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How does Poverty Affects the Academic Performance of Kindergarten Students

Summary of Literature and research

Academic achievements among kindergarten students from low-income

backgrounds is significantly different from that of other children. According to research,

poverty affects the learning of kindergarten children, making them perform poorly in

school (Sharkins et al. 497). The children are not able to fully exploit their potential or

improve their educational statuses due to insufficiency of resources. Those resources

include supportive environment, learning materials, time, and psychological wellbeing.

They are all determinants of academic excellence, implying that their inadequacy

among kindergarten students from poor backgrounds yields poor academic

performance.

Poverty subjects kindergarten students to unconducive environment that cannot

support their home learning activities, such as doing homework. For instance, the

kindergartens get insufficient space or lighting for studying or doing homework,

implying that they cannot improve their performance while away from school like other

children. The lack of an opportunity for academic improvement extends to holidays

where the students lag behind with significant margins. The phenomenon pulls them

backwards education-wise, leading to poor performance (Smith-Adcock et al. 2830).

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The reason is that remain in different academic levels with other students from better
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economic backgrounds. They go to school with lesser knowledge and practice than m
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them, which makes their academic performance worse. 2

Poverty denies kindergarten students sufficient resources and materials to

support their intellectual capabilities growth, thus affecting their school performance.

Parents with low income are unable to fully provide all requirements that facilitate

effective education to the children. Based on the Edutopia website, the reason is that

they are struggling to provide other basic needs like food and shelter, remaining with

inadequate finances to provide all learning materials for the children (Parrett and

Budge). Some are unable to provide all the basic needs implying that the children

become physically unready to learn with similar energy as others. The lack of material

support in their education deprive them the privileges of good academic resources,

inclining their performance to failure.

Poverty lessens the kindergartens’ readiness for full participation in learning,

dragging their understanding rates and participation in learning activities, which in turn

affects their overall performance (Olszewski-Kubilius et al. 39). Less fortunate families

involve the kindergarten children in home chores, consuming their learning time. For

instance, some are left to look after their siblings, as their parents cannot afford to hire

house helps when working, thus denying the children an opportunity to engage in

learning like other students. In some cases, the students are not able to attend school,

implying their academics are poorly affected from time to time due to home-based

economic issues. The children are not even able to prepare themselves adequately for
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learning in terms of their physical and psychology. The state reduces their chance of
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performing well as others, slowing their educational growth. m
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Poverty creates an imbalance between kindergarten students, making those from 3

less fortunate families psychologically affected, an aspect known to affect

concentration. According to a video from Statistics and Theory regarding effects of

poverty on brain and academics, the difference in social classes among kindergartens

develops skewed treatment among them, which mostly reduces the self-esteem of those

from lower classes. For example, those from poor backgrounds lack good-looking

uniform, causing them discomposure when amidst others. The affected psychological

aspect affects the students’ attention to most important things in school, making them

susceptible to poor performance. The implication is that poverty is responsible for

kindergarten students’ psychological well-being that determines their school

performance.

Summary of the interview

The interview was conducted with one kindergarten teacher in person, gathering

information on how poverty may be of influence to the students’ academic achievement.

Some of the interview questions that guided the interview include: Do pre-schoolers

from different backgrounds perform the same? Are pre-schoolers from less fortunate

families able to complete homework? Do pre-schoolers from poor families have all the

required materials for learning? How is the participation of kindergarten students in

school educational activities? Are kindergartens’ concentration in educational matters

equal for students from different backgrounds? Do kindergartens from poor

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backgrounds appear calm or disturbed in the learning procession?
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The findings from the interview response confirmed that poverty has m
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considerable effects on kindergarten student’s academic performance. The teacher 4

indicated that the most dominant thing among kindergartens from poor backgrounds is

inadequate materials for learning as required by schools. The implication is that most

parents with low incomes are unable to fully support their children, especially in

providence of al requirements. Another concern for the kindergartens from such families

is the lack of full concentration in school matters, which is also reflected in their poor

performance as compared to the rest. The teacher remarked that kindergartens from low

income backgrounds seem distracted and discomposed to let in all academic knowledge

and skills given to them. The perceived reason for this attribute is the environment that

their poverty offer them. Some seem short of self-esteem, as other kindergartens from

better backgrounds always seem to outshine them. The entire state affects their

capability to achieve, leading to poor performance. The implication is that poverty has

significant effect on kindergarten’s academic performance.

Reflection

My beliefs pertaining to the issue are that children need all-round support in

their education life while still young, as early childhood education forms their

foundation of academic excellence. Early childhood education should be standardized

to attend to all students’ needs regardless of their backgrounds. The belief’s impact on

my practice as a future educator is that my approach to teaching will ensure no students

are left out in all education aspects and that all receive equal opportunity to realize their
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academic potential. Such an approach could be hard considering that some kindergarten
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students from poor backgrounds are mostly affected by home factors that an educatorm
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has no control over. However, my teaching design will optimize the time that students5

spend at school to boost their education capabilities, such that their backgrounds will

have less impact on their performance.

The new understanding has strengthened my belief that there is a high need for

early childhood education to incorporate supportive aspects to kindergarten students

from all backgrounds. Those from poor backgrounds experience challenges that reduce

their potential to perform well, thus giving them a poor educational foundation that

affects even their future. Some challenges due to poverty are school-based while others

are home-based, and all have different significance in the children’s’ academic

achievement. The implication is that their effects can be altered to ensure that poverty

has no significant effect on any student’s performance. For instance, the use of materials

that schools request for learning functions could be regulated for standardization such

that kindergarten children whose parents cannot afford will still have an equal

opportunity as others. Also, there could be activities that boost all students’

concentration and participation in all school activities to ensure that all are well-

equipped for academic excellence despite their backgrounds.

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Works Cited
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Parrett, William, and Kathlene Budge. ‘How Does Poverty Influence Learning?’ m
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Edutopia, 2016, https://www.edutopia.org/blog/how-does-poverty-influence-
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learning-william-parrett-kathleen-budge.

Olszewski-Kubilius, Paula, and Susan Corwith. "Poverty, academic achievement, and

giftedness: A literature review." Gifted Child Quarterly 62.1 (2018): 37-55.

Smith-Adcock, Sondra, et al. "A model of parenting risk and resilience, social-

emotional readiness, and reading achievement in kindergarten children from

low-income families model." Journal of Child and Family Studies 28.10 (2019):

2826-2841.

Sharkins, Kimberly A., Sarah E. Leger, and James M. Ernest. "Examining effects of

poverty, maternal depression, and children’s self-regulation abilities on the

development of language and cognition in early childhood: An early head start

perspective." Early Childhood Education Journal 45.4 (2017): 493-498.

Statistics & Theory. Effects of Poverty on the Brain and Academic Performance. 2021.

YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aiGOdknXPI.