How Policies Can Make a Difference

In “What ‘Counts’ as Educational Policy? Notes toward a New Paradigm”, Jean Anyon explores solutions to the policy practices that consistently undermine the educational achievement of low-income students. In her research, she specifically looks at how federal and local policies related to housing, transportation, and wages directly impact students’ abilities to perform in school. Her work suggests that in order to close the achievement gap, we need “strategies to support economic opportunity and development for urban residents” (66), which will in turn improve schools.

To begin, Anyon discusses several policies that have been implemented in order to improve education in cities. One such policy funded vocational programs in industrialized areas, which has exacerbated the hidden curriculum of social classes that Anyon has written about in previous articles. Later policies attempted to supplement materials and increase access to resources, while also improving equity in disadvantaged groups. Despite these initiatives to reform education, none of these federal mandates focused on the root causes of low-achievement.

As Dr. Shawn Ginwright argues in “The Future of Healing”, the key to trauma informed care is not just to eliminate symptoms, but to treat the whole person. Similarly, Anyon has found that in order to truly reform education we need to focus our efforts on the poverty that leads to low-achievement and not just on giving kids more books or different standards. She argues that “education policy has not addressed the neighborhood poverty that surrounds and invades urban schools with low expectations and cynicism” (69). Even when students are bright and studious, there are social and economic factors that can keep them from finding financial success, and these are what policy should focus on. As many efforts are made to fix city schools, there are fewer efforts to assist low-income students after they graduate.

So what can be done? At the federal level, it never seems like enough. As minimum wage increases, it does not keep up with the rising cost of living.  Housing and employment discrimination still happens despite the law. Segregation is perpetuated through the urban population’s lack of access to opportunities in the suburbs. All of these factors affect the amount of money that is trickling into urban schools and putting a disproportionate amount of minority students at a disadvantage.

http://www.iowapolicyproject.org/2013Research/130305-minwage.html

Anyon demonstrates that poverty has a direct and detrimental impact on the academic success of urban students. Studies show that “family income consistently predicts children’s academic and cognitive performance” (75).  Families above the poverty level are able to provide their children with a “richer learning environment” and can “buy the things that promote the health and development of their children” (75). Parents with stable work do not suffer as much stress as those who are financially unstable, which means that students will not be affected similarly. When factoring in all variables, socioeconomic status has the biggest influence on the academic success of a child.  

Given the clear correlation between poverty and academic achievement, there are focused efforts being made to alleviate these issues. One study that Anyon points to analyzed the impact that financial support had on students. While poorer children in the study were more likely to face behavioral issues, researchers found that when families were given financial support, these behaviors dropped. Other studies show that small income supplements and job support can make all the difference to children from impoverished families. School performance increases and negative behaviors are diminished, leading to success in college and beyond. With these proven results, it only makes sense that policy should adjust to ensure that families have the resources and support they need in order to be successful.

To sum up, there is a serious need for policymakers to focus not just on fixing schools, but on finding solutions for the economic inequality that plagues urban areas. As we have read throughout the semester, there are obvious reasons that solutions have not yet been implemented even though some have been found. Systemic oppression of those who do not benefit from affluence or whiteness is frequently ignored in order to benefit the elite. Equity can be achieved if we move away from an individualistic mindset and towards a community approach.  Policies need to focus on creating a more equitable society, and educational reform will follow.