A.

The community
When completing my community scan and interview with the Contra Costa County Supervisor, I
began uncovering important information about areas of the community that was struggling.
What got me thinking is what was stated by Federal Glover, “...in conversation with a group
that’s trying to close the literacy gap [...] one of the points I continued to make was that we
have to be working with the parents”. While the issues like the literacy gap affect all children, it
especially affects students in poverty. When looking at statistics I found on students within my
community that live in poverty through WelfareInfo (2017), it shows that poverty skyrockets
with children ages 6-17. This made me realize that these students may not be given equal
access to education because of teachers’ biases. I felt that this related back to what Federal
discussed about working with the parents and came up with my innovation from there.

B. Define the problem.

The issue to focus on in my community is how poverty affects the futures of students --
whether it’s their home life, peer relationships, or the school system. Whatever it may be, it’s
holding them back from equality and further creates a chain reaction of wide social mobility
gaps. At the moment, the policies standing in the way of solving this problem are the traditional
and rigid rules within the curriculum. I feel connected to this issue as a future High School
Special Education Teacher because it’s my duty to ensure a student’s success before they
graduate.

C. Possibilities
There were many ideas I started with when brainstorming a solution such as workshops,
meetings, changing the school environment -- but then I decided to put myself in the shoes of
the students. This is why my innovation is unique because rarely, creators of these programs
think of how it looks from a young person’s perspective. However, after sharing my ideas with
my peers, I did some tweaking to ensure it was well-polished. My peers suggested ideas for
getting these students involved in the program without them feeling singled out, like sitting
down and chatting with them in the first week of school. Even when I felt I had a solid plan and
submitted it for feedback, there was still room for improvement which is what ultimately led to
the final revision of my innovation. A program for students in poverty with the base idea of
creating a more inclusive environment and personal bi-annual meetings with the students.
Within these meetings, we will discuss current and future struggles both mentally and
academically and work together to create student-oriented goals for their future. Along with
this plan, I will work hard to ensure that every student is offered the same information on their
options for life after graduation.

D. Professional Identity
The role I intend to play in this program is just another team player in the group of teachers
that will come together to bring the plan to fruition. As always, my leadership style is
participative and this plays into why I wanted to solve this problem in the first place. I see
myself and my future students as my equals and if I want to ensure their happiness and
success, I have to start somewhere because each generation affects the next. My purpose is to
make students with disabilities feel understood, heard, and supported; no matter their
circumstance. These words should be the baseline of any education that is, unfortunately,
missing in many students’ educational experiences. My program embodies these values at its
core which is why incorporating them now is important.

E. The Proposal
For families who are affected by poverty, I’m asking you to open yourselves to new possibilities
for your student’s future. While the program handles intimate and personal struggles, we need
the trust from you to change the lives of generations to come. This includes lowering rates of
depression and numbers of persons incarcerated, closing the social mobility and literacy gap,
reducing the homeless population, increasing accessible health benefits for families, and more.
I will continue to fight for this for the rest of my life because students and those of their future
deserve happiness, health, and safety.

References

Welfare Info. (2017). 13.6% Poverty Rate in Pittsburg, California.

https://www.welfareinfo.org/poverty-rate/california/pittsburg