Understanding Socio-Economic Disadvantage and its impact on student learning, perseverance in school, and school success

Understanding Socio-Economic Disadvantage and its Impact on Student Learning, Perseverance in School, and School Success Presented by Patricia Peter and Holly Hampson, Agents de d éveloppement en milieu défavorisé

Poverty in Quebec and Canada

Since the beginning of the 90’s, poverty has been rising in Quebec

More than one out of three live under the poverty line;

one third of families are single-parent families (31,7%);

85,2% of them are single mothers

Why is it so important to address equity issues?

If we don’t grasp the complexity of the problem, the risk increases that:

empathy and effort will be limited

each student will not be treated with dignity and respect

interventions will “miss the mark” and fail to be effective

Effects of poverty in school

Success, orientation and length of schooling are related to socio-economic background

The more the student population is disadvantaged, the more likely the school career will be shorter and more problematic, right from the start

Disadvantaged children are more likely to quit, to perform poorly and are less likely to continue on to post-secondary studies

Disadvantaged children have less power in school and have more difficulty fulfilling their needs, despite being the students who have the greatest need for educational resources

For a long time, we held children and their parents responsible for academic failure:

We thought they came with all sorts of deficits in all aspects of development (language, affective, cognitive)

Research has not proved any evidence of deficits

Many studies show that disadvantaged children have the same learning abilities as other children

How do we explain academic failure in disadvantaged neighborhoods?

Differences that explain the failure are Social and Cultural Differences

Differences do exist: disadvantaged children are different but not deficient

These differences are essentially social and cultural (Drolet, 1993)

The required knowledge and experiences for success in school are consistent with the middle class values.

Not everyone shares these values, and they may need to be discussed explicitly

Day to day life . . .

Some families are in precarious situations. leading them to develop distinct survival skills:

They learn to live day-by-day.

They may be overwhelmed by their everyday life; they can’t delay gratification, that is, they can not refuse pleasure when it is offered.

They have a practical approach to things.

“ Ownership is being somebody” (material culture)

Lifestyle impact on learning and perception

Different culture (culture is a set of acquired knowledge in one or many areas)

Oral culture

Culture of action

Culture of the present

Equity in education

A principle that guides policy and practice holding high expectations and providing appropriate resources so that all students can achieve at a rigorous standard.

Culture is complex…

Nationality Religion

Race Ethnicity Family

Gender Sexual Orientation

Socio-Economic Class Geography

Ability Education

Profession

Diversity & Cultural Competence

Valuing Diversity is a necessary step along the continuum of cultural competency and culturally responsive pedagogy, but it is not enough.

Cultural Competence requires knowledge, skills and experience and the ability to transform these into practice which results in improved services and outcomes.

Factors relating to Low Socio-economic status

Low level of scholarity makes it difficult for parents to follow -up on school work

Many parents have to deal with an accumulation of problems linked to poverty

Realities vary greatly from one environment to another

In such a context….

It is important that solutions are not only adapted to the realities of these families but also aimed at promoting the parental role.

Welfare poor

Generational(2 generations)

Situational(lack of resources due to a particular event, job loss, illness, addiction, disaster)

Working poor

2 jobs to be financially independant

Minimum wage, supporting 2 kids

Programs targeting Socio-Economic Disadvantage

New Approaches, New Solutions

Originally targeting secondary schools

Expanded in 2007 to target elementary and secondary

Supporting Montreal Schools Program

Targeting elementary schools on the island of Montreal

Forerunner of NANS

NANS schools

Schools with an IMSE ranking of 8, 9 et 10

Factors that determine disadvantage:

Mother’s level of education (2/3)

Parent’s employment status in the census year (1/3)

NANS strategy

Identify the strengths (protective factors)

Identify the weaknesses (risk factors)

Conduct an analysis of the situation

Establish priorities and set objectives based on the analysis

Take into account promising practices

Make decisions that are best adapted to the school’s needs, and the available resources

NANS strategy…

Make sure to identify the conditions for achievement

Professional development activities for all staff are crtical

Supporting Montreal Schools Measures

Measure 1: Adapted actions that promote learning and success for all.

Development of reading competency.

The guidance- oriented approach.

Professional development of school administrators and the school team.

Access to cultural resources.

Cooperative links with students’ families.

Cooperative links with community organizations.

The role of the school in disadvantaged areas

The school has a role to play in helping students from disadvantaged backgrounds be successful:

Adopt educational practices that are adapted to disadvantaged areas (working on competency, motivation)

Ensure that they provide support to students to develop social comptencies (building positive relationships, a sense of belonging)

The role of the school in promoting perseverance

Support the motivation and perseverance of students

developing a positive attitude towards learning, guidance-oriented approaches, strengthening the link between school and future plans

Support students outside of class time, with the collaboration of family and community

varied activities that are supervised, developing healthy habits, access to community services

Home-School Partnerships

There is a positive and convincing relationship between family involvement and benefits for students, including improved academic achievement. This relationship holds across families of all economic, racial/ethnic, and educational backgrounds and for students at all ages.

Impact of Home-School Partnerships

When parents and school staff work together to support learning, students:

Earn higher grades and test scores

Enroll in higher level programs

Adapt well to school and attend regularly

Have better social skills and behavior

Graduate and go on to higher education

Family involvement…

… is a protective factor. The more families can support their children’s progress, the better their children do in school and the longer they stay in school.

Best practices to get families and schools closer together

Find ways to reach those parents that are usually more difficult to get involved:

Facilitate the parents’ role

Assistance for students and their families during various transition phases

Parents of children with special needs (IEP development)

Parents of students going through difficult times

Working parents that are unreachable

Parents who may be undereducated or have had negative experiences with school

Difficult dialogues are a crucial part of the process

Conversations about race, disproportionality, and equity are awkward and often difficult, but necessary.

Part of the role of the team is to ensure that team meetings are a safe place for having honest and “courageous” conversations, where common understandings can be created.

Disproportionality in Special Education

In addition to the problems the students experience in their personal lives away from school, the schools create a whole new set of problems for children they deem different. As schools become more wedded to psychological models, students are recruited into new categories of pathology. Students who do not conform to particular behavioral expectations may be labeled "disabled" in some way, that is, suffering from attention deficit disorder, emotional disability, or cognitive disabilities. Students do in fact confront real mental and emotional problems, but we need to consider the way students' racial, ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic characteristics are deployed to make their assignments to these disability categories more likely.

Gloria Ladson Billings

Differentiated intervention that is considered to foster learning and motivation

Pedagogical approaches that promote the establishment of links, memory and transfer

Pedagogical approaches that make links to vocational aspirations

Use of a guidance-oriented approach

Adapted intervention focused on the development of competencies

Development of reading skills

Evaluation for learning and timely, ongoing feedback

Enhanced learning situations (experiental learning, hands-on approaches, field trips and real-world experiences)

Promising approaches at the classroom level

Classroom management that fosters learning and motivation as well as the development of social skills

Student-centred classroom organization and monitoring

Individual work (homework and lessons) that students value

Promoting instructional equity

Acknowledge students’ differences as well as their commonalities

Validate students’ cultural identity in classroom practices and instructional materials

Educate students about the diversity of the world around them

Promote equity and mutual respect

Assess students’ ability and achievement validly

Encourage students to think critically

Challenge students to strive for excellence as defined by their potential

Promoting personal equity

Engage in reflective practice

Explore personal and family histories

Acknowledge membership in different groups

Learn about the history and experiences of diverse groups

Visit students’ families and communities

Visit or read about successful teachers in diverse settings

Participate in reforming the institution

Promising approaches at the school level

Professional development activities for school administrators

Quality professional development activities for and collaborative work with the teaching, professional and support staff of schools

Promising approaches at the school level

Flexibility and diversification in the organization of services to meet the needs of students and school staff

Improvement of the school’s socio-educational environment

Safe and trusting climate, healthy relationships

Feeling of belonging

Cultural, sports and community activities

Participation of students

Support for at-risk students - Learning

Adapted support and organization for all students (especially those achieving below level, unprepared for kindergarten, or experiencing language of instruction difficulties)