Chapter 5 section 5 The Politics of Disadvantage

By Sara Ellis
Talking about success/failure of poor children is uncomfortable
Education reformers locate the obstacles for success within the school system.
Reformers believe the solutions can be found in the classroom.
Reform skeptics blame out-of-school factors for low performance of poor children
o However the factors they list of have little to do with family function.
True obstacles are:
o Home /Community that create high level of stress
o Absence of secure relationship with caregivers
We look at the wrong issues when discussing the poverty related underachievement
o We ignore the factors that science say do the most damage
Science is not well understood
For those not living in low income settings it is an uneasy subject to talk about the family
disfunction of those households.
Science presents a challenge to some deep political beliefs
Character traits (important factors) are not innate they are molded within the child.