Summary: Schooling in low-income districts is irrefutably much lower quality than in their more wealthy and affluent counterparts. Low-Income Children face danger at home, have less quality housing and living standards, have teachers who are often less trained and motivated, have lower quality schools, and are far too unmotivated or busy even to put their all into work. This article mostly highlights the statistics and the wealth gap in school districts. 

How I will apply this to my classroom: To counter an issue on the scale of poverty, one must first look at both the causes and who is exactly affected by it. This article states a wide variety of statistics, including that students are often most endangered in low-income housing and that parents are often too busy to involve themselves in their children's classrooms, however, most shockingly, “Children in low-income schools are also less likely to have well-qualified teachers. For example, 27% of high school math teachers in low-income school districts major in mathematics in college.” (81). Barely a quarter of math teachers in many school districts actually majored in math! 

As an educator, I can realize these facts, understand the situation of my students, and both give them resources to attempt to improve their situation, and really, just emphasize and listen to their experiences. I want my students to know that they can find a home in my classroom where they can be safe and free of judgment or harm. As well as this, I will constantly strive to make communication between parents and teachers, including myself, as easy as possible - if this has to be in more unconventional ways such as being online or even in a second language, I will make an effort to be more transparent. 

Summary:  This article takes a bit more of a middle ground on the issue of poverty in schooling. It discusses the causes of these educational differences and if it correlates to poverty. It found that children in a more poverty-stricken environment do not inherently tend to do worse on tests, but their environments severely negatively affect them. It suggests that we must continue reforms such as the NCLB act, however, some reforms are needed, especially in teachers’ autonomy.

How I will apply this to my classroom: This article describes quite a bit both about the infamous "No Child Left Behind Act" and of the actual statistics and facts that children in lower income brackets tend to experience. For example, in the article, one quote stood out to me - "Children from very poor households, income below 50% of the poverty line scored 7 to 12 points lower than children from near-poor households while children in poor households, income between 50 to 100% of poverty line, scored 4 to 7 points lower.” (523). 

This does not mean that all children in poverty score lower than their more affluent counterparts, but it does show something important - something is needed for those in a lower income bracket for them to strive. I feel this article shows that In my classroom, I need to establish a setting both where all are accepted, and that nothing but the best is tolerated - I will constantly strive to make sure my students are doing their best, and if they aren't, I will always be there when they're ready to open up.

Summary: This article mostly focuses on the pre-school experience for children in Academic Poverty, and how better systems of schooling for those aged 3-6 can often help improve their situation in the future. It also talks about the home lives of impoverished children and the downsides of this, before finally talking about potential solutions and what has been done.

How I will apply this to my classroom: This article is a bit more expansive than something I can directly apply to my classroom. This article, more focusing on the early experiences of students, can still be quite useful for a teacher of any age. As the article states, “In developed countries, an increasing body of evidence suggests that providing high-quality preschool experiences, combined with parent involvement and improvement of health status, can have significant effects on children’s language and cognitive skills by age 5.” (248). With this evidence in mind, we have a few takeaways.

A major reason why poverty is still so prevalant in schooling is teachers not realizing the history and past of their students. Pre-Schooling and Kindergarden is where the ideas of schooling and society itself forms, so this is the most imperitive age. That is what I took away from this article - as an educator, it is imperiative that I truly consider both the story and current lives of all of my students, and apply this to both appeal to them in the best way possible, and to truly connect with them on a one to one level so they know my classroom will always be a safe space. While I cannot direclty influence their pre schooling experiences, I can realize what is usable.

Summary: This article compares mostly public schools to Catholic schools, and if a higher rate of poverty in public schools affects scoring and standard of living in America. It found that it does, and that Catholic schools tend to perform better on standardized tests and such. It also finds that lower class students who go to middle or high schools do better academically than those who stay in lower class schools, likely meaning a lot of the problem is the school rather than the students.

How I will apply this to my classroom: This article was the most creative and eye opening in my opinion - being able to realize the disparage between public and private schools. This is well known, but being able to know the differences especially in the students pasts and their former education helps both to know how much assistance each student needs and how far they have come. In General, Catholic School students do better, as the article states, “On the sixth grade reading test, public school students have a mean test score of 218.0. Students in urban Catholic schools have a mean test score of 241.9 while those in suburban Catholic schools have the highest test score mean of 252.5. This result is repeated in eighth grade reading where public, urban Catholic, and suburban Catholic schools show test score means of 242.4, 267.0, and 278.1” (155)

This may just be a case of correlation not equaling causation - it would be wrong to say that all private school students inherently do better than public school ones, but knowing that most in public schools have been in them all their lives helps an educator know the differences between needs in private and public school kids. This can help me in the future as I will be able to both reflect upon my students pasts, how I can best help them, and letting them know what I can give them versus what they know teachers can do.

Summary: This article mostly outlines how to solve the poverty crisis in schooling. It outlines this in three steps, basically stating that it is up to the government to implement these steps. First, the state could strengthen educational accountability by amending the No Child Left Behind Act to make test score goals attainable and to develop meaningful goals for increasing the share of students who graduate from high school. Secondly, it states that it could address the problems of low- income students by encouraging states to strengthen high school graduation requirements so that they better reflect the skills needed for success after graduation. Third, it could build up the educational and instructional capacity of schools to educate low-income children. (181-182)

How I will apply this to my classroom: This is, perhaps, the most straightforward article on how to counter poverty. The three points in the article interested me a lot, especially the point about schools honestly just needing more funding. As the article states, “Very few school districts provide extra pay or other inducements to attract talented teachers. As a result, all too often these schools are left with the teachers other schools don't want.” (172). This basically is just calling upon the final point - we need to constantly strive to build up our educational infastructure to better inspire teachers to educate their students. This is a major root of problems - underpaid, underinspired teachers.

Here is something I can do outside the classroom to improve the lives of my students internally - social activisim. Even in my adulthood, I plan on doing everything I can both to get the word out about educational affairs and to campaign and fillibster all I can do pass policies and laws to improve schooling itself. It is something that all teachers should be concerned about. Proper education begins in the government, and we as educators must fight to make sure the government knows what we need.