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Reaching and Teaching Students in Poverty: Strategies for Erasing the Opportunity Gap
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The author draws from decades of research to deconstruct popular myths, misconceptions, and educational practices that undercut the achievement of low-income students. He carefully describes the challenges that students in poverty face and the resiliencies they and their families draw upon. Most importantly, this book provides specific, evidence-based strategies for teachi
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Paperback, 202 pages
Published
August 4th 2013
by Teachers College Press
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Start your review of Reaching and Teaching Students in Poverty: Strategies for Erasing the Opportunity Gap
"...low income people face innumerable inequities in and out of schools. These inequities regarding access to everything from adequately funded schools to playgrounds to prenatal care have nothing to do with poor people's cultures and everything to do with what Jonathan Kozol called the 'savage inequalities' of schools and society. We, as a society, give low-income youths less access to educational opportunity, healthcare, nutrition, and other goods, and then blame the outcomes of these inequiti
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The thing I liked most about this book is that it constantly forced me to reflect on my own beliefs and actions and it didn't let me off the hook because I have good intentions. My PLN is reading about and discussing poverty this quarter, and I wanted to get a different take on it. Teachers looking for a lot of strategies or "things to do" might not be happy with this book, but I think that's exactly why they need to read it. Often we adopt a strategy without really examining its impact. We look
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I appreciated how this book made me continually reflect about what equity really means in education. It helped me think deeply about some of my own stereotypes with poverty and culture and what I can do about it.
This line, found on page 143, is what I want to remember about this book: "Our instruction and how we interact with students and families are within our immediate spheres of influence." ...more
This line, found on page 143, is what I want to remember about this book: "Our instruction and how we interact with students and families are within our immediate spheres of influence." ...more
Informative and well-written.
“Education is the great equalizer. That’s what I heard growing up, the son of a mother from poor Appalachian stock and a father from middle class Detroit. If you work hard, do well in school, and follow the rules, you can be anything you want to be. It’s a fantastic idea. How remarkable it would be if only it were true.”
In Reaching and Teaching Students in Poverty: Strategies for Erasing the Opportunity Gap, Paul C. Gorski, the founder of EdChange and an associate professor of integrative studie ...more
In Reaching and Teaching Students in Poverty: Strategies for Erasing the Opportunity Gap, Paul C. Gorski, the founder of EdChange and an associate professor of integrative studie ...more
Gorski reminds readers that there is no "culture of poverty"--that children and families continue to fall victim to false assumptions based on their socioeconomic status. The book not only exposes us to basics of economics that all teachers should understand, but also includes research on schools and programs that are having positive impacts on students learning within, and pushing through, opportunity gaps. Great read for teachers and activists, easy to understand, and timely. Gorski's voice is
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Check out a podcast conversation about this book here: https://tiie.w3.uvm.edu/blog/reaching...
Insightful, well researched, and important! This is crucial reading for all educators. ...more
Insightful, well researched, and important! This is crucial reading for all educators. ...more
In this culmination of four decades' research, Gorski paints a thorough picture of the disparities faced by working-class students in America's schools. Rather than focusing on "culture of poverty" and character deficit theories, the author takes a materialist approach in explaining the "achievement gap" between high- and low-income students. Combining gentle rhetoric with hard data, Gorski dispels the popular American myth of the proletariat as a lazy, drunken, violent mob which does not value
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Gorski's work is important, careful, and detailed. This book could have used more specific pedagogical examples, but really, his approach is nothing short of a breath of fresh air. As an academic who is economically marginalized hoping to transform the classroom students who are economically marginalized, I appreciate the way this book brings attention to the various structures that limits academic excellence. I also like the way it flies in the face of the ways Grit theory and Mindset have been
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This book opens up your eyes to think about poverty from a perspective that works against the stereotypes and narratives that are generally in place. I find this read imperative for all teachers because whether you teach in an affluent area or a more impoverished area, poverty will always affect some of our students. We must be invested in the work of this book and how to better support our students.
Lots of important information about what Gorski rightly calls the opportunity gaps in education between poor students and their economically more advantaged peers, challenges to teachers to check our misconceptions, and many useful strategies to make things more equitable in our classrooms, even if we can’t fix all of the issues outside them. He focuses on K-12, but I found much to use in my community college classrooms.
While the book is definitely full of dense material and educational jargon, I would recommend this book for anyone involved with students/young people or active members of a community. So often we forget about the marginalized people's needs and our unintentional biases. Time to check those, people. Gorski does a great job introducing and defining poverty within America before diving into action plans and real-life examples.
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A lot of obvious points that are still worth stating clearly because too many of us teachers need them repeated - like respect and listen to families that are different from you. Main takeaway from my first read of it was to remove times when students or families have to "perform their poverty" like having to get waivers for field trip or activity fees each time. Used this concept to convince my school to not have families share all of their financial information when requesting financial aid!
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I appreciated that the book wasn't written just for teachers, but for anyone who interacts with youth from poverty. As a speech language pathologist and church youth leader, it was nice to feel included in the target demographic of the book!
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LOVED this! All educators should read this book. Gorski's framework of Equity Literacy is a very powerful framework for engaging in education and I definitely have a lot of reflecting and modifying to do!
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This book is very challenging, informative and practical. Lots of useful strategies for changing ourselves, our schools and our world.
Yes! I wish I had been required to read this during my university years. Gorski does a great job of breaking his thoughts down into meaningful chunks and offers accessible ideas. Would recommend.
Very informative and easy to read. I think everyone can benefit from reading this book; not just teachers and administrators.
Aug 14, 2019
Brian
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
top-tier-non-fiction,
summer-2019
This is a book every teacher should read and commit to memory.
10 gold stars out of 10
10 gold stars out of 10
Repetitive at times. A great guideline for teachers just stepping into the equity game.
Absolutely loved this book! Every educator, and especially educational leaders, should read this.
This book is a literature review of poverty and education research in America. It is easy to read and critically important background information. The "strategies" appear in only one chapter and are more good ideas than ready-to-implement techniques for the classroom. He is a researcher and teacher of teachers, not working through the conditions on the ground.
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Apr 23, 2015
Jonna Higgins-Freese
added it
Gorski points out that the "achievement gap" is actually an opportunity gap, an artifact of the effects of systemic poverty. He points out specific pedagogical ways to address this, and also advocates working with rather than on families in poverty.
He points out that research shows that it's best to teach high level conceptual and reasoning skills to students in poverty, versus low-level math and literacy skills -- what would be useful to me, as a parent, is to understand what each looks like, a ...more
He points out that research shows that it's best to teach high level conceptual and reasoning skills to students in poverty, versus low-level math and literacy skills -- what would be useful to me, as a parent, is to understand what each looks like, a ...more
Information on Poverty
A great read for teachers feeling defeated in low income areas/title one schools. The book gives many different strategies that educators or anyone in the community who are willing to help out can utilize to help students in poverty.
A great read for teachers feeling defeated in low income areas/title one schools. The book gives many different strategies that educators or anyone in the community who are willing to help out can utilize to help students in poverty.
Gorski provides a detailed and thorough analysis of the intersectionality of poverty and education. While many teachers and others in the US would argue that education is the "great equalizer," Gorski argues that this is not the case at all simply because students living in poverty attend schools that are not equal to those attended by their wealthier counterparts. He also effectively argues that there is no such thing as a "culture of poverty" because you can not have a culture based solely on
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Gorski starts out with an eye-opening and transformative review of the inequities inherent in our society that lead to and are replicated by public schools as they currently operate. It challenged my ideas about the so-called "culture of poverty" and how to best help students raised in poverty. This was the strength of the book. The strategic portion of the book, on the other hand, was a bit disappointing. Gorski was dismissive of direct instruction, with really very little evidence to back up h
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I can't say this book will provide a teacher with much in regards to new ideas on how to reach and teach students in poverty. The majority of this book is about living in poverty and ideals for how a world without poverty would be a more just and equitable place. I found several instances where the author debunked stereotypes only to give statistics that supported the same stereotype. I will continue to see all people as individuals and do what I can within my classroom world. Unless you really
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This book is a must read for anyone working with kids in public school systems. American education keeps getting labeled as ineffective while the impact of poverty on our system is ignored. This book points out the flaws in our current practices, and has real strategies that systems need to consider when supporting students from poverty. Really makes you think! And is very readable, not too "textbook" like. Read this book.
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This book isn't just for educators and parents of students. This book is for anyone interested in making a difference in our school systems and communities. The chapter where Gorski explodes the myths and stereotypes of 'poor people' and what they value is worth the price of admission. Thoroughly researched and clearly articulated, this book should be read in conjunction with 'Educating All God's Children.'
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If you are an educator and haven't read this book, get to it. This book should be handed out instead of those cheesy books that teachers are handed on their first days. Better yet, read it before you begin teaching!
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“We cannot understand the relationship between poverty and education without understanding the biases and inequities experienced by people in poverty.”
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“Growing up in poverty, I learned some hard lessons about life. These lessons were taught to me not by my family but rather by system “helpers.” I learned that being poor offended people. I learned people had rage and anger toward me and others like me. I learned that people thought being poor equated to lacking intelligence, creativity, motivation and desire. I learned that people felt sorry for me. In the process, I also learned to be weary (and wary) of helpers. (p. 46)”
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