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Dylan Mulligan
Mrs. Davis
Comp II
11 June 2015
The Impact of Poverty on Education
As most know, poverty is a major issue in our country especially among children. In
2012, 21.8 percent of children under the age of eighteen live in poverty in the United States
alone (Poverty). This is a striking statistic. These children face many challenges in their lives.
However, many do not realize that education is a challenge for children living in poverty or in
low-income families. Children living in poverty have a host of problems in reference to
education especially in the earlier years; fortunately, many steps can be taken to help children
face these challenges.
One of the major issues children living in poverty or low-income families face is hunger.
Many times these children do not get enough food or food that has proper nutrients. Junk food is
cheap, and children enjoy it. Carbohydrates, such as pasta, are filling as well as inexpensive.
Mulligan shared a story of a child who cares for his younger siblings and makes them dinner. She
said, One first grade student told me what he had made for supper for himself and his siblings.
He had microwaved rotten noodles. I was appalled inside until upon further conversation, it
was you know-the squiggly noodles known to most as ramen noodles (Mulligan). There were
no vegetables, fruits, or meats-just pasta. If there is not enough money for electricity or gas, it
limits the types of food that can be prepared. Often these foods are not full of protein and
vitamins. A Teacher Newsmagazine discusses the fact that hunger and lack of nutrition causes

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children to become tired, sluggish, and can negatively impact behavior (White). All these lead to
concentration issues in the classroom. It also can create negative behaviors, such as anger.
To help with childrens hunger, there are many steps that are being taken and that can be
taken. The school systems have been doing a great job providing breakfasts and lunches for these
kids. Schools offer free and reduced lunches for those living in low-income families. To take it a
step further, instead of throwing out leftover cafeteria food, second helpings should be offered, or
even thirds. Hungry children literally will lick their trays clean and still be ready for more food.
This would put nutritious foods in their systems and hold them over until breakfast at school the
next day. A surprising number of children do not get an adequate evening meal if they get one at
all. Snacks are also provided during the day in either the morning or afternoon. I was also
informed some schools have food donated by the community as well as the Regional Food Bank.
This food is sent home with these children in need in backpacks over the weekend (Mulligan).
The food is all microwavable or food that can be eaten cold, so the stove and oven do not have to
be used. There is not enough food donated to send home with all the kids who need it every
weekend. To make it possible to send food home every weekend, everyone should donate even
just a little to this cause. Another way to help these children would be with a free hot food
program of some sort, through the school or community, on weekends. It could be made possible
through different grants the schools or communities could receive and be run by volunteers. Both
of these things could help many children.
Another problem children living in poverty face in education is absences for a multitude
of reasons. Many times, these kids are ill more frequently for longer amounts of times than other

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kids. They get sick more often because of the environment they live in and lack of nutrition, and
they stay sick because they either lack the transportation or the money to get to a doctor or the
money to buy nutritious food. Sometimes, the kids just dont get woke up in time for school.
Parents may be working or sleeping after working a late night shift or double shift. As drug and
alcohol addiction is sometimes a reality for those in poverty, there are parents who just do not
value education or are unable to get their children up for school. Others, still, do not have the
transportation to get to school. In Whites article, she points out: Teachers noticed that as
students got older they often become more independent in terms of getting to themselves to
school, although older students sometimes missed school to look after younger siblings while the
parents are at work. This is a common reason for being absent in poverty ridden families.
How can this problem be fixed though? According to Mulligan, Rosebud School system
had someone go out in a suburban to different houses that had transportation issues to ensure
those kids would be at school that day. They would do this for the kids living within the city
limits who did not live far enough away to be bussed but still out of walking distance, as well as
those that lived in the country. In my opinion, more schools need to do this. All that would be
needed to make it happen was some volunteer drivers and the use of a school suburban. Another
way to ensure they get to school is to carpool with others who live in or around the same
neighborhood. Large rewards for perfect attendance in areas of poverty can have a negative
effect. Most children want to be at school where they will be fed and be safe and be around their
friends. Most times attendance is not in their control. Making sure they are greeted every day
with a smile and sincerely kind words such I am so glad you are here today! or Welcome

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back! We missed you! would enforce that their presence is important on a personal level as well
as an academic level. It would reinforce the value of education that is lacking in some areas.
Children living in poverty are also behind other children in school and not just because of
absences. It is said, They read less, have fewer books at home, and spend considerably more
time watching TV than their middle-income counterparts (Hilferty). Not only do they read less,
many of them have a smaller vocabulary than middle-class children. In Jensens article, he
discusses children of middle-class families hear, on average, two to three times more words by
age four than children of low-income families in the same time period (26). Because of this huge
difference, many of these children say they dont like to read or participate in class because they
dont want to be embarrassed in front of their fellow students. Jensen also writes, Commonly,
low-SES children show cognitive problems, including short attention spans, high levels of
distractibility, difficulty monitoring the quality of their work, and difficulty generating new
solutions to problems (28). This makes a classroom setting even more difficult for this group of
children.
To help the children who are behind, there are many things that can be done. First, the
parents need to believe education is important. Through them, the children will begin to value
books and learning. During parent teacher conferences, a light supper or lunch could be served
with a lively presentation that addresses educational issues that parents have the means to help
with at home. Some are unaware of what they could be doing to help their child. There could be
a Make and Take math facts table, donated books, or vocabulary games that are pre-made by
teachers or volunteers. Once parents are made aware of what needs to be done, many will be

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happy to help. White believes the parents also need to be involved so the teachers know more
about what resources the children need to support their education at home. Another step that
could be taken is having a book drive launched within the community. Social media could help
with getting the word out about the book drive. These books then need to be sent home with the
children as their own books. If the children do not have books in their hands, they will not read.
If children have access to books at home, they will be more apt to read outside of school. As a
result, vocabulary and reading strategies will increase, and children will become more confident
in the classroom. Training for teachers is essential when faced with the challenges of children in
poverty. Teaching core cognitive skills is a must. It is imperative to have a classroom rich in
literacy and math skills. A curriculum rich in quality read-aloud books with meaningful
discussion about content, vocabulary, and comprehension skills can help overcome the birth to
five years that may not have been adequate in preparing for school. Teachers also need training
to better understand from where these children are coming. If possible, have a presenter with
first-hand knowledge of the situations these children face every day.
An often overlooked issue in education is possible discrimination of children in poverty.
In her article, White says some children can be teased in school because they do not have certain
things, or the other children may treat them differently because they live in poverty. Parents may
not want their children having sleepovers or going to their birthday parties because they do not
understand that just because they are poor does not mean they are unclean or bad people.
Students might also not have access to washers and dryers at home which leads to the wearing of
unclean clothes. Some may not have hot water at times which does not lend itself to personal

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hygiene. Both of these scenarios can cause unpleasant odor that are noticeable to others. This can
cause disruption in classrooms when others do not want to work with them or when others
ridicule them.
One model all schools should implement is My Friends Closet. This is a program that a
school system in my area has. Community members donate clothes to the school that their family
has outgrown. In the fall and spring the school sets up a shopping day. On this day, families
are invited to shop for clothes free of charge. My Friends Closet is also available for students
in need throughout the whole year. Community members are encouraged to donate. Most special
education buildings include showers, bathtubs, washers, and dryers. School personal who notice
a need will discretely have a student with hygiene issues go take a shower and change into clean
clothes provided by the school. During the day, the students clothes are laundered and sent home
clean. I believe all school need to establish this program. If able, My Friends Closet should be
open for shopping every other month due to changing weather and growth of children.
In conclusion, the challenges faced by children of poverty in education can be greatly
diminished. Through the help of teachers, school systems, and community members, each child
is given a fair chance at quality education. The solution is simple. It just needs every able person
to help and to give.
Annotated Bibliography
Poverty in the United States. Congressional Digest 92.9 (2013): 12-13. Academic Search
Complete. Web. 9 June 2015.
This article is the US Census Statistics on American Households. It gives statistics on
poverty: the areas, races, ages, and sexes in which poverty is most common. I used these

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statistics to show how many children live in poverty-ridden or low-income families. The article
was in the Congressional Digest and was an actual part of the US Census, so I believe it is
reliable. It is also fairly recent and the numbers shouldnt have changed all that much.
Hilferty, Fiona, Gerry Redmond, and IIan Katz. "The Implications of Poverty on Children's
Readiness to Learn." Australasian Journal of Early Childhood. 35.4 (2010): 6371. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 June 2015.
This paper examines Australian and international literature to examine the effect of
poverty on childrens readiness to learn. It also talks about successful early intervention
programs in Australia. Though this isnt in the United States, it could prove useful in my paper. I
could use this information for different solutions to help the children who are living in poverty in
the area of education. I believe this paper to be reliable because it is recent. It is also written by
two doctors and a professor with strong background in this area.
Jensen, Eric. "How Poverty Affects Classroom Engagement." Educational Leadership 70.8
(2013): 24-30. May 2013. Web. June 2015. http://www.ascd.org/publications/educationalleadership/may13/vol70/num08/How-Poverty-Affects-Classroom-Engagement.aspx
This article talks about the different obstacles that children in poverty have to deal with
when it comes to education. In addition to the obstacles, the author also talks about what others,
specifically teachers and parents, can do to help these students overcome the challenges they face
when dealing with education. I could use this article in my paper to help find effective solutions
to help these kids. I believe this is a reliable source as it is recent, and the author has experience
in this area and has written multiple books about this topic. It is also in a magazine meant for
teachers, so they can better help their students who live in poverty.
Mulligan, Marcy. (2015 June 11). Personal Interview.

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During this interview, Mulligan informed me of some issues she experienced with kids
living in poverty and how the poverty affected their education. She also gave me solutions that
helped the children better their education and solutions that should be taken into consideration. I
could use both things in my paper. Mulligan is a reliable source as she taught on an Indian
reservation for a number of years as a reading recovery teacher. At the time, the county the
reservation is on was the second poorest county in the nation, so she had experienced the
troubles and hardships of poverty through her students every day. Before she was teaching at that
particular school, she taught at a small school in a poor town that had almost no value in
education.
White, Margaret. "Poverty: How It Affects Students in the School Community."
Teacher Newsmagazine 1 Oct. 2010. Print.
Whites article discusses the different ways poverty affects children. It discusses the
strategies teachers found helpful and the challenges the teachers came across in supporting the
students living in poverty. The part of the article I found most useful for my paper was when
White discussed the several ways poverty impacts a childs education. I think this article is
reliable because it was published in a teacher magazine. The article was written to help teachers
understand what the students go through every day and what the teachers can do to help. It was
also a fairly recent article and one that seemed like teachers would read and that would be
helpful to them.