SPECIALIZATION: LEADERSHIP OF EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

POVERTY AND LEARNING: DEALING WITH EDUCATIONAL

DISADVANTAGEAn AIU Individual Project by Michael Smalls

INTRODUCTION

Educational disadvantage is the situation where some children gain fewer benefits from the education system than their peers do because of characteristics that keep them from fully utilizing their talents.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

Individuals with low educational attainment tend to have:• Lower lifetime income• Lower employment opportunities• Poor marriage opportunities• Damage to family structures• Greater chances of incarceration

ECONOMIC STRESSES

Educational disadvantage is self-perpetuating and leads to:• A gap between skills and job openings• Increased numbers in lower socioeconomic

classes• Lowered purchasing power because of low

income• Greater need for a social safety net• Loss of talent

LOSS OF TALENT

Lost talent happens when students who show signs of early talent: • Harbor educational

expectations that are short of their aspirations

• Experience reduced expectations over time

• Are not able to achieve their expectations

APPROACH AND PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

Objective: To conduct a critical review of the literature available on the causes and possible solutions for educational disadvantage.

Goals: • To determine current findings on educational

disadvantage • To identify any gaps in the current literature • To identify problems in research methodology • To identify promising solutions to the issue • To recommend future directions for research on the

subject

SUMMARY OF CONTENT

• Low socioeconomic status

• Rural locations• Indigenous populations• Students with

disabilities• Racial minorities• Immigrants

What groups are most affected?

WHAT ARE LIKELY CAUSES?

• Socioeconomic background• Racial, ethnic or immigrant status• Environmental and social responses to

deprivation• Dropping out of school• Foster Care• Disability

LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF EDUCATIONAL DISADVANTAGE

• Health• Single parenthood• Racial inequalities• Damage to whole

families

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

There are number of competing views on the origins of educational disadvantage. • Pathological views• Transmitted deprivation• Home-based factors• School factors• Structural views

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

• Smaller schools• Parental involvement• Short-term programs• Improving schools• Teacher

accountability

Smaller schools may help. Low income parents should become more involved in their children’s schools.

SHORT-TERM PROGRAMS

Short term programs have limited effectiveness.• Pedagogies for girls or boys • Reading interventions• Phonetics training • E-learning • New discipline plans • Alternative schools• Targeted interventions

IMPROVING SCHOOLS

Improving schools also has a limited effect.

TEACHER ACCOUNTABILITY

Increasing teacher accountability for test scores can result in teaching-to-the-test and narrowed curriculums.

IMPACT ON LEADERSHIP IN EDUCATION

More research is needed on what solutions work best over the long term to improve educational outcomes. Initial review of the literature suggests that many of the solutions currently being implemented are short-term fixes and need to be reassessed.

EVERYONE PAYS FOR FAILING SCHOOLS

Because educational disadvantage is such a complex and shifting problem, continual research is necessary to assess the quality of proposed solutions. Use of well-designed research in formulating solutions will reduce both costs and damage to children’s lives over the long term.  

REFERENCES

• APC. (2012). Schools Workforce: Reducing educational disadvantage. Canberra, AU: Australian Productivity Commission.

 • Cook C. (22 February 2012). The social mobility

challenge for school reformers. BBC News. • Domhoff, G.W. (2013). Wealth, income, and

power. Who Rules America?

REFERENCES

• Felner, R.D., Brand, S., DuBois, D.L., Adan, A.M., Mulhall, P.F. & Evans, E.G. (1995). Socioeconomic disadvantage, proximal environmental experiences, and socio-emotional and academic adjustment in early adolescence: Investigation of a mediated effects model. Child Development, 66: 774–792. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1995.tb00905.x

• Fox News. (28 April 2014) High school graduation rates jump 15% among Hispanics, total reaches 80%. Fox News Latino.

• Fulwood, S. (24 September 2013). Race and beyond: Why economic disadvantage becomes educational disadvantage. Washington, D.C.: Center for American Progress.

REFERENCES

• Hango, D. (December 2007). Parental investment in childhood and educational qualifications: Can greater parental involvement mediate the effects of socioeconomic disadvantage? Social Science Research, 36(4): 1371–1390.

 • Hanson, S.L. (July 1994). Lost talent: Unrealized educational

aspirations and expectations among U.S. youths. Sociology of Education, 67(3): 159-183.

 • Huang, G. & Howley, C. (Winter 1993) Mitigating disadvantage:

Effects of small-scale schooling on student achievement in Alaska. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 9(3): 137-149.

 • Rapple, B.A. (1994). Payment by results: An example of

assessment in elementary education from nineteenth century Britain. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 2(1): 1-21.

REFERENCES

• Spicker, P. (2014). An introduction to social policy. Aberdeen, SCT: Robert Gordon University.

 • Walsemann, K.M., Geronimus, A.T. & Gee, G. C.

(March 2008). Accumulating disadvantage over the life course. Research on Aging, 30(2): 169-199. doi: 10.1177/0164027507311149

 

IMAGES

• Educational disadvantage. (2012). Yale study finds black boys at educational disadvantage. Ebony Magazine.

• Loss of talent. (2012). Heritage Foundation report: "Nearly 75% of poor families in the United States are headed by single parents." National Organization for Marriage.

 • What groups are most affected? (2007). Mobility of

Native American students can pose challenges to achievement. Education Week.

 • Long-term effects of educational disadvantage.

(2013). Poverty and health in the United States. OUP.

IMAGES

• Short term programs. (2012). Percentage of students in grades K-12 whose parents reported attending school events, volunteering or serving on a committee by parental education level, 2012. Childtrends.

 • Improving schools. (2012). The social mobility

challenge for school reformers. BBC News. • Teacher accountability. (2013). Teaching to the test.

Shared Justice.  

IMAGES

• Impact on education. (2013). Michelle Rhee: More mediocrity for American education. Time.

• Everyone Pays for Failing Schools. (2011). The

cost of Pennsylvania’s education failures. Commonwealth Foundation.