6.1: What is the effect of poverty on learning?
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By Lauren Mike
Learning Objectives
1.Define Poverty and Glocalization
2.Understand Poverty in America
3.Understand No Child Left Behind Policy
Note
“If all the rich and all of the church people should send their children to the public schools they would feel bound to concentrate their money on improving these schools until they met the highest ideals.” Susan B. Anthony
What is Poverty and Glocalization?
Not having a roof over your head or food on the table is not the only poverty in the nation. Poverty also plays a huge role in education. The Merriam – Webster Dictionary defines poverty as the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions. Education and poverty go hand in hand especially throughout different regions of the United States. “Glocalization is a term that was invented in order to emphasize that the globalization of a product is more likely to succeed when the product or service is adapted specifically to each locality or culture it is marketed in (Language Translation, 2006.)” Some parts of the United States of America have better education than other regions because of their location and their poverty level. In the wealthier places, they can get the resources that they need to be able to teach; as for the non-wealthier places it is harder for them to get the same resources to teach effectively and up to date.
Poverty in America
In 2007, the statistics of people in poverty in the United States was 37.3 million. According to LexisNexis Academics the number of the poor was 9.5% in the Midwest region of the United States and 12.5% in the South region of the United States during the year 2000. The south’s poverty rate was at the lowest it has ever been. The United States Census Bureau states that the poverty rate during the year 2007 was the lowest rate ever since the year 1959 and those rates of 2007 were the highest than during the year 2000 rates. The percent of poverty for children under the age of 18 was at 18.0% in the year 2007. Robert E. Rector and Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D stated in Understanding Poverty in America, that the two main reasons why children are poor are because their parents do not work enough or they live in a single family home. They say that only sixteen hours of work a week is the amount that their parents work, which adds up to eight hundred a year. Two-thirds of children are children that are living in single family homes, it is stated that if the parents weren’t single then the children would be lifted out of the poverty level (Heritage.Org).
No Child Left Behind Policy
In January 8, 2002, George W. Bush signed No Child Left Behind into the law. “It redefines the federal role in K-12 education and will help close the achievement gap between disadvantaged and minority students and their peers. It is based on four basic principles: stronger accountability for results, increased flexibility and local control, expanded options for parents and an emphasis on teaching methods that have been proven to work (ed.gov)” The funding for NCLB is an issue for the schools in the states. Some states have different funding to buy certain materials and even to hire high quality teachers. Most people criticize the funding aspect on NCLB. Susan B. Neuman states her concern with the policy, “In [the most disadvantaged schools] in America, even the most earnest teacher has often given up because they lack every available resource that could possibly make a difference. . . . When we say all children can achieve and then not give them the additional resources … we are creating a fantasy” (Wikipedia). Susan B. Neuman is absolutely correct about not given additional resources. Most school districts throughout the nation are not on the same page with additional resources. Even in the same school districts some of their own schools are not even on the same page with resources.
As a substitute for the City of Virginia Beach, I have experienced it right before my eyes. For example, the funds are low when it comes to textbooks. I went Salem Middle, a school in the Virginia Beach Public School District that issued every student a textbook for the year but when I substituted at Bayside Middle another Virginia Beach Public School, the students informed me that they there are not enough textbooks to issue to each student. Salem Middle School is in a middle class area of Virginia Beach while Bayside Middle School is in a lower area where the is much of section eight housing. So how could the No Child Left Behind Policy work for all the schools in the nation if they are not even on the same page for funding? Some schools cannot even purchase enough textbooks. Glocalization is not effective for the NCLB policy and the education system.
In My Own Opinion
I believe that every school in the United States of America should be on the same page. All of the schools need to have the same resources to teach the students. It is not fair for some students to have a better education than others. Each state should have the same funding no matter if it is a wealthy area or non-wealthy area. When every school has a different funding towards resources and curriculum it is not fair to the student. An example, a student lives in an area that the funding is better towards the material but then has to move to a district in which the funding is horrible. The student has to readjust to that districts material and resources for the student’s learning environment. Now the student has to lower their learning standards to meet with the new district. No matter if you’re rich or poor everyone is still entitled to the same education and should get the same education.
Exercise \(\PageIndex{1}\)
1. According to LexisNexis Academics, what is the lowest region in poverty?
A) South
B) North
C) Midwest
D) East
2.In the year 2007, how many people in the United States of America are in poverty?
A) 12.5 Thousand
B) 20.8 Million
C) 37.3 Million
D) 14.9 Million
3.If you as a teacher wanted to know what exactly the No Child Left Behind Policy was how would you go about finding out the answer?
A) Google
B) Look up the policy on the governments website
C) Contact you school district/school
D) Both answers B and C
4.Which can be considered living in poverty stated by Robert E. Rector and Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D.?
A) Having clothes to wear
B) Having food to eat
C) Having cable
D) All of Above
- Answer
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1. A
2. C
3. D
4. D
References
Anthony, Susan B. Education Quotes: Quoteland :: Quotations by Topic. Retrieved February 8, 2009, Web site: http://www.quoteland.com/topic.asp?CATEGORY_ID=52
Glocalization , (2006). What is Glocalization? | Language Translation. Retrieved February 8, 2009, Web site: blog.languagetranslation.com/public/blog/141748
Johnson, Kirk and Rector, Robert, (2004). Heritage.Org. Retrieved February 19, 2009, from Understanding Poverty in America Web site: www.heritage.org/Research/Welfare/bg1713.cfm
LexisNexis® Academic: Document: . Retrieved February 8, 2009, Web site: www.lexisnexis.com.proxy.lib.odu.edu/us/lnacademic/frame.do?tokenKey=rsh-20.764079.3343869814&target=results_DocumentContent&reloadEntirePage=true&rand=1234137271263&returnToKey=20_T5727060300&parent=docview
No Child Left Behind Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Retrieved February 8, 2009, from http://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Child_Left_Behind_Act#Funding_2
Poverty – Main 2008, Retrieved February 8, 2009, Web site: www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/poverty.html
Poverty. (2009). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.Retrieved February 8, 2009, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/poverty
President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education (PCESE) -- Final Report to the President – Glossary, Retrieved February 8, 2009, Web site: www.ed.gov/inits/commissionsboards/whspecialeducation/reports/gloss.html
Why Rural Matters 2005: The Facts about Rural Education in the 50 States. Retrieved February 8, 2009, Web site: eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_