Culture, Poverty, and Education: What's Happening in Today's Schools

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Most changes in educationincluding the rise of standardized testing, holding teachers accountable for their students academic performance, and rewriting math and reading standardsdont address poverty. Understanding the relationship between poverty, class, and education for decades has been framed through studies on the behavior and culture of poor students and their families. Educators are caught up in the history of classism and are often guilty of buying into the mindsetincluding the implementation of activities and strategies for working with parents in poverty or students in povertythat leads them to believe in the need to fix the poor instead of eliminating the inequities that oppress them. So it is not just one or the other; nature or nurture, poor or not poor. Poverty is a potential outcome for all of us. Culture, Poverty, and Education: Whats Happening in Todays Schools is intended to not only discuss 5 myths about the culture of poverty and its effects on education, but provide some resources on alternatives for educators to better address this growing barrier to student achievement in todays schools.

Reviews

Wow! This is an eye opening book. By using the stereotypes we have all heard about the impoverished, Dr. Wages provides a new perspective and way of thinking about teaching students in poverty. I discovered that I truly was always wanting to fix the children and their way of life. Within the pages of this book however, I now know that my focus should be in embracing their strengths and targeting in on nurturing them to become successful decision makers. -- Monica Murff Elliott, First Grade Teacher
What a powerful book for teachers who work in schools today. It helps clear misconceptions that we might hold about children in poverty that are in the classroom every day. The myths, the stories, and the strategies made me question my own beliefs. This book is the kind of professional literature we need in teacher's hands and on their bookshelf. -- Beth Ross, K-5 Science District Teacher Facilitator
When teaching students in poverty there are many things to understand and consider. Culture, Poverty, and Education: Whats Happening in Todays Schools is a well balanced book that not only provides an excellent explanation of how stereotypes about poverty are truly not reality, but also sheds light on how the reality is affecting todays students while also including strategies for their teachers. -- Melissa Hassell MLS, Fifth grade teacher

Author Bio

Dr. Michele Wages is an Assistant Professor at Southeastern Oklahoma State University teaching Emergent and Developing Literacy and Diagnosis and Remediation of Reading at Elementary Level to elementary education majors. In her 26 year career she has served as an instructional specialist on title one campuses in the DFW area for 9 years, including a bilingual campus with an 86% Hispanic student enrollment and a free and reduced lunch demographic of 96%. She has also served as a classroom teacher, reading specialist, language arts facilitator and has provided staff development training for teachers in Texas.