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The Effects of Poverty on Teaching and Learning

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-promise rather 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.

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