Poverty and Culture in Education: Separate but Equal

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to separate and clarify the impact of poverty and cultural background on the educational attainment of children. The effects of poverty and culture on educability are examined separately. It is concluded that each factor uniquely influences mediating variables which determine educability and, ultimately, educational attainment. Clear separation of the effects of poverty and culture is required in order to plan and interpret research and evaluate interventions.

Problem-Solving Interactions between Greek Mothers and Children

“…AS REVIEWS OF AMERICAN STUDIES of mother-child interaction indicate (Chan & Rueda, 1979;Farran & Haskins, 1980), it is becoming widely accepted that social class affects the quality of mother-child interactions. Middle-class mothers more than lower-class mothers are generally described as having more contact, more indirect control, and more active interaction and as being more positively reinforcing of their children's behavior.…”

Identity Safety and Its Importance for Academic Success

“…The research community has invested much time in examining possible causes and cures for racial inequalities in education. There have been three historical theories of causes of the persistent racial underperformance phenomenon: person-centered explanations of deficit intellect (Herrnstein & Murray, 1995;Rushton & Jensen, 2005), community-centered cultural deprivation theories, and sociological understandings of the role of poverty (Biddle, 2003;Chan & Rueda, 1979;Karnes & Zehrbach, 1975;Lee et al, 1993;Nasson, 1984;Ryan, Fauth, & Brooks-Gunn, 2006;Skiba, Poloni-Staudinger, Simmons, Feggins-Azziz, & Chung, 2005). Personcentered explanations of deficit intellect were birthed out of racist ideologies and have not been empirically or biologically supported.…”

Hearing Impairment and Bilingual Children: Considerations in Assessment and Intervention

“…This issue may have many culturally related implications. Differences in attitudes toward aural habilitation related to cultural/linguistic factors may be due to cultural beliefs (Harris, 1982), to lack of information about the help and care available (Jones & Kretschmer, 1988), or to economic factors (Chan & Rueda, 1979). Clinicians need to explore the attitudes or all clients toward hearing aid use prior to their fitting, but must be especially sensitive to attitudes determined by cultural mores, which are usually more deep-seated and resistant to change.…”