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Understanding Poverty and the Effects of Trauma

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Our Joy

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Workshop Expectations/Rules

	Training Room	Break
Be Respectful	Listen to others’ ideas	Return and in seat on time
Be Responsible	Remain on task Stay focused during training	Check personal/work email
Be an Active Participant	Share work Ask questions Contribute ideas

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The Beginning of our Discussion on Poverty...

How do we define poverty?

What determines or classifies a family as being in poverty?

Why is education important in “breaking” the cycle of poverty?

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Your Thoughts on Poverty...

Briefly take a moment to write what you think equates to poverty and its impact on education?

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Measurement of Poverty

The US government measures poverty by a narrow income standard - this measure does not include material hardship (such as living in substandard housing) or debt, nor does it consider financial assets (such as savings or property). Developed more than 40 years ago, the official poverty measure is a specific dollar amount that varies by family size but is the same across the continental US. It is different for Alaska and Hawaii.

National Center for Children in Poverty, Columbia University

Mailman School of Public Health.

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Measurement of Poverty

The poverty guidelines are sometimes loosely referred to as the “federal poverty level” (FPL), but that phrase is ambiguous and should be avoided, especially in situations (e.g., legislative or administrative) where precision is important.

2023

8 million Americans slipped into poverty...

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Shift in what it means to be “in” Poverty

One component of poverty is material hardship.

In the past, what would have been considered material hardship indicators?

What about now?

Let’s brainstorm several of the resources needed in order to stay out of “poverty.”

Past:

Food

Clothing

Shelter

Stereotypes

A study of children born between 1970 and 1990 showed that 35 percent experienced poverty at some point during their childhood; only a small minority experienced persistent and chronic poverty. And more than 90 percent of low-income single mothers have only one, two or three children.

A significant portion of families in America have experienced economic hardship, even if it is not life-long. Americans need new ways of thinking about poverty that allow us to understand the full range of economic hardship and insecurity in our country. In addition to the millions of families who struggle to make ends meet, millions of others are merely one crisis - a job loss, health emergency, or divorce - away from financial devastation, particularly in the current fragile economy.

Present:

Human and Social Capital

Education

Basic Life Skills

Employment Experience

Tangible resources like social networks and access to civic institutions

What about cars, computers, TVs, and other technologies which are considered to be a normal part of mainstream American Life rather

than luxuries?

Other types of resources needed

A home in a safe neighborhood

Access to good schools

Good jobs

Basic services

Basic life skills

Support services

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Types of Poverty

What are the various types of poverty (understanding that different research has different classifications)?

Why the different classifications?

How are they different?

How are they the same?

Situational poverty is generally caused by a sudden crisis or loss and is often temporary. Events causing situational poverty include environmental disasters, divorce, or severe health problems.
Generational poverty occurs in families where at least two generations have been born into poverty. Families living in this type of poverty are not equipped with the tools to move out of their situations.
Absolute poverty, which is rare in the United States, involves a scarcity of such necessities as shelter, running water, and food. Families who live in absolute poverty tend to focus on day-to-day survival.
Relative poverty refers to the economic status of a family whose income is insufficient to meet its society's average standard of living.
Urban poverty occurs in metropolitan areas with populations of at least 50,000 people. The urban poor deal with a complex aggregate of chronic and acute stressors (including crowding, violence, and noise) and are dependent on often-inadequate large-city services.
Rural poverty occurs in nonmetropolitan areas with populations below 50,000. In rural areas, there are more single-guardian households, and families often have less access to services, support for disabilities, and quality education opportunities. Programs to encourage transition from welfare to work are problematic in remote rural areas, where job opportunities are few (Whitener, Gibbs, & Kusmin, 2003). The rural poverty rate is growing and has exceeded the urban rate every year since data collection began in the 1960s. The difference between the two poverty rates has averaged about 5 percent for the last 30 years, with urban rates near 10–15 percent and rural rates near 15–20 percent (Jolliffe, 2004).
Immigrant poverty: It may seem that child poverty—particularly among immigrants—does not warrant much concern because immigrant families tend to be better off in the United States than the countries in which they used to live. But from the perspective of American society as a whole, the growth in immigrant child poverty is no small matter. Children of immigrants (a group that includes both the foreign-born and U.S.-born children of immigrants) are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population under age 18 and now comprise 20 percent of the school-aged population. Whether immigrant or native, child poverty poses a significant social problem because childhood poverty is linked to a number of long-lasting developmental and schooling problems that often translate into poor socioeconomic outcomes in adulthood.

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How many children in the US live in families with Low Incomes?

Definition of

“Poverty”

“low income”

“economic hardship”

A Child’s Day

The National Center for Children in Poverty uses “low income” as one measure of economic hardship.

Low income is defined as having income below twice the federal poverty level - the amount of income that research suggests is needed on average for families to meet their basic needs. About 39 percent of the nation’s children - nearly 29 million in 2007 - live in families with low incomes, that is, incomes below twice the official poverty level.

Federal Poverty Levels are used by many assistant programs as a way to set eligibility criteria. Often programs limit participants income to some percentage of the FPL, such as 138% or 200%. (From: 2018 Health & Human Services Poverty Guidelines / Federal Poverty Levels)

Persons in Household

1 @ 100% of FPL is $12,140

Each additional person is $4,320

How much is a 5 person family going to receive? $29,420

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What children and families are at greater risk for economic hardship than others?

Low levels of parental education

79% of children whose parents have less than a high school diploma live in

low income families

63% of children whose parents only have a high school degree are low

income National Center for Children in Poverty

What percent of workers in the US with college degrees are working? 74.8%

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Single-parent families are at greater risk of economic hardship than two parent families (two parent families have twice the earnings potential).

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Addressing Poverty

Children in Persistent Poverty

Why the U.S. is Rethinking Its Approach to Poverty

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Your reflections...

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How does poverty impact our work?

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3 2 1

3 Things we discovered…

2 Interesting things…

1 Question we still have...

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9 Powerful Practices

Build Relationships of Respect
Make Beginning Learning Relational
Teach Students to Speak in Formal Register
Assess Each Student’s Resources
Teach the Hidden Rules of School
Monitor Progress and Plan Interventions
Translate the Concrete Into the Abstract
Teach Students How to Ask Questions
Forge Relationships with Parents

Payne, R (2008). 9 Powerful Practices. Educational Leadership, Poverty and Learning 65(7) pp. 48-52.

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In Your Groups

Read the Powerful Practice assigned to your group.

Discuss the Powerful Practice in your group…

Have you used this Powerful Practice?

Choose a spokesperson to share the material and

the discussions from your group.

Share real life examples you may have discussed

of this Powerful Practice in action.

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Build Relationships of Respect

"No significant learning occurs without a significant relationship."

The teacher calls me by my name.
The teacher answers my questions.
The teacher talks to me respectfully.
The teacher notices me and says "Hi."
The teacher helps me when I need help.

Payne, R (2008). 9 Powerful Practices. Educational Leadership, Poverty and Learning 65(7) pp. 48-52.

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Make Beginning Learning Relational

“When an individual is learning something new, learning should happen in a supportive context.”

Intervene if you see an elementary student always playing alone at recess or a middle or high school student eating lunch alone.

Payne, R (2008). 9 Powerful Practices. Educational Leadership, Poverty and Learning 65(7) pp. 48-52.

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Teach Students to Speak in Formal Register

Payne, R (2008). 9 Powerful Practices. Educational Leadership, Poverty and Learning 65(7) pp. 48-52.

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Assess Each Student’s Resources

Financial, Emotional, Mental, Spiritual, Physical, Support Systems, Relationships and Role Models and Knowledge of Unspoken Rules

School success, as it's currently defined, requires a huge amount of resources that schools don't necessarily provide. Interventions that require students to draw on resources they do not possess will not work.

Payne, R (2008). 9 Powerful Practices. Educational Leadership, Poverty and Learning 65(7) pp. 48-52.

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Teach the Hidden Rules of School

People need to know different rules and behaviors to survive in different environments.

You don't use the same set of rules in basketball that you use in football. It's the same with school and other parts of your life. The rules in school are different from the rules out of school. So let's make a list of the rules in school so we're sure we know them.

Payne, R (2008). 9 Powerful Practices. Educational Leadership, Poverty and Learning 65(7) pp. 48-52.

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Monitor Progress and Plan Interventions

One teacher alone cannot address all students' achievement issues.

Monitoring and intervening with at-risk kids must be a schoolwide process.

Payne, R (2008). 9 Powerful Practices. Educational Leadership, Poverty and Learning 65(7) pp. 48-52.

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Translate the Concrete into the Abstract

To succeed in school, students need to move easily from the concrete to the abstract.

Teachers can help students become comfortable with the abstract representations characteristic of school by giving them mental models—stories, analogies, or visual representations.

Payne, R (2008). 9 Powerful Practices. Educational Leadership, Poverty and Learning 65(7) pp. 48-52.

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Teach Students How to Ask Questions

Questions are a principal tool to gain access to information, and knowing how to ask questions yields a huge payoff in achievement (Marzano, 2007).

Give them sentence stems, such as "When ___________ happened, why did __________ do ___________?"

Payne, R (2008). 9 Powerful Practices. Educational Leadership, Poverty and Learning 65(7) pp. 48-52.

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Forge Relationships with Parents

Many low-income parents are so overwhelmed with surviving daily life that they can't devote time to their children's schooling. Even when time is available, the parent may not know how to support the child's learning.

It is essential to create a welcoming atmosphere at school for parents.

Payne, R (2008). 9 Powerful Practices. Educational Leadership, Poverty and Learning 65(7) pp. 48-52.

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Continuing Your Discussion on Poverty...

What are the potential impacts of education on poverty?

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Want to Know More?...

Educating Students Who Live in Poverty

5 Ways to Help Students Affected By Generational Poverty

How Poverty Affects Classroom Engagement

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Continuing Your Discussion on Poverty...

What are characteristics of students of poverty?

Are Americans who experience poverty now better off than a generation ago?

Are some children and families at greater risk for economic hardship than others? Why?

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Continuing Your Discussion on Poverty...

What are the effects of economic hardship on children? (Personally and in an Educational Setting)

What teaching strategies should be incorporated in the classroom to assist students of poverty with experience and learning gaps?

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Your Thoughts on Poverty...

Briefly write down what you think about poverty and its impact on education since participating in today’s session.

Now what can you do?

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Your Challenge is to...

Choose a few of the 9 Powerful Practices and use them for a week in your class. Reflect on the difference you think it makes for your students and how it helps you enhance your classroom practices.

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Remember

The Thing You Take For Granted…

Is The Thing Someone Else Is Praying For.