Understanding Understanding Poverty and Poverty and

Socio-economic Socio-economic DifferencesDifferences

based on based on A Framework of Understanding PovertyA Framework of Understanding Poverty

by Dr. Ruby Payneby Dr. Ruby Payne

Christ Presbyterian ChurchChrist Presbyterian ChurchFebruary 3rd,10th,17th, 24th, 2013February 3rd,10th,17th, 24th, 2013

Introductions…..Introductions…..Please tell us your name and

share one of the following… Your occupation Where you grew up Something about your family Your New Year’s Resolution Or Something that probably no one in the

room knows about you (except maybe your spouse)

Dr. Ruby Payne Dr. Ruby Payne Has written many books on socio-

economic levels. Her early emphasis was on poverty and how teachers and schools could assist families of poverty. This interest grew to how whole communities could get involved through her work with Bridges Out of Poverty.

Deuteronomy 15:7-8

If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs.

Proverbs 11:24-25

One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

Scripture tells us….Scripture tells us….

September 14, 2011September 14, 2011 USA Today USA Today

“Poverty at 15.1%, highestsince `93”

Canton Repository Canton Repository Headlines read…Headlines read…

“Family poverty in Canton: Worstamong Ohio's biggest cities”

When you think When you think of poverty what of poverty what comes to mind?comes to mind?

Let’s brainstorm Let’s brainstorm what poverty can what poverty can lead to…think of lead to…think of words that begin words that begin with the letter with the letter “D”…“D”…

Poverty can lead to …Poverty can lead to …Death DownsizingDisease DisabilityDepression DementiaDivorce Diapers (more kids)Drugs Domestic ViolenceDrinking Dumb decisionsDisillusionment

DiscouragementDeployment DisappointmentDisaster “De-hired”

Who are most likely to live Who are most likely to live in poverty? in poverty?

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Children (18 years old or younger)

Immigrants

Female-headed households

Disabled people

MinoritiesSource: 2008 Report on Illinois Poverty (www.heartland alliance.org/maip).

To survive in poverty, one must rely upon non-verbal, sensory, and reactive skills.

To survive in business and the school setting, one must use verbal, abstract, and proactive skills.

KEY POINTSKEY POINTSPoverty is relativePoverty occurs in all races and

ethnicitiesGenerational and situational poverty

are differentSchools operate from middle class

norms and valuesIndividuals bring with them the hidden

rules of class in which they are raised…Let’s find out of you’d survive

in the different classes…

Can you survive…..Can you survive…..

In Poverty?

In Middle Class?

In Wealth?

COMPLETE THE QUIZ:Put a check by each item you know how to do.

______1. I know which churches and sections of town have the best rummage sales.______2. I know which rummage sales have “bag sales” and when.______3. I know which grocery garbage bins can be accessed for thrown-away food.______4. I know how to get someone out of jail.______5. I know how to physically fight and defend myself physically.______6. I know how to get a gun, even if I have a police record.______7. I know how to keep my clothes from being stolen at the Laundromat.______8. I know what problems to look for in a used car.______9. I know how to live without a checking account.______10. I know how to live without electricity and a phone.______11. I know how to use a knife as scissors.______12. I can entertain a group of friends with my personality and my stories.______13. I know what to do when I don’t have money to pay the bills.______14. I know how to move in half a day.______15. I know how to get and use food stamps or an electronic card for benefits.______16. I know where the free medical clinics are.______17. I am very good at trading and bartering.______18. I can get by without a car.

Could you survive in poverty?

Could you survive in middle class?COMPLETE THE QUIZ:

Put a check by each item you know how to do.

______1. I know how to get my children into Little League, piano lessons, soccer, etc.______2. I know how to set a table properly.______3. I know which stores are most likely to carry the clothing brands my family wears.______4. My children know the best name brands in clothing.______5. I know how to order in a nice restaurant.______6. I know how to use a credit card, checking account, and savings account—and I understand an annuity. I understand term life insurance, disability insurance, and

20/80 medical insurance policy, as well as house insurance, flood insurance, and replacement insurance.______7. I talk to my children about going to college.______8. I know how to get one of the best interest rates on my new-car loan.______9. I understand the difference among the principal, interest, and escrow statements on my house payment.______10. I know how to help my children with their homework and do not hesitate to call the school if I need additional information.______11. I know howto decorate the house for the different holidays.______12. I know how to get a library card.______13. I know how to use most of the tools in the garage.______14. I repair items in my house almost immediately when they break—or know a repair service and call it.

Could you survive in Could you survive in wealthwealth??COMPLETE THE QUIZ:

Put a check by each item you know how to do.

______1. I can read a menu in French, English, and anotherlanguage.

______2. I have several favorite restaurants in different countries of the world.______3. During the holidays, I know how to hire a decorator to identify the appropriate themes and items with which to decorate the house.______4. I know who my preferred financial advisor, legal service, designer, domestic-employment service, and hairdresser are.______5. I have at least two residences that are staffed and maintained.______6. I know how to ensure confidentiality and loyalty from my domestic staff.______7. I have at least two or three “screens” that keep people whom I do not wish to see away from me.______8. I fly in my own plane or the company plane.______9. I know how to enroll my children in the preferred private schools.______10. I know how to host the parties that “key” people

attend.______11. I am on the boards of at least two charities.______12. I know the hidden rules of the Junior League.______13. I support or buy the work of a particular artist.______14. I know how to read a corporate financial statement and analyze my own financial statements.

Survival

Relationships

Entertainment

Work

Achievement

Material security

Political, financial, social connections

Poverty Middle Poverty Middle WealthWealth

POVERTY MIDDLE CLASS WEALTH

POSSESSIONS People. Things. One-of-a-kind objects, legacies, pedigrees.

MONEY To be used, spent. To be managed. To be conserved, invested.

PERSONALITY Is for entertainment.Sense of humor is highly valued.

Is for acquisition and stability. Achievement is highly valued.

Is for connections. Financial, political, social connections are highly valued.

SOCIAL EMPHASIS

Social inclusion of the people they like.

Emphasis is on self-governance and self-sufficiency.

Emphasis is on social exclusion.

FOOD Key question: Did you have enough? Quantity important.

Key question: Did you like it? Quality important.

Key question: Was it presented well? Presentation important.

CLOTHING Clothing valued for individual style and expression of personality.

Clothing valued for its quality and acceptance into the norms of middle class. Label important.

Clothing valued for its artistic sense and expression.Designer important.

TIME Present most important. Decisions made for moment based on feelings or survival.

Future most important. Decisions made against future ramifications.

Traditions and past history most important. Decisions made partially on basis of tradition decorum.

EDUCATION Valued and revered as abstract but not as reality.Education is about facts.

Crucial for climbing success ladder and making money.

Necessary tradition for making and maintaining connections.

DESTINY Believes in fate. Cannot do much to mitigate chance.

Believes in choice. Can change future with good choices now.

Noblesse oblige.

LANGUAGE Casual register. Language is about survival.

Formal register. Language is about negotiation.

Formal register.Language is about connection.

FAMILY STRUCTURE Tends to be matriarchal. Tends to be patriarchal. Depends on who has/controls money.

WORLD VIEW Sees world in terms of local setting. Sees world in terms of national setting. Sees world in terms of an international view.

LOVE Love and acceptance conditional, based on whether individual is liked.

Love and acceptance conditional, based largely on achievement.

Love and acceptance conditional, related to social standing and connections.

DRIVING FORCES Survival, relationships, entertainment.

Work and achievement. Financial, political, social connections.

Hidden Rules of Economic Class

More KEY POINTSMore KEY POINTSWe must not excuse or scold..we

must teach!

The fact that there are sets of rules should not be a secret

To move from poverty to middle class, one must give up (for a period of time) relationships for achievement

More KEY POINTSMore KEY POINTSTwo things that help one move out of poverty: education and relationships

Four reasons one leaves poverty: too painful to stay, vision or goal, key relationship, special talent/goal

"No significantlearning occurs

without asignificant

relationship."–Dr. James Comer

Resources Resources FinancialEmotionalMentalSpiritualPhysicalSupport SystemsRelationships/Role ModelsKnowledge of Hidden Rules

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RESOURCE QUESTIONS TO DETERMINE BEST INTERVENTION

Financial • Can the student afford the field trip, or is a scholarship needed for him/her?• Can the student afford supplies for the project/science fair/other activity?• Is the student hungry, or must a linkage to food be found?

Emotional • Can the student verbalize choices?• Does the student have the language to mediate situations without resorting to fists?

Mental • Can the student read at his/her grade level?• Can the student identify the final product or task?• Does the student know what will be evaluated and how?

Spiritual • Does the student believe he/she has some control over the situation, or does he/she say there is nothing he/she can do?

• Does the student have a future story and a plan to go with it?

Physical • Is the student clean?• Are the student’s clothes clean?• Can the student physically take care of him-/herself?

Support systems • Is the student the primary support system for his/her household?• Is there enough stability in the home that the student can have a place to keep and

do work?

Relationships/role models

• Does the student have at least one adult who is nurturing and caring?• Does the student have three or more adults who care about him/her?• Are all of the significant relationships with peers?

Knowledge of hidden rules

• Does the student use the “appropriate” school response to situations?• Does the student try to be invisible?

Formal register • Does the student have access to formal register at home? • Does the student get right to the point when telling a story? Does the student begin

at the end of the story and tell the story in no particular order?

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Resource Description Intervention

Financial Having the money to purchase goods and services.

Emotional Being able to choose and control emotional responses, particularly to negative situations, without engaging in self-destructive behavior.

Mental Having the mental abilities and acquired skills (reading, writing, computing) to deal with daily life.

Spiritual Believing in divine purpose and guidance. Having hope and a future story.

Physical Having physical health and mobility.

Support systems Having friends, family, and backup resources available to access in times of need.

Relationships/role models

Having frequent access to adult(s) who are appropriate, who are nurturing to the child, and who do not engage in self-destructive behavior.

Knowledge of hidden rules

Knowing the unspoken cues and habits of a group.

Formal register Having the vocabulary, language ability, and negotiation skills to succeed in school and/or work settings.

Registers of Registers of LanguageLanguageFrozenFormalConsultativeCasualIntimate

Research About Language in Children, Ages 1 to 4, in Stable Households by Economic Group

Number of words

exposed to

Economic

group

Affirmations

(strokes)

Prohibitions

(discounts)

13 million

words

Welfare 1 for every 2

26 million

words

Working

class

2 for every 1

45 million

words

Professional 6 for every 1

Source: Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children. (1995). Betty Hart and Todd R. Risley.

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ABSTRACT ITEM

REPRESENTS

Grades The ticket to get into college, a better job, more money

House deed The physical property

Address

Social Security number

Daily to-do list

Clock or calendar

State assessment

The Paper World of the Middle

Class…..The Paper World of Middle

Class

To survive in school or at work, you have to be verbal, abstract, and proactive. You have to plan.

School and work are an abstract representational world. For each of the items listed, what does the paper represent in the sensory world? Two examples are given.

ABSTRACT ITEM REPRESENTS

Homework

Insurance papers

Driver’s license

TV guide

Photograph

Letters in the alphabet

Numbers

Musical notations

Road map

Sonogram

MRI

Trust document

Student handbook

Teacher contract

Menu

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If an individual depends upon a random episodic story structure for memory patterns, lives in an unpredictable environment, and HAS NOT DEVELOPED THE ABILITY TO PLAN, then ...

If an individual cannot plan, he/she CANNOT PREDICT.

If an individual cannot predict, he/she CANNOT IDENTIFY CAUSE AND EFFECT.

If an individual cannot identify cause and effect, he/she CANNOT IDENTIFY CONSEQUENCE.

If an individual cannot identify consequence, he/she CANNOT CONTROL IMPULSIVITY.

If an individual cannot control impulsivity, he/she HAS AN INCLINATION TOWARD CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR.

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Poverty is a concrete, sensory, reactive world.

School is verbal, abstract representational, and proactive.

Without language, one lacks the tools necessary to negotiate and manipulate his/her position in the world.

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What Are Mental Models?

Beginning Learner

Skilled LearnerMental Model

When a great discrepancy exists between the way the learner creates

understanding and the way the expert communicates understanding, failure

results.

• Sensory-based, situated learning

• 5–7 things• Tied to what is already known

• Abstract representational world—formal schooling

• Expertise

What: Vocabulary/contentWhy: The purpose of the

informationHow: Process/steps

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Examples of Mental Examples of Mental ModelsModels

Tammy’s StoryTammy’s Story

As you watch this clip think of the hidden rules of poverty, the resources that Tammy and her family have or don’t have, the registers of language, and the local resources from which they might benefit.

Debriefing….Debriefing….What was your overall “feeling”

about what you saw?Did Tammy want for her family

what others in “middle class” want for theirs?

What did Matt want for his life?What resources did Tammy and

her family have?What resources did they not have?What can you take away from this?

Stark County, Ohio has…Stark County, Ohio has…6 Universities

Malone University University of Mount Union Walsh University Kent State/Stark Ashland University/Branch Stark State (2 year Tech)

17 School districts (60,017 students)

12 locals 5 cities Numerous private and charter schools

Community ResourcesCommunity ResourcesCountless local resources with

the number of universitiesStrong business and

organizational interest in the education of our youth

Dedicated foundational support (Stark Community Foundation, Deuble Foundation, David Foundation, Timken Foundation, Hoover Foundation, Sisters of Charity)

Concentrated geographic area

Community NeedsCommunity NeedsNetworking – knowing what different

agencies and institutions are doing and what their goals are

Connectivity – finding ways to collaborate as not to duplicate services

Capitalizing on the culture of the whole community… knowing strengths of different areas and how to utilize them

Educate the community on understanding the issues of poverty

Teacher preparation Teacher preparation program partnerships – program partnerships – college and local school college and local school districtsdistricts

Student teachingField experienceCollege/university visits

by high school studentsLocal tutoringVolunteerism

Grants…federal, Grants…federal, state, and local….state, and local….

Improving Teacher Quality Grant

National Professional Development Grant

State Department Grants

Locally funded Grants - ARTSinSTARK

SUNBEAMS!!SUNBEAMS!!2007 – 2013 2007 – 2013 Improving Teacher Improving Teacher Quality (in school districts with Quality (in school districts with low-income demographics) low-income demographics)

Ohio Board of Regents Grant (79,000) 2008-2009 25 PreK-K teachersOhio Board of Regents Grant (89,000) 2009-2010 30 PreK-K teachersOhio Board of Regents Grant (92,000) 2010-2011 30 PreK-K teachersOhio Board of Regents Grant (98,000) 2011-2010 30 1st and 2nd Ohio Board of Regents Grant (99,000) 2012-2011 30 1st and 2nd Ohio Board of Regents Grant (115,000) 2013-2014 30 1st and 2nd

National Professional National Professional Development Grant – Project Development Grant – Project ACHIEVEACHIEVEPartnership of two area universities

and six city and county school districtsTwo million dollar, five year projectProject ACHIEVEAccess to Curriculum and High Quality

Instruction for Educators Valuing English Language Learners

State Department GrantsState Department GrantsEnvironmental studiesPhysical education programsExchanges for students and

teachers…..All with international partnershipsUniversities provide grant writing skills, leadership & supportSchools provide home stays and school involvement

Local grant support and Local grant support and professional development professional development combined…combined…Literacy Celebrations from 2006 to 2013* Bring in children’s book authors and/or illustrators to share their work* Invite area educators (teachers, librarians, art teachers, etc.) to participate* Get local grant support to sponsor local school activities based on the work of the guest presenter

Successful partnerships to assist Successful partnerships to assist students academically and students academically and financially…financially… Canton Early College High

School (CECHS) is a program designed to provide the high school students of Canton City access to college coursework and college readiness training while completing their four years of high school.

The program is designed to serve those students normally under represented in higher education by welcoming students of racial and ethnic minorities, low-income families, first-generation college attendees and/or English language learners.

CECHS has a diverse student body focused on a common goal – attending an institution of higher learning and completing a four year degree.

Successful partnerships to Successful partnerships to assist students academically assist students academically and financially…and financially…

College Opportunity Credits / Dual CreditStark County school districts have embarked

on a bold, broadly-focused effort to provide College Opportunity Credits—opportunities for students to earn both high school and college credit while attending high school—in ever increasing numbers. This effort involves a series of distinct programs and approaches.

HELP GUIDEHELP GUIDECommunity HarvestStark Community FoundationHabitat for Humanity/RestoreThe Refuge of HopeGood WillUnited WayChurch programs – food,

clothing, household needs

What can we do as What can we do as educators to assist students educators to assist students and their families?and their families?

Proverbs 3:27-28

Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, "Come back later; I'll give it tomorrow" — when you now have it with you.

““We think sometimes that We think sometimes that poverty is only being poverty is only being hungry, naked and hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the and uncared for is the greatest poverty…”greatest poverty…”

Mother Mother TeresaTeresa

Thank Thank You…You…

Questions Questions or comments?or comments?