Free Essay Example on the Effects of Student's Background on Performance

Students have in the past few years endured pain and disappointments due to the hard economic times. Most of these students do not spend time with their parents as they are required, as young as they are, to also contribute to their wellbeing. Due to these circumstances, the parents cannot monitor their school progress, and this has in the long run affected their performances adversely. Whereas this is true some extent, it is very subjective in that some families are well to do hence do not experience the problems that those from poor background encounter. Research shows that students from wealthy families have a higher chance of succeeding in academic fields as compared to students from poor backgrounds (Cross et al., 2018).

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Poverty has adversely affected the growth and development of students in many ways. Some of these reasons are cognitive development, student achievement, and student behavior. Firstly, cognitive development is where the construction of thought processes, which are not limited to remembering, problem-solving, and decision-making, from childhood through adolescence to adulthood happens. This scenario affects their development in school, and hence they take time before they fully develop. They are at a neurological and cognitive disadvantage. Students from poor backgrounds "lack resources and technological know-how to advance their knowledge base" (McNair & Johnson, 2009).

The second reason is student achievement. It has been said that the relationship between income and success is classified as "monotonic, with an increase in family resources at birth associated with an increase in school readiness outcomes" (Isaacs, 2011). School readiness reduces as per the level of one student to another, for instance, the affluent students are always ready to go to school hence propels their achievements compared to the less wealthy or the not affluent at all. Maternal education is the highest contributor to students performance in schools, and with the majority of the poor families having mothers who have little or no education at all, this will make the students less ready for child education which in the long run hampers their growth and development which on the other hand may not affect affluent.

Lastly, the student behavior, this is one crucial part in that it affects the general performance of all the students and has to be put into consideration. Students from the impoverished families are at a more disadvantaged position in that they are required to behave in a particular way yet the environment they are exposed to, has done little to give them expected support. Supplementary Education System is to blame for the negative behavior of students, and if both the affluent and the impoverished had equal opportunities probably, there would be reduced behavioral differences.

In contemporary society, it has been noted with concern that there are still some cases of racism. Racism is a state where one race is more favored than the other, according to Arthur (1969), based on his statistical analysis of IQ test scores, African Americans were genetically inferior to the whites. There are few circumstances that this can be articulated, and one of them being achievements gaps. One can easily see the achievement gaps between the African American students and the whites in that it's too broad. The different races have a different perspective also, and there is a high poverty level. Berlak further notes in his research that students from the Black communities do not believe "they will reap the rewards of school success" (2001).

Secondly, there is a wide gap in family income between different races. This disparity in revenue makes the students of the African American origin less productive compared to their counterparts from the Whites. Most black families or immigrants have low incomes which will affect the development of the students hence will always make the white of whom majorly are well to do to outshine them. Also, the family income gap has made it hard for black and immigrant families to start their education in good time. Gordon and Cui note that "community poverty hurts the performance of students in school work" (2018).

Another factor to be considered is the age differences between the different races, the students from the white races start school earlier than those of the less affluent blacks. Though at early years there is a little gap as they grow in age, the gap widens, and this brings about a significant difference in their performance. The findings by Kuhfeld, Gershoff and Paschall noted that "interventions in late elementary and early middle school" ought to be "timed to prevent the exacerbation of gaps" (2018). These findings also recommend early remedies, as it points out the importance of the impact it has in the later stages of the academic life of the students. The government and education policymakers should come up with ways to ensure that our schools provide an equal chance to any student to succeed. There should be equitable resources in all schools, and if not, affirmative actions should be put in place to counter the disparities.

References

Berlak, H. (2001). Academic Achievement, Race, and Reform: Six Essays on Understanding Assessment Policy, Standardized Achievement Tests, and Anti-Racist Alternatives.

Collins, A., & Halverson, R. (2018). Rethinking education in the age of technology: The digital revolution and schooling in America. Teachers College Press.

Cross, J. R., Frazier, A. D., Kim, M., & Cross, T. L. (2018). A Comparison of Perceptions of Barriers to Academic Success Among High-Ability Students From High-and Low-Income Groups: Exposing Poverty of a Different Kind. Gifted Child Quarterly, 62(1), 111-129.

Gordon, M. S., & Cui, M. (2018). The Intersection of Race and Community Poverty and Its Effects on Adolescents' Academic Achievement. Youth & Society, 50(7), 947-965.

Kuhfeld, M., Gershoff, E., & Paschall, K. (2018). The development of racial/ethnic and socioeconomic achievement gaps during the school years. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 57, 62-73.

Krueger, A. B. (2018). Inequality, too much of a good thing. In The Inequality Reader (pp. 25-33). Routledge.

MacLeod, J. (2018). Ain't no makin'it: Aspirations and attainment in a low-income neighborhood. Routledge.

Impact of Poverty on Student Outcomes. (2015). [ebook] Hannover Research. Available at: https://www.gssaweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Impact-of-Poverty-on-Student-Outcomes-1.pdf [Accessed 19 Nov. 2018].