohydrate foods cause the production of serotonin.  Low levels of serotonin are associated
with depression and low self-esteem.  Additionally, the body manufactures its own serotonin
when an individual experiences positive self-esteem, success in problem solving and other
accomplishments.  One implication for teachers is to find ways for all students to be successful,
thereby increasing levels of serotonin.  Another implication is to make sure that students have
access to the breakfast and lunch programs available as well as nutritious snacks.

Implications for Curriculum Adaptations

I have discussed curriculum throughout the paper as it pertains to each dimension.  In summary,
the following are highlights of what must be considered when developing curriculum in schools
or classrooms where students of poverty are involved.

         Provide all students with a rigorous curriculum. 

         Have high expectations for all students.

         Make students responsible for their own learning.

         Provide support to students and their families. Involve parents. Early intervention is
critical.

         Help children to succeed.

         Create an environment and use activities that foster mutual respect, resilience, self-
esteem, self-regulation and self-efficacy.

         Develop relationships with students to identify their needs (emotional and intellectual)
and identify their individual learning style.

         Emphasize that each student is unique with value, talents and abilities.

         Promote awareness and acceptance of diversity. Encourage students to recognize

similarities as well as differences.

         Use principles of constructivism to make learning interesting, valuable and relevant to

students.  Teach for meaning.

         Provide developmentally appropriate, meaningful learning activities and use thematic or

integrated instruction, cooperative learning, inquiry and authentic learning.

 Poverty should not be an excuse for us to expect less from our students.  They indeed come to
us with numerous issues and challenges that interfere with their learning.  We need to focus on
their learning, find ways to help them overcome these challenges and gain the most they can
from their education.  Their education is likely their one chance to break the poverty cycle and
escape.  Just because they are poor doesn’t mean they cannot succeed.  It is actually one of the
best reasons for them to succeed.

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