Substantial Poverty in Georgia...is there anything teachers can do?

• (Dusen, p. 6)"About 57 percent of the students in Georgia's public schools are considered low-income...."  "With 27.2% of the state's children living in poverty, Georgia now has the 6th highest childhood poverty rate in the nation. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey Profile, September, 2013"
• (p. 7) "...87 percent of the school districts in Georgia serve a majority of low-income students."  "...the 2015 state budget includes a $350 million increase in education funding, but...this will do little to reverse the $8 billion in austerity cuts they've suffered in the past decade."  "'People recognize that poverty has increased, but I don't think they understand the full impact it has on the child,' says Reada Hamm...."
• (p. 8) "Poverty Rates of Georgia's 5 Largest Cities: Augusta: 27.4%, Macon: 27.4%, Savannah: 20.3%, Atlanta: 18.9%, Columbus: 18.5%"  
• (p. 9) "More than 1 in every 4 Georgia children are food insecure--28.8%.  That's more than 700,000 children under the age of 18."
• and again:  (p. 12) "87% of the school districts in Georgia serve a majority of low-income students."

As a teacher in a low-income county and school, the effects of low-income (low-socioeconomic and poverty) are real.  In Georgia, students are tired because they are taking care of siblings when they get home, students do not know when the lights may go out or the water will be turned off, parents are taken to jail, students live in homes where multiple families are sharing inadequate space, mothers have multiple boyfriends, students come home to find their belongings on the front lawn, students may not even live in a home but a storage unit.... (Dusen)

I may not be able to make changes to "the system" so that poverty is eliminated, but I can make a difference for those students in my classroom.  I found this out: A teacher can offset some of the factors of low-income situations (Cason, 2011).  My doctoral research was driven by the fact that the students in my Title 1 school were not achieving as high as the students in the higher-SES schools in the same county.  This should not be the case!  We have the same curriculum, same lesson plan design (which was the problem), and good principals, teachers, and facilities.  Why is there a disparity?

Having learned, through research, the effects of poverty and low-SES environments on students and their families as they relate to getting an education in public schools, I turned my focus on the area(s) where a teacher can specifically work to counter-act some of those effects so that students from low-SES settings can achieve.

To review the entire study, including problems, data, research, findings, and literature review, please refer to this link: Doctoral Study.  To review just the specific doctoral project lesson plan, click, "GC-Doctoral Study Project-Presentation here.  The lesson plan really makes a difference in student achievement (F(1, 863) = 35.398, p < .000).  In simple terms, the students in the classrooms where the teachers who used the lesson plan scored at least a half letter grade higher than the control group.  The lesson plan is adaptable to all grades, all subjects, all levels, and is compatible with TKES.

Comments from the web site:

In this section I have attached my doctoral study entitled "Activating Prior Knowledge With Cues and Questions as an Key Instructional Strategy to Increase Student Achievement in Low Socioeconomic Middle Schools" for your review. 

Using archival data, this ex post facto study found a statistically significant difference using an ANCOVA, F(1, 863) = 35.398, p < .000, for the research question investigating the effect on student achievement when teachers specifically activate students’ prior knowledge before using the LFS model of instruction.

The resulting project from my doctoral study was a lesson plan design that incorporated activating students' prior knowledge before starting the main learning goal(s).  Prior knowledge is a critical component of learning new material, concepts, or skills; unfortunately, it is often overlooked in a rush to 'get on with the lesson.'  

"Curriculum coverage is not synonymous with learning" (p. 3)

Teachers, even though our evaluation system has changed and our stress has (probably) increased, teach.  Use the best instructional strategies (document 1), the best methods (document 2), specific goals, and direct instruction to offset some of the effects of poverty and low-socioeconomic situations.  Teachers can use the lesson plan in non-poverty areas as well.

References
Cason, M. G. (2011). Activating Prior Knowledge With Cues and Questions As a Key Instructional Strategy to Increase Student Achievement in Low Socioeconomic Middle Schools. (Ed.D. 3469058), Walden University, United States -- Minnesota. Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/site/gcason123/doctoral-study  

Dusen, C. V. (2014, August/September). The Growing Face of Poverty. PAGE ONE, August/September, 32.