Studying Poverty Influences and Post-Pandemic Realities: How Do We Support Students and Families?

• In Event: Building School Communities for Students Living in Deep Poverty: Strategies for Success

Abstract

Very recently, these two panelists were part of a team of researchers who published an influential paper about how schools can support students living below the poverty line.
In their presentation, the authors focus on the interrelated mechanisms and practices that support students living below the poverty line.

Based on a national review of the evidence, the research team was able to determine how schools can become “poverty responsive.” By understanding out-of-school experiences including student and family homelessness, geography, and social contexts, educators will be able to implement programs and policies that are designed to meet the learning needs of students who struggle on a daily basis with extreme hardship.

Addressing the needs of students living below the poverty line requires that educators consider both the inside- and outside-of-school realities of students and their families. Before discussing their recommendations, the authors define poverty and describe the complex ways it may shape student realities. They also acknowledge the many ways the pandemics of 2020 have made life more difficult for students living below the poverty line.

They then discuss why they believe their recommendations to support students must account for student realities outside of school. Finally, they outline recommendations for educators interested in discontinuing practices that do not support students in poverty and replace them with practices responsive to student needs.

Three recommendations are offered: (a) promote reflection among educators as a means to identify and discard any deeply held beliefs that are not in support of students living in poverty and deep poverty, (b) develop ways in which educators might partner with local community organizations to better understand the sociopolitical context and lived experiences of students living near or below the poverty line, and (c) ensure that educators are using restorative discipline practices that are most likely to keep students in the classrooms where they can achieve academic success.

The essential question for these panelists is: what are the policies and mechanisms whereby a school can become deep poverty responsive?

Authors

• Heather B. Cunningham, Chatham University

• Ira Murray

• H. Richard Milner, Vanderbilt University

• Adam Alvarez, Rowan University