POVERTY-STRICKEN SCHOOLS: WHAT WE

CAN LEARN FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD AND

FROM SUCCESSFUL SCHOOLS IN ECONOMICALLY
DISADVANTAGED AREAS IN THE US
HANI MORGAN
University of Southern Mississippi

This paper discusses how much of the gap in learning between

poverty-stricken students and advantaged students in the US is
related to a lack of educational resources and poor teaching qual-
ity. It discusses how some school systems have been able to
overcome the challenges of poverty and how high-quality teach-
ing can alleviate the effects of poverty. This article also
recommends ways to solve the problems related to inequalities
in American schools for disadvantaged students and explores
successful school systems for disadvantaged students both in the
US and abroad.

In December of 2010, many Americans dition of many schools located in eco-

were shocked when the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) announced the latest scores of the
Program for Intemafional Student Assess-
ment (PISA) tests. Eor thefirsttime, China
was in first place in math, reading, and sci-
ence, and the US continued to score in the
average range, failing to score as high as
the top ten ranked countries in any sub-
ject. The announcement of the PISA scores
was one of the leading stories on many
national news shows and led some Amer-
icans to wonder if this was comparable to
the "Sputnik" problem. Although many
US students perform well on internation-
al tests such as the PISA, students who
attend disadvantaged schools generally
score poorly; consequently, national scores
are lowered, and the US often lags behind
the countries performing highest on inter-
national testing, such as Einland and South
Korea (Baines, 2007).
One of the biggest problems in the US
educafional system is the inadequate con-
nomically disadvantaged areas. McGee
(2004) describes this concern as the most
crucial issue in the American educational
system. Darling-Hammond and Sykes
(2003) indicate that most schools in eco-
nomically- disadvantaged areas in the US
suffer from teachers who are underpre-
pared and too often work in schools with
poor working conditions, high teacher-
turnover rates, and low pay. As a result of
attending inadequate schools, many stu-
dents do very poorly on international
achievement tests when compared with
more advantaged students. This article dis-
cusses how the educafion of the poor can
be improved by focusing on successful
models in the US and abroad.
The Gap in Academic Achievement
Although the gap in academic achieve-
ment could be the result of many causes
such as parental involvement, cultural atti-
tude towards education, and the
educational resources available at the home

291
292 / Education Vol. 133 No. 2
of a child, the school and its teachers can
make a huge impact on a student's educa-
tion. Unfortunately, even in 21st century
America, severe inequalities in academic
achievement persist. On a recent PISA test,
for example. Brozo, Shiel and Topping
(2007) indicate that white students in
America were ranked second among the 32
countries that took the test, but that African
American and Hispanic students were
ranked 25th. On state tesdng, the situation
is very similar. In 2001, for example, on the
Illinois standards achievement test, only
40% of low-income third graders met the
state's reading standards, compared with
75% of their classmates who were not con-
sidered disadvantaged students, and the
reading results for grades 5 and 8 were
similar (McGee, 2004).
McGee (2004) argues that the gap in
achievement is not about students who are
failing, but about a system that is not pro-
viding the educational opportunities that
low-income students are entitled to. A
description of many low-income schools
does in fact support McGee's hypothesis.
The Need for Better Schools for the Poor
One of the biggest problems that
schools in poor districts face is a shortage
of qualified teachers. Experienced teach-
ers often leave these schools, and many
good teachers avoid them. Most teachers
who teach in poor districts are likely to
hold less educational credentials, teach a
subject they do not specialize in, and grad-
uate from less prestigious universities when
compared with teachers who teach in more
advantaged areas (Robinson, 2007). Very
often teachers with little experience or cre-
dentials take positions in poor districts and
then leave, once they have gotten the expe-
rience which makes them marketable for
wealthier districts.
Erost (2007) refers to many inequali-
ties between poor schools serving
low-income students and those in wealth-
ier areas, pointing out that in some
advantaged districts, schools spend over
twice as much per pupil than those in the
poorest districts. In some inner-city
schools, such as those in Chicago, chil-
dren not only have teachers with
inadequate training, but also have to deal
with overcrowded classrooms, run-down
buildings, and dilapidated textbooks.
Although the federal No Child Lefi Behind
program was designed to provide funds to
help impoverished schools, children in
these schools, who are predominantly stu-
dents of color, are often found in
classrooms that leave little opportunities
for learning (Erost, 2007). New York City
is another area that encountered severe
teacher problems. Haycock and Crawford
(2008) describe how teachers in this city
were often not licensed or had failed the
licensure exam on numerous occasions.
Eortunately, the school system in New York
stopped this practice and is now recruit-
ing more qualified teachers.
Although Kozol (1991) documented
many inequalities between the schools dis-
advantaged children attend and those of
more fortunate students almost twenty
years ago, authors such as Glickman and
Scally (2008) offer evidence showing that
little has changed in the 21st century.
Noguera and Akom (2000) mention that
many parents view inner city schools "as
hopeless and unresponsive to their needs"
(p. 29). In order for students who live in

low-income areas to do well in school, they
need competent teachers who understand
their needs. Frost (2007) discusses that
they need highly-qualified teachers more
than students in wealthier districts.
Successful Academic Programs
for Disadvantaged Youth
In contrast to the many inadequate
schools serving the poor in the US, many
school systems from around the world pro-
vide the poor with a better education.
Students from low socioeconomic back-
grounds in the OECD countries outscoring
the US on international tests, such as South
Korea and Singapore, perform better than
their counterparts in the US, in part,
because these students get a qualified
teacher regardless of their socioeconomic
background (Paine & Schleicher, 2011).
Some countries do the opposite of the US
with regard to the way the poor are edu-
cated. In contrast to the overcrowded
schools in many poor districts in the US,
approximately half of OECD countries
tend to provide a lower teacher/student
ratio for students from low socioeconom-
ic backgrounds based on the logic that
these students need better, and more, teach-
ers. In Singapore for example, a country
known for its high scores, the best teach-
ers teach the students who have the most
difficulty, which is the opposite of what
usually occurs in the US (Paine & Schle-
icher, 2011).
Some schools in the US with large num-
bers of low-income students are achieving
good results, and modeling what these
schools are doing can reduce the gap in
achievement. Chenoweth (2009) describes
a few schools, consisting primarily of stu-
Poverty-stricken Schools... /293
dents coming from poor families, who are
achieving at similar levels to students in
wealthier districts. Some of the schools
mentioned include George HaU Elementary
in Mobile, Alabama, Graham Road Ele-
mentary in Falls Church, Virginia, and
RS./M.S. 124 Osmond A. Church School
in Queens, New York. What is different
about these schools is the way they are
organized and their tremendous devotion
to helping students learn.
Chenoweth (2009) mentions that suc-
cessful schools in poverty-stricken areas
assess students well by accurately evalu-
ating what they know, and do not know. In
one of these schools, for example, teach-
ers review each test with each student to
find out which questions or problems were
most difficult. In another case, teachers
discovered that students had weak vocab-
ulary skills, a very common deficiency
among low-income students. Some of these
schools build vocabulary skills by taking
students on field trips to places they have
likely never been to, as a result of being
poor. Other schools help students under-
stand new vocabulary by showing short
documentary videos.
In addition, Chenoweth (2009) dis-
cusses that many ofthe successful schools
serving students from low-income fami-
lies allow teachers to meet together, and
this leads them to accurately assess the stu-
dents. In many schools in the US today,
teachers are isolated and spend little, if
any, time interacting with each other. When
teachers interact with each other,
Chenoweth (2009) contends that students
benefit from the broader knowledge of a
school's faculty, but when they sit isolat-
ed, students are dependent only on the
294 / Education Vol. 133 No. 2
expertise and skills of one individual
teacher.
McGee (2004) mentions that high-per-
forming, high-poverty schools in
Wisconsin tend to have certain common
characteristics, including student-centered
instruction, more interaction between
teachers, parental involvement, small class
size, project-based instruction, staff-initi-
ated professional development, and
proactive administrative leadership.
Learning from the Top-Ranked Countries
Some of the recommendations that
McGee (2004) emphasizes to close the
achievement gap in the US include improv-
ing teacher education and professional
development, since many countries deal
with these aspects of the educational sys-
tem in a different manner than the US.
Exploring teacher-education systems in
the countries that outperform the US on
international testing can yield important
information. Teacher-education programs
in these countries are superior to those in
the US in many ways. The gap in achieve-
ment between advantaged and
disadvantaged students will likely be
reduced significandy if the policies towards
education in the top-ranked countries in
international testing are implemented in
America, for several reasons. The most
important of which is that these countries
not only practice the methods that high-
performing schools in low-income areas
in the United States use, they also offer
many more advantages to, both, teachers
and students.
In Singapore, for example, mentor
teachers guide beginning teachers, and
novices in the teaching profession also col-
laborate with other teachers, and visit dif-
ferent classes for as long as 20 hours a
week (Darling-Hammond, 2008). In addi-
tion, students get the best teachers possible
because Singapore recruits teachers from
the top one third of each high school class
and offers them 100 hours per year of pro-
fessional development which is paid by
the government (Darling-Hammond,
2008). Teachers in Singapore also have
opportunities to choose different career
opportunities—master teacher, principal, or
curriculum specialist (Schleicher & Stew-
art, 2008). In the United States, on the other
hand, not only are the poorest teachers
more likely to end up with students from
low-income areas, but almost half of Amer-
ica's K-12 teachers come from the bottom
one-third of their college classes, as mea-
sured by SAT scores (Kristof, 2011).
Obstacles for Reducing
the Achievement Gap
One of the main issues in the public
school system today is that administrators
are reluctant to take action against teach-
ers whose performance is unsafisfactory.
Although many teachers in the public
school system are hard working, others are
not, and often do not get removed even
when complaints of inadequate perfor-
mance, or inappropriate conduct, are
received.
Thomas, Wingert, Conant, and Regis-
ter (2010) explain that teachers in most
states receive tenure after two or three years
and are very difficult to fire as a result of
belonging to powerful unions. In New
York, for example, in 2008, only three out
of the 30,000 tenured teachers were dis-
missed. This problem has led many

inner-city school teachers to develop apa-
thetic attitudes blaming parents and
students, and not themselves, for their stu-
dents' poor academic performance
(Thomas et al., 2010).
Medina (2010) explains how officials
who want to remove ineffective teachers in
big cities such as New York cannot do so
because the teachers' union heavily influ-
ences laws making it difficult to fire
teachers. In some cases teachers who are
investigated for poor conduct or inadequate
teaching receive their full salary as they
await for their cases to be resolved, which
can take years. Medina (2010) discusses
that in New York City, these teachers report
to a "rubber room" until the investigation
is over, and this process costs the educa-
tional system $30 million per year.
Although taking on the unions will not
be easy, there is hope for a better future
for several reasons. First, many high-per-
forming inner-city schools in the US, which
are not part ofthe public school system, but
are charter schools, have been organized.
Programs like KIPP (Knowledge Is Power
Program) have organized successful inner-
city schools that outperform the public
schools. In addifion, reformers are chal-
lenging the powerful unions. A good
example of this is what happened recent-
ly at Central Falls High School in Rhode
Island where the local superintendent
threatened to fire 74 teachers for failing to
lead the students in the school to perform
well. The school had a very high dropout
rate of almost 50%, and a 7% proficiency
rate in math among 11th graders (Thomas
et al., 2010). What is encouraging in this
example is that Education Secretary Dun-
can and President Obama supported what
Poverty-stricken Schools... /295
the superintendent had done, and this could
be a sign that the US is heading in the right
direction. Many upper-middle-class par-
ents send their children to expensive private
institutions to avoid schools with similar
problems, but for working-class famihes,
this is not a feasible alternative.
Conclusion
An important step in reducing the
achievement gap between low-income stu-
dents and more privileged students is to
acquire skillful teachers for all students.
Unfortunately, in America, quality
teachers are unevenly distributed (DarUng-
Hammond, 2008; Haycock and Crawford,
2008; Paine & Schleicher, 2011). The dif-
ference between good and poor teachers is
a critical issue. Haycock and Crawford
(2008) refer to a study showing that stu-
dents with good teachers were found to
make academic gains, whereas those taught
by poor teachers fell behind.
Solving the achievement gap in Amer-
ican schools seems simple: place teachers
who are properly trained with low-income
students. The leading countries in inter-
national testing are already doing this.
Countries whose students outperform oth-
ers, such as Finland, Sweden, Singapore,
and Japan prepare their teachers much
more extensively than the US, pay their
teachers well, and make sure qualified
teachers are evenly distributed among
schools (Darling-Hammond, 2008).
In some countries such as Sweden and
Finland, teachers are able to finish gradu-
ate level work with a government stipend.
Compared to the United States, where
some teachers are allowed to teach through
an "alternate route" program, without any
296 / Education Voi. 133 No. 2
teacher-training experience, this is a very
important advantage. PubHc schools some-
times argue that alternative programs are
necessary to deal with the shortage of
teachers, but this is not necessarily good
logic. If teachers were paid well, trained
well, and supported well, chances are there
would not be a problem with teacher short-
ages. In Europe, for example, where
teachers have these advantages, schools
do not have problems recruiting new teach-
ers with strong academic backgrounds
(Thomas et al., 2010). Another example
showing how well teachers can be treated
involves teacher salaries in Singapore; in
that country first-year teachers make more
than beginning doctors (Darling-Ham-
mond, 2008).
In the US, there are high-performing
schools that benefit working-class students
tremendously, and modeling these schools
can benefit the educational system. How-
ever, this is not enough. Eor sustained
improvement towards closing the gap in
achievement, American schools need a
similar infrastructure and organization to
those of the countries leading the world in
international testing. Policy changes aimed
at modeling the educational systems of
these countries will likely offer a much
better solution than merely imitating Amer-
ican schools with "best practices".
Lackluster scores on international tests
should cause America to worry because
there is a link between economic prosper-
ity and educational achievement. Paine and
Schleiler (2011) refer to a study done at
Stanford University suggesting that an
average increase of 25 points for the US
on the PISA scores could lead to a $41 tril-
lion increase for the US economy. If the US
does not keep up with the rest of the world,
it will likely lead to a gloomy future for
education in America. The good news is
that improving the educational system and
raising test scores is possible. Some coun-
tries, such as South Korea, have made rapid
progress, and were not among the leaders
two generations ago, and in the US, some
districts in Elorida, North Carolina, and
CaUfomia have also made noticeable gains
(Paine & Schleiler, 2011).
The US also has some very active
reformers such as Michelle Rhee, who cre-
ated a new program called Students Eirst
(Dillon, 2011). One of the main goals of
this program is to gain back some power
from teachers' unions and textbook man-
ufacturers and to provide parents, teachers,
students, and administrators with more
opportunities to produce better results at
both the local and national level. Rhee is
also fighting a system known as Last In,
Eirst Out (LIEO).
Her referendum urges the cessation of
the antiquated Last-In, Eirst-Out policy
used by US school districts for generations
regarding teachers; it encourages a system
where teachers are retained for good teach-
ing in the classroom and discourages the
complacency experienced by tenured
teachers in too many cases. Changes of
this kind can only bode well for a new and
better future for American schools.
 Poverty-stricken Schools... /297

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