Low Socioeconomic Status Students Research Articles

Students’ and teachers’ focus of attention in classroom interaction — subtle sources for the reproduction of social disparities

Mathematics classroom interaction has often been described as an important context for involving all students. However, this article shows that teacher-student-interaction is still not really in the focus of teachers’ attention. Based on classroom video studies, some authors hypothesize that the implicitness of establishing norms and practices is, among others, an obstacle for students with low socio-economic status. The article intends to put this hypothesis into perspective by investigating teachers’ and students’ focus of attention on classroom interaction in video-stimulated group discussions (six discussions with 5–6 students, four discussions with 5–9 teachers). The data analysis used inductive procedures of category development, frequency analysis, and deeper qualitative analysis of the transcripts. For students’ focus of attention, differential patterns could be extrapolated: Whereas students of high socio-economic status seem to be more attentive to teacher’s contextual expectations, the students of low socio-economic status seem to be more focused on general norms without taking into account contextual expectations. For the teachers, the analysis shows that interactive mechanisms of teacher-student exchanges in classrooms are usually not in the teachers’ focus of attention. Additionally, the teachers address, but rarely problematize the implicitness by which norms and practices are established. Together with the differential findings on students’ attention, these findings are discussed with respect to equity concerns and consequences for professional development of teachers.

What works in promoting and maintaining diversity in nursing programs.

The presence of a registered nurse (RN) workforce that is culturally and linguistically familiar with underrepresented minorities promotes effective health care for patients. A lack of diversity in the nursing education pipeline has led to a lack of diversity among registered nurses. This qualitative descriptive study explored faculty perceptions of factors that attracted and maintained a diverse nursing student body at three different universities with large percentages of minority students. Websites were evaluated for diversity and audio-taped telephone interviews were conducted with nursing faculty using a semistructured set of open-ended questions. College location, online courses, community outreach programs, the presence of a diverse faculty and students, faculty accessibility, and financial aid with low college costs were identified as common factors in attracting and retaining minority students. Barriers included the cost for low socioeconomic status students, inadequate primary and secondary educational preparation, inherent bias in the institution, competition from other schools, admission policies, and limited diversity in leadership and faculty. Commitment to improving and maintaining diversity in nursing programs requires a sustained faculty effort to make the programs fit for the minority student.

School-Based Caries Prevention, Tooth Decay, and the Community Environment

The school and community context can contribute to inequity in child oral health. Whether the school and community affect the effectiveness of school-based caries prevention is unknown. The association between the school and community environment and dental caries, as well as their moderating effects with school-based caries prevention, was assessed using multilevel mixed-effects regression. Data were derived from a 6-y prospective cohort study of children participating in a school-based caries prevention program. For the school and community, living in a dental-shortage area and the proportion of children receiving free or reduced lunch were significantly related to an increased risk of dental caries at baseline. Caries prevention was associated with a significant per-visit decrease in the risk of untreated caries, but the rate of total caries experience increased over time. Caries prevention was more effective in children who had prior dental care at baseline and in schools with a higher proportion of low socioeconomic status students. There was significant variation across schools in the baseline prevalence of dental caries and the effect of prevention over time, although effects were modest. The school and community environment have a direct impact on oral health and moderate the association between school-based caries prevention and dental caries. Knowledge Transfer Statement: School-based caries prevention can be an effective means to reduce oral health inequity by embedding dental care within schools. However, the socioeconomic makeup of schools and characteristics of the surrounding community can affect the impact of school-based care.

Low socioeconomic status and visual health behaviors as factors in childhood myopia development

Although many studies have discussed visual acuity (VA), the childhood myopia epidemic has not been alleviated and requires further investigation. This study, therefore, investigates the differences in children’s VA among various family structures and the effects of visual health attitudes (VHA) and visual health behaviors (VHB) on VA. The children in low socioeconomic status (SES) families in Changhua County, Taiwan are the main research subjects. Using purposive sampling, the study conducts a questionnaire survey and a VA examination on low SES children, undergoing counseling at two social welfare organizations in Taiwan. The VA examination was conducted at the two social welfare organizations by an ophthalmologist from Tzu Chi Hospital, Taichung, between October 2016 and December 2016. 265 questionnaires were returned. Significantly, over 60% of the samples of low SES children were not living with their parents. Of these children, the highest proportion (35.8%) lived with their mothers; the second-highest (31.3%), lived with their grandparents; and the third highest (29.4%), lived with their fathers. 86.4% of the low SES children had poor (below 1.0) VA. The study, therefore, concludes that schools should focus on low SES students, and should focus on improving the VHA of the youngest students.

Protective Factors Among Postsecondary Students Enrolled in a First-Generation Program

For generations, researchers have examined attributes that contribute to the adaptability of low socioeconomic youth. Attributes that help one become resilient are known as protective factors. The purpose of this descriptive study was to explore the protective factor(s) that contributed to the enrollment of first-generation, low-socioeconomic status (SES) students at a southern land-grant university. The population consisted of postsecondary students in a First Scholars program during the 2015-2016 academic year. The authors examine the existing literature on the effects of low SES on postsecondary education in order to explore what assists these students in maintaining a steadfast behavior. Recommendations are made for the recruitment of students who display a higher resiliency to be successful at the postsecondary level and for the First Scholars program on how to further enhance the program.

Positioning educational makerspaces within schools serving low socioeconomic status students

Positioning educational makerspaces within schools serving low socioeconomic status students

Positioning educational makerspaces within schools serving low socioeconomic status students

Educational makerspaces are fertile grounds for students to develop innovative products infused with science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) principles, and practice social action. Yet, rarely do these makerspaces prioritise such outcomes. Rather, they tend to revolve around the creation of novel artefacts using low and high technology. Drawing on field observations, interviews, and artefact analysis, this qualitative study explored the experiences of low socioeconomic students participating in a social action themed school makerspace. Based on a transformative research perspective, the teacher-researcher sought not only to infuse STEAM and social studies into student work, but to also address the 'participation divide', a term suggesting that students of higher socio-economic status have more opportunity to produce media creatively than their low-SES counterparts. Qualitative results indicated that students reported increased agency in effecting positive change in their world. Their creation process required extensive research and brought about social action within their communities. Their products included a cigarette smoke-detecting shirt, an edible bug stand, and handcrafted wallets and jewellery for the homeless. The study concludes with recommendations for the implementation of educational makerspaces in schools.

Widening the educational capabilities of socio‐economically disadvantaged students through a model of social and cultural capital development

Widening participation programmes aim to increase the progression of students from low socio‐economic status (SES) groups to higher education. This research proposes that the human capabilities approach is a good justice‐based framework within which to consider the social and cultural capital processes that impact upon the educational capabilities of young people from low SES groups. It presents a case study which examines the developing capability set of Irish students from a representative sample of schools participating in a university‐based widening participation outreach programme aimed at increasing social and cultural capital constructs. Qualitative analysis is presented from four schools; four student focus groups with 22 student participants, and 15 individual student interviews. Findings focus on the developing capabilities of autonomy, hope, voice and identity, as well as on the relationship between specific widening participation activities and the developing capability set. The findings highlight the development of college‐focused knowledge and how this impacts upon students’ aspiration to participate in higher education. The idea of ‘widening capability’ is discussed in relation to the potential of the capability approach to contribute an additional dimension to a mainly neoliberal policy rhetoric, which emphasises the market value of higher‐education participation. In doing so, it explores how widening participation activities can influence the widening capability set of low SES students, and its relationship with what the students deem to be ‘a life of value’.

Structured Spaces of Play in a Southwestern U.S. Urban Elementary Classroom: Dialectics of Community and Academic Rigor

Sixteen bodies attentively listened from a six foot square blue carpet, facing a small white board covered mostly in instructional posters, hand-made by their teacher, Ms. Chamorro. (1) Ms. Chamoro has just asked her 2nd graders at her Title I elementary school where they can get information for research. Nearly all students' hands flew up in eager anticipation of being called upon, and most did not contain themselves as they called out answers. computer! The Internet! students called out. We can get it from people we know, explained Monique, the one African-American student in the class of otherwise Latino students. You can gather information from the TV, Joey, one of the usually quieter boys said. Uh huh, right! the teacher encouraged the students. Other responses ranged from video games to buildings to libraries, highlighting a breadth and depth of knowledge encouraged by the high academic expectations and the instructional structuring their teacher had for them. She eventually focused on the responses which would help lead into an introduction about a large project students would complete on biographies. Books, another boy called out, You can get information books about animals. Ms. Chamorro asked, Is that fiction or nonfiction? The boy responded, It's expository text. Ms. Chamorro smiled broadly at the boy's use of a higher academic register and exclaimed, Wow! She launched into a larger discussion of biography writing the students would begin. The vignette above demonstrates one of several structures one teacher used regularly in her instruction--connecting what students knew and had studied to the work they were about to start. Ms. Chamorro taught the structuring of responses (structuring not often found in many U.S. K-12 classrooms), including the use of academic language and complete sentences. The teacher also facilitated the students' engagement in multiple curricular spaces, ranging from students' social networks to the school building to various media, including television and Internet. The vignette also shows the spontaneous and unpredictable responses students offer--moments I explain as anti-structure moments, or places of creativity for students to grow in their education. In this article, I theorize how structure and anti-structure work in a dialectical manner, based on ethnographic observations of a public schoolteacher and her students during the 2009-2010 academic year. Current debates surrounding the field of education focus heavily on school accountability, including state-mandated, standardized testing (Au, 2009). The mandated testing means that teachers work to get students to pass tests, and in schools where students have performed poorly, there is a heavy reliance on the curriculum which correlates with the test items. The accountability movement stems from purported efforts to improve the education for all students, particularly students from groups who have historically been under-served, including African American, Latino, and lower socio-economic status students (U.S. Department of Education, 2009). Educational researchers have demonstrated that this accountability trend has been damaging for students in terms of the quality of instruction they receive, including the kind of curriculum to which they are exposed (Au, 2009; De Lissovoy & McLaren, 2003; Nichols & Berliner, 2007; Valenzuela, 2004). Similarly, the accountability movement, with its focus on standards and test scores, has failed to recognize the mediating role that schools play in the production of space (or social context) through the education of place makers (or citizens) (Gruenewald, 2003, p. 620). It follows that schools where historically underserved youth are receiving increasingly proscribed and prescribed curricula become places of increasingly limited possibilities. In this article, I refer to space as a geographic location while place becomes a contextually imbued location shared by social actors. …

Them That’s Got: How Tie Formation in Partnership Networks Gives High Schools Differential Access to Social Capital

School partnerships are important sources of school social capital. Schools may have unequal access to social capital due to the pattern of relationships in the school-partner network. Using data on school resource needs, sociometric measures, and a set of multilevel logit models, the results of a study of 211 New York City public high schools and 1,098 partner organizations from 1999 to 2005 suggest that high schools have unequal access to partner resources. Already well-endowed schools, in terms of having many experienced teachers or being embedded in dense networks, are most likely to partner. Disadvantaged schools, in terms of having many low socioeconomic status students or being in high-competition network positions, are least likely to partner. So, some policies promoting school partnerships may unintentionally reinforce existing structural inequalities among schools.

Functional gastrointestinal disorders in children from low socio-economic status and Helicobacter pylori infection.

Most studies on functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) in children are based on data from the northern hemisphere. Scientific reports are arising in South American population, but little is still known about children from low socio-economic status (SES), where Helicobacter pylori infection is endemic. Our objective was to evaluate the prevalence of FGIDs in school children from low SES and its relationship with H. pylori infection. Children from 3 public schools of low SES from Santiago de Chile were included. Students completed the Rome III Questionnaire and a survey about other symptoms. Also, the 13 C urea breath test determined the presence of H. pylori infection. Five hundred six children were included, where 48% were male, with a median age of 15.7years (range 7.1-19.6). Forty-two percent had some FGID, aerophagia and functional constipation being the most frequent. Females (adjusted OR 1.5, 95% CI [1.1, 2.2]), those children with parents within the lowest level of education (adjusted OR 1.6, 95% CI: 1.1-2.4), and family history of gastric cancer (adjusted OR 1.9, 95% CI: 1.2-3.1) were related to FGIDs. The prevalence of H. pylori infection was 55.9% (95% CI [50.7, 60.9]). In multivariable analysis, the presence of abdominal pain (OR 1.55, 95% CI [1.02, 2.36]), but not FGIDs, was related to H. pylori infection. FGIDs are common in low SES students. A low educational level of the household head, family history of gastric cancer. and being female are related to the development of FGIDs. In this study, no relationship between the presence of H. pylori and FGIDs was found.

Obvious Mistakes in a Strategically Simple College-Admissions Environment

Although many centralized school assignment systems use strategically simple mechanisms, applicants often make dominated choices. Using administrative data from Hungary, we show that many college applicants forgo the free opportunity to receive a tuition waiver. Using two empirical strategies, we provide causal evidence that applicants make more such mistakes when applying to programs where tuition waivers are more selective. First, exploiting a reform that increased the selectivity of admission with a tuition waiver in some programs, we find that the rate of mistakes quadrupled. Second, we show that applicants that apply to multiple programs are more likely to make mistakes in their applications to more selective programs. A non-negligible share of these mistakes are consequential, costing applicants more than 3,000 dollars on average. Costly mistakes transfer tuition waivers from high– to low-socioeconomic status students, and increase the number of students admitted to college. Our results suggest that mistakes are more common when their expected utility cost is lower.

Social inequality in education and the use of extramural support services: access and parental experiences in disadvantaged families

As low socioeconomic status (SES) and ethnic minority students often experience barriers during their school career, increased levels of referral of these students to extramural support services in education (ESS) can be expected. Yet, research indicates that disadvantaged students are often underrepresented in different types of ESS. The purpose of this study is to examine possible social inequalities in the use of, and referral to, ESS (study 1) and to explore the experiences of disadvantaged students’ parents (study 2). In study 1, 3302 parents of school-aged children completed a survey on the use of ESS. Data were analysed using logistic regression analyses. In study 2, parents of disadvantaged school-aged children (N = 8) participated in focus group discussions, which were analysed thematically. Results of study 1 confirmed the unequal use of ESS according to family SES and migration history, and revealed that inequality was especially prominent in private ESS, whilst subsidised ESS was equally used. Schools did not refer low SES and ethnic minority students more to ESS. In study 2, disadvantaged students’ parents addressed the role of multiple thresholds beyond merely financial barriers in decision processes pertaining to ESS use. Results indicate varying degrees of social inequality in the use of subsidised and private ESS. Such dynamics of unequal access and participation can reinforce unequal education opportunities. Addressing disadvantaged families’ subjectively experienced thresholds may provide one way to reduce this inequality. When disadvantaged families do not reach the necessary ESS, schools should compensate and increase their guidance for these students.

Discussing school socioeconomic segregation in territorial terms: the differentiated influence of urban fragmentation and daily mobility

Chile is one of the oecd countries with higher levels of socioeconomic segregation in its educational system. This may be explained by the incidence of institutional factors (fees and school selection processes), sociocultural factors (families’ appraisals and behaviors towards school choice) and contextual factors, among which residential segregation would stand as the most relevant.This article analyzes the relation between school location, students’ socioeconomic status and student's place of origin (mobility). The data used was gathered from 1613 surveys responded by primary students’ families. The results evidence that residential segregation only partially influences educational socioeconomic segregation, since the capacity of mobility is a key factor to “break” the association between both phenomena. Therefore, residential segregation would affect to a greater extent low socioeconomic status students who attend schools near their homes and travel distances shorter than children from higher socioeconomic status, who tend to cover longer distances between home and school. Nevertheless, the comparative analysis of the cases complicates drawing conclusions, because students of equal socioeconomic status travel very different distances. The characteristics of the territories where schools are located shed some light on the cause of these differences. From these results, we propose re-discussing the use of the residential segregation concept for explaining phenomena like school segregation, due to the complex interrelations between both territorial fragmentation and urban mobility.

Improving Admission of Low-SES Students at Selective Colleges

Low-socioeconomic status (SES) students are underrepresented at selective colleges, but the role that admissions offices play is poorly understood. Because admissions offices often have inconsistent information on high school contexts, we conducted a randomized controlled trial to determine whether providing detailed information on high school contexts increases the likelihood that admissions officers ( n = 311) would recommend admitting low-SES applicants. Admissions officers in the detailed-information condition were 13 to 14 percentage points (i.e., 26%–28%) more likely to recommend admitting a low-SES applicant from an underserved high school than those in the limited-information condition, although the limited-information condition provided significant details about family SES and high school context. These findings were consistent regardless of the selectivity of the college, admissions office practices, and participant demographics.

The ‘great escape' from Italian Universities: Do labour market recruitment channels matter?

This paper deals with the role that an extensive use at local level of informal networks to match workers to jobs can play in the university enrolments decisions of low socioeconomic status students in Italy. By applying probit model techniques to ISTAT microdata, I find that upper-secondary students coming from lower social classes are less likely to participate in higher education when they live in provinces in which the percentage of individuals who found their job thanks to the help of friends, relatives and acquaintances is higher. My results are consistent with the hypothesis that the wide diffusion of ‘favoritism’ in local labour markets engenders a sense of ‘economic despair’ among those who are poorly connected, thereby damaging individual human capital accumulation, inequality of access to higher education and local socio-economic development.

Physical Education Professionals Developing Life Skills in Children Affected by Poverty

Physical education (PE) professionals must believe that all students can learn, and they should equip themselves with the knowledge and expertise to instruct each student effectively. This article focuses on the effect that a PE teacher can have on the lives of students who come from low socioeconomic status (SES) households. It provides PE teachers with specific ideas and examples of how to teach life skills effectively within the PE setting to marginalized children affected by poverty. PE teachers often must intentionally influence the development of life skills, and some feel that practitioners are responsible for implementing ways to encourage that development. Personal and interpersonal skills are essential developmental factors that can be influenced through PE. This article highlights ways of incorporating proper affective assessments, developing a growth mind-set, and giving exposure to specific PE curricular models that focus on life skill growth. Finally, it provides a practitioner’s example to further elucidate the effect that intentional life skill instruction may have on students of low SES. Subscribe to TPE

Commentaries on health services research

Commentaries on health services research

Obvious Mistakes in a Strategically Simple College Admissions Environment

In a centralized marketplace that was designed to be simple, we identify participants whose choices are dominated. Using administrative data from Hungary, we show that college applicants make obvious mistakes: they forgo the free opportunity to receive a tuition waiver worth thousands of dollars. At least 10 percent of the applicants made such mistakes in 2013. Costly mistakes have externalities: they transfer tuition waivers from high- to low-socioeconomic status students, and increase the number of students attending college. To shed light on the mechanisms underlying mistakes, we exploit a reform that substantially increased the selectivity of admission with financial aid in some fields of study. Increased admission selectivity raises the likelihood of making obvious mistakes, especially among high-socioeconomic status and low-achieving applicants. Our results suggest that mistakes are more common when their expected cost is lower. Still, the average cost of a mistake in 2013 was 114-365 dollars.

Características del profesorado y desempeño docente en aulas con alumnado de bajo nivel socioeconómico

<p class="RESUMENCURSIVA">La relación entre nivel socioeconómico del alumnado y rendimiento académico ha sido comprobada a lo largo de décadas. Asumiendo que el profesor es un factor clave para compensar el efecto de los déficits socioeconómicos del alumnado, en este trabajo analizamos las características y el desempeño docente del profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria en aulas con presencia de alumnado de bajo nivel socioeconómico. Utilizamos datos para 1073 docentes participantes en el Teaching and Learning International Survey 2013. Se consideran variables relativas a características profesionales del profesorado, sus actitudes y concepciones, y a las prácticas docentes que desarrollan. Los resultados permiten caracterizar a este profesorado por su baja satisfacción laboral y su interés por la formación en enfoques de aprendizaje individualizados. En su desempeño docente, dedican más tiempo a mantener la disciplina y, con mayor frecuencia, encargan tareas individualizadas y hacen un seguimiento del trabajo realizado por el alumnado. Finalmente, sugerimos líneas de actuación para potenciar la mejora del aprendizaje en los estudiantes de bajo nivel socioeconómico.</p><p><em><br /></em></p>