ASCD 2015 Whole Child Symposium Examines Poverty and Education

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It has been over half a century since the initiation of President Johnson’s War on Poverty. Despite this, over half of public school students come from low-income families.

This fact was the background against which ASCD, the leading professional development and leadership organization for educators, hosted its 2015 Whole Child Symposium. At the spring conference, experts focused on how poverty influences schools and how stakeholders can mitigate its corrosive effects.

ASCD panelists identified several areas to be addressed to combat the impact of poverty:

Funding.

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Schools are typically funded on the basis of local property taxes and/or by the mandates of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Not surprisingly, the former results in poor districts remaining poor, whereas the latter is widely regarded as inflexible and often detrimental to the needs of modern schools.

Nurturing.

A required component of effective learning, a warm, nurturing environment is often lacking in underfunded, understaffed districts that serve students from low-income backgrounds. In principle, efforts to promote a nurturing environment promise substantial dividends for a relatively insubstantial level of financial investment.

Culture of Poverty.

ASCD panelists also considered how viewing poverty as a culture rather than a circumstance affects outcomes. Viewing poverty as a culture, they suggested, implies that, as an inherent part of the student, it cannot be altered, but by thinking of and treating it as a situation that can be overcome, educators might better frame the issues faced in their schools and discover more effective ways to empower their students.