Low Income Students Barriers

RANIA ZOUHAIR
SOC 101

Children living in poverty have many home and community factors that
Contribute to performing below their potential in literacy achievement. This background
Knowledge and experience of low-income students begins a literacy “achievement gap”
That compares their literacy knowledge to that of children who do not live in poverty. Understanding social class diversity enhances the learning of all students. And Class differences in child-rearing practices may sound alarming or oversimplified. Lower-class children are more likely to have unstable family situations. Their parents typically have low-wage jobs and are more frequently laid off, causing family stress and more arbitrary discipline. This paper explains how language and attitudes of low income families act as barriers to success in education. And what types of programs or interventions are most useful in overcoming those barriers.

The environment where a child develops has influences on language development. Success at school depends very heavily on language for reading, writing, speaking and understanding. The children exposed to extensive vocabulary and complex grammatical structures more quickly develop language and also have a more accurate syntax than children raised in environments without complex grammar exposed to them. Low income household uses informal, simple language, sometimes ungrammatical and with limited explanation and vocabulary which is used between friends or family member. Unlike middle class household who uses formal language, when explanation and details are required and they uses a wider vocabulary They often have had fewer words spoken to them, with shorter utterances. They hear only the most commonly occurring words. By age 5, the child of a parent who is language focused has heard 50,000,000 words spoken as opposed to the child of a parent who is not language focused. That child has only heard10,000,000 words (Hart and Risley, 1995).
At the same time, the fact that poor children are geographically concentrated in neighborhoods that are segregated by race and social class presents special challenges for education policy, given that children have traditionally attended neighborhood schools.
Another enormous factor that affects low income student achievement is their parent’s attitude towards education. low income parents do not value education in the same way, that middle class parents do, and their children are more likely to drop out of school early low income parents are more likely to work long hours, so it is difficult for them to visit schools, and they might also see education as of less importance because they might have found their own education had little relevance to their jobs. That’s why some low income students are less motivated in school and thus they have lower level of achievement Contrary to Middle class people who highly value education, and begin promoting its value to their children at a very young age. For instance, middle class people will generally teach their child to read before reaching school age. As the child progresses through school the parents will promote education to their child by encouraging reading, homework and extra-curricular activities. The effort put forth by parents has a bigger impact on their children’s educational achievement than the effort expended by either teachers or the students themselves.
The content of parents’ conversations with kids matters too. While the conversations parents have with their children change as kids grow older, the effect of these exchanges on academic achievement remains strong.

The “No Child Left Behind” Educational law Act of 2001 (2002) was created as a means for, student learning to close the achievement gap between low income and middle-income students, and to make sure that all students become academically proficient in their grade level. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) has stringent accountability measures and includes the Reading First initiative, which focuses on five areas of literacy for beginning readers: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Reading is fundamental to this legislation
Among the programs that were set to overcome the low income student’s achievement gap, and to enforce the “No child left Behind” law, we quote the KIPP schools and the ACE program
The KIPP schools the Knowledge Is Power Program, is a national network of free, open-enrollment, college-preparatory public charter schools designed for low income families, with a track record of preparing students in underserved communities for success in college and in life. They build a partnership among parents, students, and teachers that puts learning first. By providing outstanding educators, more time in school learning, and a strong culture of achievement. , KIPP is helping all students climb the mountain to and through college. The Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP).schools seek to actively engage students and parents in the educational process expand the time and effort students devote to their studies, reinforce students’ social competencies and positive behaviors, and dramatically improve their academic achievement
Students in KIPP schools spend more time on learning, both in academics and extracurricular activities, each day, week, and year to improve their skills, and to decrease the achievement gap between low income students and middle class student.
The KIPP schools tend to prove that low income students can also succeed since they got the attention and care they need.

There is no arguing that making transition to college can be challenging for many students. The ACE program has proven to help participants face problem during the first semester The ACE program (achieving a college education) is a nationally recognized program that targets students who may not consider going to college and attaining a baccalaureate degree to be an achievable goal. Upon graduation from high school an ACE student may earn up to 24 transferable college credits
The ACE Program Is designed to help students make a smooth transition from high school through the community colleges on to a university and completion of a bachelor’s degree. Recruits high school students in their sophomore year to participate in the program in their high school junior and senior years Ace students are enrolled in concurrent college courses as high school juniors and seniors Students attend college classes during the summer and on Saturdays during the fall and spring semesters Students can earn up to 24 college credits by the time they graduate from high school. The ACE program tends to first, to increase the number of students graduating from high school, second, to increase the number of students continuing on to college, and third to increase the number of students earning a degree or certificate.
.Poverty impacts child development. Families have little income; are not able to afford many educational and school activities, which are vital to the development of the children’s learning skill. In addition the influence of the home environment and school environment on a child’s performance is pronounced. Family characteristics predict early reading skills, and Low-income students often have home environments with material hardships and resource-related disadvantages that affect their family dynamics. Children from low to income households are at a disadvantage. They are twice as likely to be held back and more likely not to graduate from high school.