Teaching with Poverty in Mind

Based on Eric Jensen’s book

Situational Poverty

Generational Poverty

Absolute Poverty

Urban Poverty

Rural Poverty

SES = .57

Rankings

#3 - Formative Assessments - .90 #7 - Comprehensive Interventions - .77#8 - Teacher Clarity - . 75#10 - Feedback - .73#11 - Teacher to Student Relationships - .72-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------#31 - Home Environment - .57#32 - Socioeconomic Status - .57#38 - Pre-Term Birth Weight - .54#51 - Student Motivation - .48#88 - Homework - .29

2.5 Million

vs.

4.5 Million

Our Data

Grade 7-12 Free/Reduced Lunch = 25%

Grade 7-12 Radar List = 51% FRL kids

Grade K-6 Free/Reduced Lunch = 30%

Grade K-6 Radar List = 43% FRL kids

Effects of Poverty

• Emotional and social challenges

• Acute and chronic stressors

• Cognitive lags

• Health and safety issues

Sympathy

vs.

Empathy

Nature vs. Nurture

• 30-50 percent of our behaviors stem from our DNA makeup.

• 50-70 percent of our behaviors stem from our environment.

“You can’t change what’s in your students’ bank account, but you

can change what’s in their emotional account” (p. 21).

Acute and Chronic Stressors

• Students subjected to such stress may lack crucial coping skills

• More than half of all poor deal with evictions, utility disconnects, overcrowding, lack of a stove or refrigerator

• Low-SES parents are more authoritarian –issue harsh demands and spank more

More stress = less delayed gratification

Learned Helplessness

December 16th Meeting

Student’s Beliefs

• Parents disinterested

• No one cares

• Teachers don’t like them

Skinning Skunks

Risk Load Factors

School Factors:1. Students eligible for free lunch2. Students known to be in temporary housing3. Students eligible for welfare benefits from the city Human Resources Administration4. Special education students5. Black or Hispanic students6. Principal turnover7. Teacher turnover8. Student turnover9. Student suspensions10. Safety score on the district’s Learning Environment Survey11. Engagement score on the Learning Environment Survey

Risk Load Factors

Neighborhood Factors:12.Involvement with the city’s Administration for Children’s Services13. Poverty rate according to the U.S. Census for the school’s attendance area14. Adult education levels15. Professional employment16. Male unemployment17. Presence of public housing in a school’s attendance area18. Presence of a homeless shelter in a school’s attendance area

Whenever you witness a behavior that is inappropriate, ask yourself whether the discipline process is

positive and therefore increases the chances for better future behavior,

or whether it’s punitive and therefore reduces the chances for

better future behavior.

Emotional Keyboard

Cognitive Lags

• Low-income caregivers speak in shorter, more grammatically simple sentences

• High-SES parents added words to their child’s vocabulary at twice the rate

• Reading is one of the most important factors affecting the development of a child’s brain

• It is possible that a longer period of development leaves the language system more susceptible to environmental influences

Brains can change

The Social Animal

Parent Lottery

Low-SES and Attendance

Grades: 7-12 Absent > 4 days = 62% are FRL Students

Grades: K-6 Absent > 4 days = 75% are FRL Students

Quarter 1 Honor Roll

88.00%

12.00%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

100.00%

Non-FRL FRL

Non-FRL

FRL

Health and Safety

• The lower a child’s socioeconomic status is, the lower his or her overall health.

• The lower parents’ income is, the more likely it is that children will be born premature, low in birth weight, or with disabilities.

• A childhood spent in poverty often sets the stage for a lifetime of setbacks.

Assignment

• Reflect on chapter 3 of this book.

• Possible topics

– What is the biggest takeaway for you?

– How has your view on children living in poverty changed?

• Tweet your blog link to me by January 4th by Midnight.

• Twitter username: @mdmcneff

January 22nd Meeting

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Support of the Whole Child

Hard Data

Accountability

Relationship Building

Enrichment Mind-Set

Where do we rank?

• Academic and alternative tutoring• Academic, career, or mental health counseling• Access to medications• Child care for teen parents• Community services (housing, and utilities)• Dental care• Life skills classes in finances, health, housing • Medical care, both urgent and long term • Psychology (diagnosis and therapy)• Reading materials • After school programing and transportation

Hard Data

Proposed Goal 3:

• Use data wisely to improve instruction

Accountability

Unwavering resolve and Hope

Relationship Building

• Student’s relationships with their peers

• Caregiver’s relationships with their children

• School staff members’ relationships with one another

• Teachers’ relationships with students

Staff-Student Relationships

• Avoid raising your voice unless it’s an emergency• Do what you say you are going to do• Acknowledge a change in plans if you need to make one• Always say “please” and “thank you”: never demand what

you want• Take responsibility for any mistakes you make, and make

amends• Be consistent and fair to all students; show no favoritism• Offer support in helping students reach their goals• Positively reinforce students when they do something right• Show that you care more than you show authority or

knowledge

Enrichment Mindset

Those poor kids…

Seven Achievement Killers

1. Overdoing the pep talks and hot air.

2. Planning endlessly.

3. Putting kids first and staff last.

4. Creating a climate of fear.

5. Measuring improvement solely through test scores.

6. Treating the symptoms, not the cause.

7. Counting on big wins early.

Region Rankings

10499

9282

7466

61 61

43

29

14

25 28 27

49

35 36 37 38

24

99

65

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

School Score

Poverty %

Assignment

• Blog Topic

–Where are we at as a district in your mind – reflect on the steps we are taking and what are our next steps?

• Due February 1st by Midnight

February 26, 2015 Meeting

Classroom-Level Success Factors

“It’s not how much you do; it’s what you do, and for how long.” -

Eric Jensen

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• Standards-based Curriculum and Instruction

• Hope Building

• Arts, Athletics, and Advanced Placement

• Retooling of the Operating System

• Engaging Instruction

Standards-Based Curriculum and Instruction

Assessment

• Help students understand the role of FA

• Begin with KUDs

• Make room for student differences

• Provide instructive feedback

• Make feedback more friendly

Continued

• Assess persistently

• Engage students in formative assessment

• Look for patterns

• Plan instruction around content requirements and needs

• Repeat the process

Hope building

For many people living in poverty, hope and faith in tomorrow are the only things that keep them going each day. Every member of your staff must buy into this fact: if brains can change for the worse because of hopelessness, they can change for the better because of the hope provided by good people in a good school. - Eric Jensen

Hope and positivity

• The pleasant life

• The good life

• The meaningful life

• TED TALK

“Students with high levels of arts participation outperform “arts-poor” students on virtually every measure and that high arts participation makes a more significant difference to low-income students than to high-income students” (p. 119).

Arts, Athletics and AP

“Schools that cut physical education time in favor of more sit-and-git test prep are missing out on big academic gains” (p. 120).

Retooling the Operating System and Engagement

• Champion’s Mindset

• Hopeful Effort

• Attentional Skills

• Memory

• Processing Skills

• Sequencing Skills

“Engagement happens when students are choosing to attend, participate and learn” (p. 136)

Assignment

• Blog: What sparked your interest or challenged your thinking within the readings and/or class discussions?

• Due date: March 8th

• Final meeting: March 26th

– Finish last chapter

– Article

– Final paperwork