Poverty

Poverty has a significant impact on student learning. There has

been much research to support this premise. Students living in
affluent well-educated homes and communities are far more
academically successful while those living in poverty are
typically behind academically.
Free and reduced lunches are one indicator of poverty.
According to National Center for Education Statistics,
Mississippi has one of the highest national rates of eligibility for
free/reduced lunches at 71%. Their 8th-grade NAEP scores for
2015 were at 271 in math and 252 in reading. Massachusetts has
one of the lowest rates of eligibility for free/reduced lunches at
35%. Their 8th-grade NAEP scores for 2015 were at 297 in math
and 274 in reading. This is only one example of how poverty can
impact education.
Poverty is a difficult obstacle to overcome. It follows generation
over generation and becomes the accepted norm, which makes
it almost impossible to break. Though education is a significant
part of breaking the grips of poverty, most of these students are
so far behind academically that they will never get that
opportunity.