Poverty negatively impacts cognitive development and learning in children. Living in poverty can cause elevated stress levels that inhibit brain functions important for learning like working memory, processing speed, and attention. It can also lead to poor nutrition and more frequent illness, making it difficult for impoverished children to concentrate in school. Teachers can help by teaching coping skills, promoting brain development, and emphasizing the importance of education as a way to reduce the effects of poverty.

1. Poverty Melissa Wray EDU 535 - Theories of Teaching and Learning Professor Busay

2. Poverty does not merely entail low levels of income or expenditure.

3. It is a condition that results in an absence of the freedom to choose arising from a lack of the capability to function effectively in society -Amartya Sen

4. Poverty Thresholds for 2010 according to the U.S. government -U.S. Census Bureau Poverty Thresholds for 2010 by Size of Family and Number of Related Children Under 18 Years Related children under 18 years Size of family unit Eight None One Two Three Four Five Six Seven or more One person (unrelated individual).….. Under 65 years....................……… 11,344 65 years and over.................……… 10,458 Two people.........................……………………. Householder under 65 years........... 14,602 15,030 Householder 65 years and over...…. 13,180 14,973 Three people.......................……………………… 17,057 17,552 17,568 Four people........................………………………. 22,491 22,859 22,113 22,190 Five people........................……………………… 27,123 27,518 26,675 26,023 25,625 Six people.........................……………………….. 31,197 31,320 30,675 30,056 29,137 28,591 Seven people.......................…………………….. 35,896 36,120 35,347 34,809 33,805 32,635 31,351 Eight people.......................……………………… 40,146 40,501 39,772 39,133 38,227 37,076 35,879 35,575 Nine people or more................…………………… 48,293 48,527 47,882 47,340 46,451 45,227 44,120 43,845 42,156

5. The official poverty rate in 2009 was 14.3 percent — up from 13.2 percent in 2008. This was the second statistically significant annual increase in the poverty rate since 2004. In 2009, 43.6 million people were in poverty, up from 39.8 million in 2008 — the third consecutive annual increase in the number of people in poverty. Between 2008 and 2009, the poverty rate increased for non-Hispanic Whites (from 8.6 percent to 9.4 percent), for Blacks (from 24.7 percent to 25.8 percent), and for Hispanics (from 23.2 percent to 25.3 percent). For Asians, the 2009 poverty rate (12.5 percent) was not statistically different from the 2008 poverty rate. The poverty rate in 2009 (14.3 percent) was the highest poverty rate since 1994 but was 8.1 percentage points lower than the poverty rate in 1959, the first year for which poverty estimates are available. The number of people in poverty in 2009 (43.6 million) is the largest number in the 51 years for which poverty estimates have been published. Between 2008 and 2009, the poverty rate increased for children under the age of 18 (from 19.0 percent to 20.7 percent) and people aged 18 to 64 (from 11.7 percent to 12.9 percent), but decreased for people aged 65 and older (from 9.7 percent to 8.9 percent). U.S. Poverty Statistics -U.S. Census Bureau

6. Poverty can lead to physical and behavioral problems. Poverty affects cognitive development and hinders a child’s ability to learn.

7. Brain based research tells us that emotions are important for learning. Children from impoverished homes may not have had “emotional nurturing” and may demonstrate aggressive and impulsive behavior.

8. The living conditions of children in poverty leads to elevated stress levels Chronic levels of stress inhibit: working memory process speed sequencing capacity attentional skills -Eric Jensen

9. Children living in poverty often suffer from poor nutrition which leads to a higher incidence of illness and difficulty in concentration

10. What can teachers do? Teach the importance of education Teach children coping skills Build brain capacity in areas that may be lagging Promote positive social bonding Education can reduce poverty

11. References Aber, J.L., Bennett, N.G., Conley, D.C. & Li, J. (1997) The effects of poverty on child health and development. Annual Reviews Public Health, Annual Reviews inc. Retrieved from http://homepages.nyu.edu/~dc66/pdf/res_Annual_Review_aber_etal.pdf Jensen, E. (March 2010). Poverty and its effects on learning: Why it matters. Retrieved from http://www.jensenlearning.com/news/poverty-and-its-effects-on-learning-why-it-matters/teaching-with-poverty-in-mind Jensen, E. (2005). Teaching with the brain in mind. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Jensen, E. (July 2010). Why teach differently ti those from poverty? Retrieved from van der Berg, S (2008). Poverty and education. Paris, France: The International Institute for Educational Planning . Retrieved from http://www.iiep.unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Info_Services_Publications/pdf/2009/EdPol10.pdf van der Berg, S (2008). Poverty and education. Paris, France: The International Institute for Educational Planning . Retrieved from http://www.iiep.unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Info_Services_Publications/pdf/2009/EdPol10.pdf The effects of poverty on teaching and learning. (n.d.). teAchnology. Retrieved from http://www.teach-nology.com/tutorials/teaching/poverty/ U. S. Census Bureau. (2011). Poverty. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/poverty.html Why poverty matters. (n.d.). United Way of King County. Retrieved from http://www2.uwkc.org/kcca/crosscutting/poverty/default.asp