Disadvantaged

About: Disadvantaged is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 17050 publications have been published within this topic receiving 337157 citations. The topic is also known as: disadvantaged person.

Schools as Communities, Poverty Levels of Student Populations, and Students’ Attitudes, Motives, and Performance: A Multilevel Analysis

Abstract: Hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine relationships between students’ sense of school community, poverty level, and student attitudes, motives, beliefs, and behavior among a diverse sample of 24 elementary schools. Major findings were that: (a) within schools, individual students’ sense of school community was significantly associated with almost all of the student outcome measures, (b) Between schools, school-level community and poverty were both significantly related to many of the student outcomes (the former positively, the latter negatively), (c) Most of the relationships between school community and student measures held for schools at different poverty levels, (d) Several significant interactions between school community and poverty level indicated that some of the strongest positive effects of school community occurred among schools with the most disadvantaged student populations.

Increased structure and active learning reduce the achievement gap in introductory biology.

Abstract: Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics instructors have been charged with improving the performance and retention of students from diverse backgrounds. To date, programs that close the achievement gap between students from disadvantaged versus nondisadvantaged educational backgrounds have required extensive extramural funding. We show that a highly structured course design, based on daily and weekly practice with problem-solving, data analysis, and other higher-order cognitive skills, improved the performance of all students in a college-level introductory biology class and reduced the achievement gap between disadvantaged and nondisadvantaged students--without increased expenditures. These results support the Carnegie Hall hypothesis: Intensive practice, via active-learning exercises, has a disproportionate benefit for capable but poorly prepared students.

Social Capital and Successful Development among At-Risk Youth

Abstract: Social scientists have been slow to appreciate the great diversity among the poor. Until quite recently, researchers have devoted more attention to examining patterns of persistent poverty than to understanding how individuals and families maneuver their way out of economic disadvantage (for exceptions, see Clark, 1983; Kellam, Ensminger, & Turner, 1977; Williams Kornblum, 1985). Evidence about mobility patterns among the poor provides a perfect analogy to the half-empty/half-full glass. Of individuals who begin life in poverty, at least as many manage to improve their circumstances as remain persistently impoverished (Duncan, Hill, & Hoffman, 1988). Yet relatively little is known about how and why some of the disadvantaged eventually escape while others remain entrapped in poverty. As researchers from different disciplines have begun to tackle this problem, they have, not surprisingly, each featured explanations congenial to their distinctive ways of looking at the world. Economists stress the importance of financial and human capital, highlighting how individuals invest time and money to improve their long-term position in the labor force (Palmer, Smeeding, & Torrey, 1988). Psychologists point out the importance of individual traits such as competence and self-efficacy, both of which are linked to upward mobility (Bandura, 1989; Garmezy, 1985; Rutter & Madge, 1976; Werner & Smith, 1982). Sociologists, for their part, underscore the importance of institutional resources and social networks in the communities where poor people reside (Granovetter, 1973; Wellman 8t Wortley, 1990). Of course, in reality these different sorts of mechanisms often operate in tandem. Perhaps the most interesting question, then, is how these various sources of differentiation among the poor are packaged together. Answering the question of how id why certain types of individuals locate and use resources that are often in short supply within their local environments to improve their own prospects, or the long-term prospects of their children, involves integrating the different disciplinary perspectives. This article draws on data from a longitudinal study of teenage mothers and their children to investigate sources of differentiation on several indicators of young adult success. In particular, we explore the role of social capital, a concept developed by Coleman (1988) that to some extent bridges the disciplinary gaps described above. Our goal is to determine whether successful outcomes among our sample of disadvantaged youth are related to measures of both family-based and community-based social capital. SOCIAL CAPITAL AND YOUTH DEVELOPMENT The process of investment in the economic, psychological, and social resources believed to be associated with upward mobility begins early in life and typically takes place within the family. Parents, in addition to utilizing their financial resources, cultivate and promote individual competencies in their children; with varying degrees of effectiveness, these same parents seek opportunities in the environment and attempt to shelter their children from dangers. Thus, the family represents a point of common interest to social scientists seeking to understand why and how certain children are able to escape the powerful disadvantage of growing up poor. Coleman (1988) employed the term social capital to designate the complex and variegated social mechanisms that parents garner to advance their children's chances of success. Coleman's description of social capital is quite broad and overlaps with some of the specific theoretical constructs and processes identified by developmental psychologists attempting to explain the successful adaptation of children at risk of long-term disadvantage (see, e.g., Garmezy & Rutter, 1983). Coleman's ideas also echo the approach to studying development formulated by Bronfenbrenner and his students (e.g., Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Garbarino, 1992; Steinberg, Dornbusch, & Brown, 1992). …

Inequality in Preschool Education and School Readiness

Abstract: Attendance in U.S. preschools has risen substantially in recent decades, but gaps in enrollment between children from advantaged and disadvantaged families remain. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999, we analyze the effect of participation in child care and early education on children's school readiness as measured by early reading and math skills in kindergarten and first grade. We find that children who attended a center or school-based preschool program in the year before school entry perform better on assessments of reading and math skills upon beginning kindergarten, after controlling for a host of family background and other factors that might be associated with selection into early education programs and relatively high academic skills. This advantage persists when children's skills are measured in the spring of kindergarten and first grade, and children who attended early education programs are also less likely to be retained in kindergarten. In most instances, the effects are largest for disadvantaged groups, raising the possibility that policies promoting preschool enrollment of children from disadvantaged families might help to narrow the school readiness gap.