Poverty. Research Brief

How many people reading this brief believes they could financially survive in a household of four people on $19,784 a year? Yet, this was the official poverty threshold as determined by the federal government for 2005. During this same year, 17% of children under 18 lived below the poverty line, of which 14% were white, 11% Asian, 28% Hispanic and 34% black or one out of six people under 21 years of age lived in poverty. Pupils who are living at or near the poverty line are exposed to more high risk factors than those who are considered to come from middle or upper income levels. The majority of public schools in the United States have students who live at or near the poverty level, yet it is incumbent upon the schools to provide equal access to and an equitable program for all of their students. The literature is rich with examples of programs that high schools are doing to provide appropriate and realistic avenues for these students to move out of the cycle of poverty. From 2002-2006, NASSP (National Association of Secondary School Principals) with financial support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, sponsored a program examining 25 high functioning schools with at least 50% minority/high poverty population, 50% who qualify for free/reduced meals and from this group, at least 90% attend some sort of post-secondary educational program. (Contains 22 online resources.)