Dr. Ruby Payne’s research shows that the transfer of knowledge between generations is critical to helping students out of poverty.
Watch Dr. Ruby Payne address driving forces behind exiting poverty.
Dr. Payne cites 10 Dynamics of Poverty that Undermine School Success and some tips for schools. Here are a few:
Resources of the Household: Resource analysis is important because it suggests where to make interventions. Schools can be more successful if they know the resources of students, then base interventions on available resources.
Executive Function Processing: EEG scans with poor children show that the prefrontal cortex of the brain in poor children was undeveloped and resembled brains of adults who have had strokes. Schools can directly teach planning and procedural steps and systematic processes (writing process, problem-solving process etc.)
Differences Between School Rules and Rules Outside School: Different environments require different responses or “hidden rules.” Ex: If you are going to survive in a generational poverty neighborhood, you must know how to physically fight. But if you bring fighting into school, you are suspended or expelled. Schools should teach the hidden rules of school to students so they also can negotiate the environments of school and work.