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Rolf A. Sivertsen is principal of Midland (CUSD 7) High School in Varna.
For years the educational community and public at-large have concluded that low socioeconomic status (SES) profoundly impacts student achievement in a negative manner.
Recently, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) completed an exhaustive study to determine if students from low SES households are placed at an academic disadvantage. NCES researchers found that "students whose mothers had not graduated from high school, whose families received public assistance or were headed by single parents, and/or whose parents' primary language was not English were disproportionately represented among low-performers."
Poverty does not exclusively place students at an academic disadvantage. However, poverty does promote an environment that fosters low student achievement. Specifically, research indicates that students living in poverty are more likely to be exposed to factors known to adversely affect low student achievement: lack of access to proper nutrition, health care, decent housing and exposure to substance abuse.
Risk factors have a significant effect on school performance: children with one risk factor typically do not fare as well as those with none. Children with two or more of these factors lag far behind those with only one.
In 1982, Karl White of Utah State University conducted a study that found students from a high SES environment will typically have a 25 percent higher achievement gain than those from a poverty stricken home environment. In contrast, he also found that students from a home atmosphere that fosters learning (read to their children, help them with their homework, encourage them to go to college, and take them to the library and to cultural events) recognized a 42 percent gain in student achievement — regardless of a low SES.
In short, students living in an environment that promotes learning will most often be successful in school. And using this information, school boards, administrators and teachers need to reach out to parents, engaging them in conversations about promoting learning and helping them with strategies and tools that they can use at home.
According to Robert Marzano, an expert at translating education research and theory into practical programs, the following actions will promote student academic success:
Communication about school
Supervision
Parental expectations/parenting style
The cost involved with most of these interventions is time. Even providing resources need not be expensive. Many resources are available free from a school library or a local public library. But parents need to know what those resources are and how to use them.
There is no "magic bullet" for promoting student achievement. However, research indicates that parents who maintain and promote a home environment that is child-centered and promotes learning will see their child demonstrate success in school.
Reference
Robert J. Marzano, What works in schools — translating research into action, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Alexandria, Virginia, 2003.