“I don’t think people understand what it means to go without a meal, or even several meals, because you don’t have the money. Imagine dealing with that at the same time as finals and term papers. That is often the reality for low-income students.”
— Ryan Catala, high-achieving lower income student
Very little is known about high-achieving students from lower income families. These students defy the stereotype that poverty precludes academic success and that low income and low academic performance are inextricably linked.
In late September 2007, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation released a report titled The Achievement Trap: How America is Failing Millions of High-Achieving Students from Lower-Income Families, which focuses on lower income, high-achieving students in American schools. (Go to www.jackkentcookefoundation.org for the full report.)
High-achieving students from lower income families are defined as students who scored in the top 25% on nationally normed standardized tests and whose family incomes (adjusted for family size) are below the national median. The report documents the existence of 3.4 million high-achieving lower income students and their full representation among both boys and girls, within every race, and in every kind of neighborhood in the United States. These students drop out of high school at remarkably low rates, and more than 90% enter college.
The findings from The Achievement Trap report were drawn from three federal databases that have tracked students over the past 20 years. The report reveals that there are many high-achieving students from lower income families who overcome overwhelming odds to succeed and who struggle at every stage of their education. The report makes the case that these students are overlooked and that with the right support, these students can provide our nation with a powerful economic and social force.
Although many of these students excel academically, one of the major conclusions of this study is that from the time they enter school through their postsecondary education, these students are caught in an “achievement trap” with educators, policymakers, and the public assuming that they can fend for themselves. As this study demonstrates, however, from the time they enter school through their postsecondary education, these students lose ground and excel less frequently than their higher income peers.
In addition, fewer lower income students are achieving at the highest levels that they should be. They disproportionately fall out of the high-achieving group during elementary and high school. While many attend college, far too few graduate or go on to graduate school. The implication is clear: Unless these students are supported, many of them will not reach their full academic potential.
The Achievement Trap report documents the following:
Among first-grade students performing in the top 25% academically, only 28% are from lower income families, while 72% are from higher income families.
Only 56% of lower income students maintain their status as high achievers in reading by fifth grade, versus 69% of higher income students.
High-achieving lower income students drop out of high school or do not graduate on time at a rate twice that of their higher income peers.
Overall, The Achievement Trap report reveals unrelenting inequities for high-achieving lower income students. They lag behind their higher income peers in the likelihood that they will remain high achievers. This report made me realize that most of our educational research has focused on students from lower income families and that while we know that students from lower income families tend to perform at a lower level of achievement than their more affluent peers, there has been scant research on students from lower income families who attain high levels of achievement.
While reading the report I also thought about a talk given by Allan Luke, who is based at Queensland University of Technology in Australia. His topic was on the literacy achievement gap.
Luke started his presentation with a simple sentence: “It’s all about poverty.” His contention is that we have to get serious about reducing income gaps as well as reducing gaps in literacy achievement if we want all students to reach high levels of achievement. We know that, on average, lower income students start school with lower cognitive skills than their affluent peers, attend poorer schools, score lower on standardized assessments, enroll less often in advanced classes in high school, and are less likely to attend college.
Clearly, the issue is poverty. The Achievement Trap report reminds us that many bright, capable students from low-income families start out on their educational journey with great promise and potential, but they face significant and often overwhelming obstacles to continuing their high levels of achievement. They are less likely to have the social and financial resources necessary for sustained academic achievement. The declining educational attainment of these promising students should be of great concern to all of us.
The Achievement Trap report is worth reading because it will help educators and researchers think more deeply about an overlooked population of students—a population that has rarely been the focus of research. But it is the stories of the students that are included in the report that will touch the heart.
The quote at the beginning of this column by Ryan Catala comes from one of the stories in the report. Ryan had to grow up quickly. Because of family struggles he grew up in foster families and changed schools frequently. As a young boy he was placed in a gifted program, but by adolescence he was involved with gangs and drugs. He was in prison by the age of 17.
While in prison, he realized that education was his way out of a turbulent life. After his release, he redirected his life, earned his GED, and enrolled in college. It took two hours by bus to get from his home at the YMCA to the college campus. Each day the bus passed by the jail where he had been incarcerated, and this became symbolic for him, “It was a daily reminder of how bad my life had been,” he said. “I was getting an education, and even though my school was less than a mile away from the jail, it couldn’t be more different in the direction it was taking me.”
Ryan transferred to Columbia College and is now working for the Yonkers City Council president. He hopes to attend law school and work with troubled youth. He recognizes that many of the difficulties he faced growing up are not uncommon for many low-income children.
The Achievement Trap report demonstrates that high-achieving lower income children can learn at the highest levels. The report concludes that we must ensure that our educational system advances the life prospects of all students, including high-achieving lower income students such as Ryan Catala, who have the potential to make significant contributions to our society and world.
P.S. The book I am recommending this month is The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton (winner of the PEN/Ernest Hemingway Foundation Award). It is the coming-of-age story of Ruth, who is placed in special education classes because she is a slow learner. Ruth describes herself as “a series of sums that doesn’t come out right.” Ruth is not one of the high-achieving lower income students described in this column—rather she is a struggling, low-achieving student from a lower income family.
This book, more than any book I have ever read, gave me insights to what it must be like to struggle with learning on a daily basis. The Book of Ruth is not for the faint of heart, but I guarantee that after reading this powerful and inspiring novel you will see students with special needs in a new light.
Linda B. Gambrell is Distinguished Professor of Education in the Eugene T. Moore School of Education at Clemson University.
The overlooked: High-achieving lower income students. (December 2007). Reading Today, 25(3), 16.
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