The I nf luence of Financial Povert y on Academic Success

Robert Bligh Omaha, NE

Third Annual Crit ical I ssues Forum

Why am I here today?

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In 1975, I graduated from law school and was hired by Dr. Anne Campbell as the first general counsel at the Nebraska Department of Education.

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During my six years at the Department of Education, I began to suspect that K-12 teachers and schools were being held responsible for things that were completely beyond their control. 4

Most of what I have observed since has supported that suspicion.

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I am not a shill for teachers or their organizations or their political interests. I am neither trained nor licensed to be a K-12 teacher. I spent a significant part of my professional life opposing the political efforts of teacher unions. K-12 education is too important to a free society to be operated on irrational principles Holding teachers and schools responsible for things they cannot control is irrational. 6

My f our request s of you:

1. Try to suppress any urge to assign blame. 2. Try hard to identify cause-and-effect. 3. Pay greatest attention to the facts I present. 4. Pay least attention to the opinions I express. If you are able to achieve 1-3, you’ll reach your own opinions 7

No Child Left Behind – A Decade of Failure

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No Child Left Behind – A Decade of Failure

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No Child Left Behind – A Decade of Failure

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No Child Left Behind – A Decade of Failure

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What Cheating Looks Like:

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Individual scores for 14,000 OPS students on two consecutive annual NeSA Tests

What Cheating Looks Like:

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Consider t his observat ion:

Significant disparities in vocabulary and language processing efficiency were already evident at 18 months between infants from higher-SES and lower-SES families, and by 24 months there was a 6 month gap between SES groups in processing skills critical to language development. Fernald, Marchman and Weisleder – Developmental Science - 2012. 14

That observation makes me think of three things:

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(1) University of Toronto Professor Keith Stanovich’s 1990 "Matthew Effects" explanation of the result of delayed reading skills. 16

“Slow reading acquisition has c o g n i t i v e , b e h a v i o r a l , a n d motivational consequences that slow the development of other cognitive skills and inhibit performance on many academic tasks. In short, as reading develops, other cognitive processes linked to it track the level of reading skill. . . .” 17

“The longer this developmental sequence is allowed to continue, the more generalized the deficits will become, seeping into more and more areas of cognition and behavior. Or to put it more simply – and sadly – in the words of a tearful nine-year-old, already falling frustratingly behind his peers in reading progress: school.

” Reading affects everything I try to do in 18

(2) Langua ge develop ment is an evolutionary process. Evolutionary processes – like life on Earth - tend very strongly to accelerate. Early evolutionary "tricks" (like the single living cell) became part of the evolutionary tool box that will be used later to make other "tricks" possible (or easier or faster) and make the entire process faster and more efficient. Mammals have existed for 200 million years; anatomically modern humans about one tenth of one percent as long . 19

(3) Early usually matters much more than late . Small differences in what is learned and not learned during infancy profoundly influence what is learned later. And how much. And how well. For those of you whose family background includes farming, consider the effect on corn yields by a March May drought vs. a August-October drought. 20

 

Graduat ion Rat es I nch Upward

Alyson Klein – Education Week – April 28, 2014 The four-year graduation rate in the United States ticked upward slightly during the 2011-12 school year, to a historical high of 80 percent, up from 79 percent in the 2010-11 school year, according to a report released today by the Institute of Education Sciences, the U.S. Department of Education's research arm. . . .

  Mat h, reading scores st agnant among 12t h- graders

Emma Brown – Washington Post - May 7, 2014 The nation’s high school seniors have shown no improvement in math and reading performance since 2009, according to the results of a test administered by the federal government last year. . . . 21

Crypt ozoological (nonexist ant ) Creat ures:

Unicorn Loch Ness Monster Bigfoot

Highly Effective Teachers Persistently Failing Schools 22

Schools as Subst it ut es f or I nadequat e Parent s

Suicide Prevention Training  CPR Training School Medical Clinics School Mental Health Services Free-or-Reduced Meals Afternoon Social Services Parental Involvement Policies Prenatal & Neonatal Training Student Health Data Collection  Student Weight Reduction 23

Childhood Inside & Outside School 24

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Grand I sland - Wasmer Element ary School – St udent Transf ers

  Students who lived within the Attendance Area of Wasmer who attended Wasmer Math: Number 111 - Average scaled score 134.98 Reading: Number 111 - Average scaled score 121.36   Student who lived within the Attendance Area of Wasmer who attended an elementary school other than Wasmer Math: Number 35 - Average scaled score 100.14 Reading: Number 34 - Average scaled score 99.78   Students who lived outside the Home Attendance Area of Wasmer who attended Wasmer Math: Number 45 - Average scaled score 131.58 Reading: Number 45 - Average scaled score 117.98   At Wasmer, (1) the ablest students stay, (2) the least able students leave and (3) those who transfer in are roughly as able as those who stay and much abler than those who leave. 30

Judging teachers on their students’ test scores  is as goofy as judging farmers on their crop yields without taking i n t o a c c o u n t d r o u g h t , floods,  freezes, diseases, pests, hail storms and all of the other influences  over which farmers have no control. 

What “really” works?

Effective

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Three Ideas for You

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Focus on help for those children who need it. Remember that about half of Omaha’s impoverished kids succeed in school. The out-of school lives of the poor children children who fail need to be more like the out-of-school lives of the poor children who succeed. 33

Three Ideas for You

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Consider creating a public scheme that recognizes and honors the impoverished parents of academically successful students. These people are real heroes in our community. They are guiding their children toward success despite bearing the daily burden of financial poverty. 34

Three Ideas for You Three Create a cadre of impoverished parents of academically successful children and pay them to serve as mentors of those parents whose children who are failing in school. They have taught themselves how to limit the developmental damage that poverty can inflict on children. Have them teach others. 35

My Last Four Slides

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A Nebraska Superintendent’s Letterhead:

All kids have good in them; keep reaching down until you find it.

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If there were a pedagogical trick that truly works , we would have no academic failure to discuss . . .

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Anyone who wants answers or information from me should send a request to: [email protected]

My thanks to you all for your attention and your patience.

Rob Bligh 42