 Ahillen came to the district from the Bloomington-Normal area, where
her educational career began as an English teacher and progressed
through the administrative ranks to vice principal, then principal.
As she spent her time educating, she also continued her own
education, receiving her doctorate degree in 2009.
Upon taking the position at District 27, she and husband Ray
relocated to Lincoln and have happily settled into the community. It
was at her office that we sat down and discussed the issue of
poverty in our schools.
The face of poverty in our public schools
In District 27 there are six schools: Adams, Central, Jefferson,
Northwest, Washington-Monroe and Lincoln Junior High School. Public
schools in Lincoln that are not in District 27 are West Lincoln-Broadwell
and Chester-East Lincoln.
Today more than ever perhaps, schools are dealing with the
effects of poverty on children.
Children who grow up in low-income households face different
challenges in life than those who do not.
It isn't something one enjoys saying, but the fact is, living
"with" is a lot easier than living "without," and it is reflected in
children as they enter their education years.
This is a fact District 27 teachers face on a daily basis. As
they work to guide and teach in the elementary grades, they struggle
with addressing the needs of all the children they are entrusted
with, and they struggle to get all of them to the same level of
education.
There is a common misperception that low-income children are
willfully neglected by their parents, but Ahillen knows this isn't
necessarily the case.
"These are families that are worried about making a house payment
and keeping the heat on," she said. "They are worried about food and
keeping the kids clothed. These families are just surviving.
"The idea of helping with homework, or turning off the television
when that is their only source of entertainment, just doesn't occur
to them. Their whole focus is on 'How am I getting by?' and if they
don't have a job, 'What will tomorrow bring?'"
"I don't think we have any parents that don't care about their
kids," Ahillen said, "but their psyche is not around education. In
fact, they may be sighing in relief, thinking, 'The teachers can
take care of that, and it's one thing I don't have to worry about.'"
In today's economy the face of poverty is not just one face.
Families who have never lived in poverty before now may find
themselves in those low-income situations as good jobs go to the
wayside and new jobs become harder to find.
This is situational poverty, and children in these families are
affected by the stress of what the family is going through.
There is also generational poverty, where today's parents grew up
in those poverty situations, and their parents were the ones
fighting to survive. As children they didn't have parental attention
to education, and now as adults living in poverty themselves, they
don't see the importance of it for their own children.
Ahillen said that because of these poverty situations, many of
the children in these families begin their education career at a
disadvantage. They have not matured to their age level and have
missed some life experiences.
While moderate and higher income families may have the time and
money for family vacations where children see new things and learn
about life beyond their home and television, low-income families
cannot afford that luxury.
When all of the family earnings is going toward physical needs,
there is nothing left for educational games, toys or even storybooks
that could help that child develop.
[to top of second column]
 |
As these children begin their educational careers, there are a
few factors that immediately stand out which teachers must address.
Many of these students lack a well-developed vocabulary. Their
ability to express themselves verbally is limited. To address this,
teachers must immediately start working with these children in
speech and literacy and help them develop communicative skills.
These children are also the ones who most often have behavioral
issues that vary from simply having trouble staying quiet and paying
attention, to acting out and causing problems in the classroom.
Ahillen said teachers address these issues in a variety of ways,
most of which involve rewards and consequences.
She explained one classroom program that involves labeling
behavior as "red" or "green." The idea behind the program is simple
yet affective.
Green behaviors are what the teacher wants to encourage and red
behavior is what must be curtailed.
When a student exhibits good behavior, he or she is acknowledged
as being "green" and may be praised or even rewarded by the teacher
for that behavior.
Red behavior brings consequences designed to help the child
understand that what he or she has done is unacceptable.
The overall effect in the classroom is that the "green" child
enjoys praise and some extra attention and is thus motivated to
continue the good behavior, while the "red" child sees what he or
she is missing out on by displaying bad behavior and will also be
motivated to behave in a more acceptable fashion.
In other classrooms, the problem of delinquent homework is being
addressed by "homework parties." Again Ahillen says it is a simple
concept. The parties don't have to be complicated affairs for the
children to enjoy them, but they do have to be specifically for the
children who do their homework and turn it in to the teacher on
time.
And like the red and green designations for behavior, the plan is
that those who do their homework are acknowledged and rewarded,
which motivates them to continue doing their homework, while those
who miss out on the special treatment are motivated to work harder
so they, too, can be a part of something special.
It should be noted that the programs put in place in the schools
benefit all the children in the classroom, and not all low-income
children misbehave and act out, and not all middle and upper income
children do their homework.
What teachers strive for in the classroom is to offer quality
education for all their students, and to bring them all to the same
level of education by the time they reach their junior high and high
school years.
However, there is a price tag attached to offering quality
education, and in the current economic atmosphere, funding for
education is at risk on nearly every front from federal to state.
In the final segment of this article, Dr. Ahillen will explain
Title I funding, how it benefits District 27 and what the future of
that funding may be.
[By NILA SMITH]
 |
