ecetabag.com

Addressing the Root: The Impact of Poverty on Educational Achievement

May 2024

Diane Ravitch's book "Reign of Error" strongly emphasizes that the system ignores the profound impact of poverty on educational achievement and fails to address the basic needs of the most disadvantaged students, resulting in segregated and unequal educational experiences. To briefly highlight her perspective on this, “...we have problems, but those problems are concentrated where poverty and racial segregation are concentrated. The reformers say they care about poverty, but they do not address it other than to insist upon private management of the schools in urban districts; the reformers ignore racial segregation altogether, apparently accepting it as inevitable”(pdf pg.15, Ravitch).

As highlighted in the book, one possible issue that the educational system must address is poverty's major influence on academic attainment. The problem emerges because poverty is strongly associated with many poor outcomes that impair educational attainment. These include restricted access to health care, poor prenatal care, and insufficient exposure to educational resources and stimulating situations. Furthermore, disadvantaged children often live in insecure situations and lack basic requirements, which contributes to poor academic performance.

Failure to solve this issue has far-reaching consequences. If educational changes continue disregarding the underlying reasons for poverty, attempts to improve schools may fail to provide the intended outcomes in student accomplishment. Maintaining a cycle in which low educational performance keeps people in poverty, affecting future generations, is dangerous. Without tackling poverty, the educational system may continue to see huge gaps in attainment and graduation rates, exacerbating social inequality. This impacts not just people but also society's overall economic, educational, and social well-being

Strategies for Educational Equity: Addressing Poverty

The three alternative strategies provided in the book for dealing with this problem are as follows: Early and consistent prenatal care, especially for economically disadvantaged women, is crucial to prevent developmental and cognitive issues in children; solving poverty through education requires recognizing it as a public responsibility and calls for community-supported reforms that reflect and improve the societal conditions surrounding schools; society must create targeted programs to reduce poverty and racial segregation, ensuring that disadvantaged children receive enhanced educational resources such as smaller classes and richer opportunities in arts and sciences.

The book suggests comprehensive social support systems to reduce the negative effects of poverty on education. These systems should provide family leave for parents of newborns and infants, help low-income parents care for their children at home, reduce staff turnover in child-related programs, provide expert behavioral and developmental assistance, and provide qualified clinical assistance for young children and mothers with toxic stress. Poor kids have poorer health, less educational resources, and lower well-being. These conditions hinder their development and perpetuate poverty, making economic and social interventions essential for closing the achievement gap and improving outcomes for all children. Some disadvantages to providing full social assistance strategy could be that creating extensive social support networks is costly. In budget-constrained contexts, government or private money for subsidies, experienced physicians, and ongoing care for families and children may be difficult to get. Government and commercial entities must develop and coordinate these activities. Distributing these services to eligible families regardless of region, socioeconomic class, or background may be difficult and access to these services may be unequal, exacerbating inequities.

The book emphasizes the need for a comprehensive approach to educational changes that encompasses community participation and treats public education as a civic obligation rather than a consumer product. This concept emphasizes that meaningful education reforms must address larger social concerns that reflect and impact the community's health and attitudes. Schools can better serve every child, even underprivileged ones, by building community trust and support. There are various drawbacks to this strategy. First, it demands strong community involvement and agreement, which may be difficult in diverse or divided groups. Community members with different perspectives on public education or its function in society may resist. This technique may also postpone change implementation owing to stakeholder consultation and consent. Depending on community support and engagement may also cause disparities in educational quality and access, since some communities may be better at supporting their schools.

The author indicates that we must set objectives, strategies, and initiatives to alleviate poverty and racial segregation. We can only eliminate achievement disparities by eliminating opportunity gaps. Children from poor backgrounds need the same quality education as their wealthier peers, if not more so. For those with limited opportunities, smaller courses, more art, science, and music are necessary to ignite creativity and fulfill potential. The reduction of educational inequalities via the enhancement of resources in economically disadvantaged regions requires a big financial commitment and requires a greater workforce of trained educators, which presents a number of important problems. It is possible that core disciplines such as reading and numeracy would be neglected if smaller classrooms and richer curriculum are implemented in the arts and sciences. In addition, the need of a transformation in views within society as well as broad support from the community may serve to postpone the implementation of these essential reforms. In order to achieve lasting and equitable educational progress, it is essential to strike a balance between these factors.

I believe that all three strategies would be highly effective in fostering a dynamic private sector alongside a strong public sector. We cannot allow the public sector to be privatized and diminished. Achieving significant social objectives necessitates collaborative efforts. It is essential to develop programs that enhance the lives of children and families. We must create a respected and capable education profession to construct a solid educational system. A revolutionary educational approach involves deliberate planning to balance present educational requirements with long-term social change. It requires reframing public education and guaranteeing that all community members are capable and willing to participate in this reformation. By addressing challenges like poverty, the strategies can be more effectively applied to produce a truly equitable educational system that benefits all children and supports broader societal improvement.

Ravitch, Diane. Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools. First edition. Alfred A. Knopf, 2013.