Meeting the Needs of Disadvantaged Students by Ikhlas Ahmad

Running Head: DISADVANTAGES STUDENTS

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Meeting the Needs of Disadvantaged Students

Ikhlas Akram Ahmad

The University of Texas at Tyler

3900 University Blvd.

Tyler, Texas 75799

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


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Meeting the Needs of Disadvantaged Students

“In the United States, if you are poor, your odds of graduating are lower than of those of

a middle-income student” (Jensen 2013). There are about seventy percent of students who do not

graduate from high school due to living at least a year in poverty (Hernandez, 2012). These

findings also agree that it is not a lack of intelligence or ability that make create this reality, but

the circumstances of poverty distract students and their families must focus on survival rather

than school performance. When I look at all the information about these students, I can only be

faced with guilt. How effective are we in helping our low-income students? What if we raised

our expectations in the classroom? What if our expectations were to reach out to more students

and engage them in a more attentive way? As a teacher, how am I impacting the lives of my

students beyond the classroom?

First, I would like to start by sharing an experience I recently had at school. I was told

about one student specifically, the teachers told me that he was a difficult student and that I

would not get anything out of him. That information came in one ear and out the other! As a

teacher, I believe that if we have negative ideas toward a child then that is how he will always be

perceived and it will also reflect in his behavior and work. I decided that I was not going to listen

to anything negative about any child and that I was going to be positive and bring that

hopefulness out of my students. I am an ESL teacher and so on the first day of class, I went to his

classroom to pull him out. He was very grumpy and upset. You could tell he was not pleased

about coming with me, not because he hated me or did not want to be in my class, he just didn’t

want the other students to look at him and judge him for going to ESL. He came to me with very

little English. He could not even form a sentence properly or express himself. I greeted him in

the most exciting way. He probably did not understand everything I said but he could tell from


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my expression how excited and happy I was to have in my class. Since the first day of class until

now, he has shown lots of growth in learning English and now every time I go to pick him up

from class you can see that small tiny smile appear when he sees me. That smile is what brings

me joy and makes me realize why I decided to become an educator.

The purpose of this professional investigation is to make sure that we are reaching every

student and providing them with hope so that when they leave our classroom they are able to

hold onto that hope and be able to achieve great things in life beyond their own expectations. It is

our duty as educators to ensure that we build positive relationships with our students. So our

campus needs to be able to answer the questions: What do teachers and administrators know and

believe about reaching every disadvantaged student? How do teachers and administrators reach

out to disadvantaged children in our school? As a teacher, we hope we impact the lives of our

students in the classroom and beyond (Gorski, P.C.).


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Review of Related Literature

Background on Disadvantaged Students

What does it mean to be a disadvantaged student? Disadvantaged students come from a

low-income family. Due to their families social and economic circumstances it may delay their

ability to learn in school. Unfortunately, the odds of a low-income student graduating high

school are lower than a middle-income student. Half of all poor students who are Hispanic or

black drop out of school (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2008). “In 2009, the dropout rate of

students living in low-income families was about five times greater than the rate of students from

high-income families” (Jensen 2013 p. 1). Jensen (2013) explains in his book, Engaging

Students with Poverty in Mind, that the issue of so many dropouts is the fault of the schools and

educators not the students. As educators, we have to fight for our disadvantaged students and

work hard in motivating and engaging them in school.

Economically disadvantaged student find it very hard to succeed in school (Hernandez

2012). Some student’s dropout to find a low paying job so they can help out with their families.

That is why as educators we must make school fun and engaging for them. Disadvantaged

students are not exposed to a lot of experiences like vacations, trips to the zoo, visiting the

museum, or even going out to eat at a restaurant. They need to be able to connect with these

experiences to their school learning. Disadvantaged students need a boost of self-esteem and be

provided with access to books, newspapers, and computers. Above everything else,

disadvantaged students need to feel loved and valued for who they are. Their school is their

stable home. We must create a family school environment for them (Hurjui, E.).


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Building Relationships

Building relationships with our disadvantaged students is very essential to their learning

process. How do we build these relationships with our students to keep them engaged? Jensen

(2013) suggests that because students who come from a low-income family are considerably

diverse, no one knows your students better then you know them. As their teachers, we must

advocate for them and build those relationships.

High expectations should be required for all students and especially disadvantaged

students. Just because they come from low-income families does not mean we must lower out

standards for them. Also, disadvantaged students need to be granted many opportunities for

family involvement in the school (Isenberg, E.). In addition to family involvement, they also

need to be exposed to various styles of art. They need to be exposed to art, theater, and music.

They need to have access to more physical education. Due to lack of recreational facilities and

costs of sports the only time for them to have any form of movement is at recess or P.E. time.

Lee (2014) points out that there is a huge gap between low-income students and high-income

students use of computers. When we keep in mind what they lack and how we can substitute it

during school, we start building strong relationship with our disadvantaged students.

Best Practices

As Jensen (2013) mentions in his book there are several practices to keep poverty

students engaged and successful. First, we have to be able to recognize the signs. When I started

teaching as an ESL teacher and was puling out my student I mentioned in my introduction, I

could tell by the way he dressed and a few signs that just spoke to me that he was a student

coming from a low-income and disadvantaged family. I immediately looked up his records and I

wanted to learn more about him. I wanted to know how long he has been in the USA and where


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he came from. I wanted to know how many brothers and sisters her had. I wanted to know what

his mother and father did for a living. I researched him and asked around to other teachers until I

got all the information I needed to be able to precede in my goal/plan for him as my student. This

is a very important practice that we take the time to really know and study our students.

Another best practice is providing students with a warm and loving environment. The

school environment plays an important role in student learning (Koyama, J.P.). Some of these

disadvantaged students come from a background that lacks family relationships and structure.

When they come to school they are looking for stability and comfort.

Lastly, we must “empower students” (Jensen, 2013). As educators, we have to set the

expectation high for our disadvantaged students. Students must establish goals and work to

achieve them and it is our duty to scaffold their goal setting and provide them with the tools to be

able to do so. We are their role models and they look up to us solving real world problems. We

must teach them social skills and social interactions. I have researched many best practices but

found these to be the most important in truly engaging your students who come from a

disadvantaged family (Slavin, E. R.).

Reaching Disadvantaged Students

“If we as a nation can expand opportunity and reach out to those young people and help

them not just go to college but graduate from college or university, it could have a transformative

effect,” President Obama said during a speech at the White House in January 2014. President

Obama is stressing on how important it is that we create programs that can mentor students as

well as provide waivers for test fees. He also mentions that he wants to improve grant aid to

those who can’t afford to pay for school.

If we as educators, make it our goal to reach out to each of our students, so that they have


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the drive to keep going and continue to go and attend college then we have just changed the

future. They will grow up and they will teach their kids and the cycle will keep going. Jensen

(2013) provides us with five actions on how to increase motivation and effort so that we are able

to reach out to our students. First, he says that we need to make our students feel like it was their

idea and they were the brains behind what they choose. We provide them with choices so they

can be independent in their own learning. Secondly, he mentions that we have to provide

students with a low risk-learning environment. Students should never feel embarrassed or

humiliated for not getting something correct. Creating a low risk environment allows students to

academically take risks and engage in their own learning process. The third thing Jensen (2013)

discusses is building their way of thinking or influencing a positive mind-set. As educators we

must reinforce students belief in their way of thinking so that they want to keep learning new

ideas. The fourth thing he points out is to always provide feedback. “Kids growing up in poverty

typically get less positive feedback at home (Jensen 2013). We need to provide ongoing

feedback because it plays a great deal in motivating our students. Lastly, he reinforces setting

that low risk environment to ease them into something new or difficult. Encourage your students

so they feel comfortable to participate and interact in the classroom.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we must educate and train our teachers to fully commit to doing all they

can to influence their students in the classroom. Every student no matter where they are from

deserves to be taught by teachers who are passionate and caring. These disadvantaged students

need role models. They need loving teachers that care about their future. They need to feel

motivated and challenged by their teachers (Razza, R. A,Martin). In my methodology I will be


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interviewing and surveying schools that have low-income students on how we are reaching out to

our disadvantaged students? I will be answering these questions: How do we build these

relationships to keep students engaged? What are the best practices to keep students with poverty

engaged and successful in school?


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Methodology

This study will examine how disadvantaged students at Forestridge Elementary at the

Richardson Independent School District to determine effective practices that keep students with

poverty engaged and successful in school and identify adjustments that need to be made. The

research questions leading my research include (1) What do teachers and administrators at

Forestridge Elementary know and believe about reaching every disadvantaged student? (2) How

do teachers and administrators at Forestridge reach out to disadvantaged children in our school?

Setting

Forestridge Elementary within RISD is a small Title I school in a small neighborhood

located between Whispering Hills and Bunchberry Drive in Dallas, Texas. For the 2013-2014

school year, the school was rated “recognized” by TEA. For the 2014-2015 school year, the total

school enrollment is 666 students. During this school year of 2014-2015, the demographics

consists of 11.14% White, 36.75% African American, 30.48% Hispanic, 17.57% Asian, and

3.7% are identified as two or more race. Forestridge Elementary consists of 342 girls and 324

boys. Forestridge Elementary contains 42 teachers and the demographics of classroom teachers

for 2014-2015 are: 4% African American, 2% Hispanic, 2% Asian, and 92% White.

Participants

Participants in this research project are the teachers, administrators, and students at

Forestridge Elementary. Teachers and administrators will be given surveys that are anonymous.

There will be 30 teachers and administrators participating in the survey. The teachers and


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administrators will be given the opportunity to respond privately using a survey from Google

Documents.

The other group to participate in this research is the sixth grade students at Forestridge

Elementary. There are 66 sixth graders at Forestridge Elementary, and they will also be given

questionnaires that will be administrated using Google Documents.

Process

The research process will consist of surveys and questionnaires. The surveys will ask

participants to rate their responses from 1 “strongly disagree” to 4 “strongly agree”. Throughout

this process confidentiality will be maintained. Consent for participation will be obtained from

parents before any minors participate in the questionnaires. There will also be a letter for

teachers and administrators to read before completing the survey. The data will be collected and

analyzed to determine best practices for disadvantaged students.


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References

Alliance for Excellent Education. (2008). Students of color and the achievement gap.

Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from: http://www.all4ed.org/about_the_crisis/

students/students_of_color

Gorski, P. C. (2013). Building a pedagogy of engagement for students in poverty. Phi Delta

Kappan, 95(1), 48.

Hernandez, D. (2012) Double jeopardy: How third-grade reading skills and poverty influence

high school graduation. Baltimore: Annie E. Foundation. Retrieved from:

http://www.aecf.org/~/media/Pubs/Topics/Education/Other/Double

JeopardyHowThirdGradeReadingSkillsandPoverty/DoubleJeopardyREport040511Final

Hurjui, E. (2014) Counseling of children coming from disadvantaged environments to prevent

failure and avoid school abandonment. Proceedings of the Scientific Conference

AFASES, Vol. 2. P 561-566.

Isenberg, E., Max, J., Gleason, P., Potamites, L., Santillano, R., Hock, H., & ... National Center

for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (2013). Access to effective teaching

for disadvantaged students. NCEE 2014-4001. Institute Of Education Sciences

Jensen, E. (2013). Engaging students with poverty in mind: practical strategies for raising

achievement. Alexandria, VA: ASCD

Koyama, J. P. (2010). Making failure pay : for-profit tutoring, high-stakes testing, and public

schools. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010


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Lee, K., & Slate, J. (2014). Differences in advanced achievement outcomes for Texas students as

a function of economics disadvantage. Journal Of Education Research, 8(3), 137-149.

Razza, R.A.,Martin, A., & Brooks-Gunn,J. (2012). The implications early attentional regulation

for school success among low-income children. Journal of Applied Developmental

Psychology, 33(6), 311-319.

Slavin, E. R. (1993). Preventing Early School Failure: What Works? Retrieved from

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/dec92/vol50/num04/Preventing-

Early-School-Failure@-What-Works¢.aspx.

Ticusan, M. (2014). School dropout in current society. Proceedings Of The Scientific Conference

AFASES, 2667-671


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Appendix A

Student Questionnaires

Sixth graders at FRE were surveyed using Google Docs online for ease of use and data

collection purposes. The original survey can be found at http://goo.gl/forms/sJ305cFBvc.

Students, thank you for participating in answering these questions. Your feedback is

important in the evaluation of the success of engaging students at Forestridge Elementary. Your

name is not being recorded, so please be honest in your responses.

1. What is you proudest moment?

2. What do you want to learn about?

3. Who are your heroes and role models?

4. What do teachers sometimes misunderstand about you?

5. What motivates you to do your best in school?

In the next set of questions, please indicate how strongly you agree or disagree with each

statement by checking your response.

Questions Strongly

Disagree

Disagree Agree Strongly

Agree

I enjoy my classes.

I learn best through motivation.

I am successful in my classroom.

I am excited about going to school.

I enjoy using technology in my classroom.

I enjoy reading in class.

I enjoy reading at home.

I am engaged in the classroom.

I respect my teachers.

http://goo.gl/forms/sJ305cFBvc


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Appendix B

Letter to Parents

Dear Parents,

I am currently pursuing my Masters in Educational Leadership at the University of Texas

at Tyler. Part of this program requires me to conduct an original educational research study. My

research is focused on effective ways for engaging our students in the classroom at Forestridge

Elementary. My hope is that this research will lead to implementing best practices in serving the

needs of our students.

This study will be conducted by having sixth grade students complete a short

questionnaire that will be accessible on Google Doc at http://goo.gl/forms/sJ305cFBvc.

They will complete the survey during their computer lab time during school. This questionnaire

is completely confidential.

Attached you will find a consent form for your student to participate in this questionnaire.

Please indicate your response. Students without consent forms on file will not participate in the

questionnaire.

Thank you for your support in this process. If you have any questions or concerns, please

feel free to email me at [email protected] .

Sincerely,

Ikhlas Ahmad




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Appendix C

Student-Parent Consent Form

Student Name:_________________________________________ Grade:__________

Please check whether or not your give permission for your child to participate in the

questionnaire and sign below.

I give my child permission to participate in the questionnaire.

___YES ___NO

Parent Name:__________________________________

Parent Signature:_______________________________

Date:__________________________


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Appendix D

Letter to 6th grade teacher

Dear Colleague,




Elementary. My hope is that this research will lead to implementing best practices in serving the

needs of our students.

Your students will be administered a questionnaire, but there names will not be collected.

They will complete the survey during their computer lab time during school. This questionnaire

is completely confidential. This study will be conducted by having sixth grade students complete

a short questionnaire that will be accessible on Google Doc at http://goo.gl/forms/sJ305cFBvc.

Attached you will find a parent letter and consent form for your student to be able to

participate in this questionnaire. I would greatly appreciate your help in collecting these letters

back.



Sincerely,

Ikhlas Ahmad




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Appendix E

Letter to Colleagues

Dear Colleagues,




Elementary. This study will evaluate the disadvantaged students at Forestridge Elementary to

determine effective practices that keep students with poverty engaged and successful in school

and identify adjustments that need to be made. The research questions leading my research

include (1) How do we build relationships to keep students engaged? (2) What are the best

practices to keep students with poverty engaged and successful in school? (3) What do teachers

and administrators know and believe about reaching every disadvantaged student? (4) How do

teachers and administrators reach out to disadvantaged children in our school? My hope is that

this research will lead to implementing best practices in serving the needs of our students.

This study will be conducted completing a short survey that will be accessible on Google

Doc at http://goo.gl/forms/sJ305cFBvc.

The survey personal information and response will be strictly confidential.



Sincerely,

Ikhlas Ahmad




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Appendix F

Teacher Questionnaires

Teachers and administrators at FRE were surveyed using Google Docs online for ease of

use and data collection purposes. The original survey can be found at

http://goo.gl/forms/sJ305cFBvc.

Teachers, thank you for participating in answering these questions. Your feedback is

important in the evaluation of the success of engaging students at Forestridge Elementary. Your

name is not being recorded, so please be honest in your responses.

Background Information

1. Gender ____ Male ____ Female

2. Highest Education Level Attained ____Diploma ____Bachelor’s ____Master’s

_____Doctorate

3. Total Years Teaching _______

4. How many years have been working at this school? ________

Please indicate how strongly you agree or disagree with each statement by checking your

response.

Questions Strongly

Disagree

Disagree Agree Strongly

Agree

I like working at this school.

I enjoy teaching my students.

I motivate myself to be the best.

I have great relationship with my students.

I have great relationship with my parents.

I respect my students.

My lesson plans are very engaging.

I meet each students needs individually.

Students at this school trust the teacher.

Students at this school are capable of high

achievement on standardized exams.

Teachers at this school care whether or not the

students are successful.
