Our ‘Month in Poverty’ Inspires Action

The realities of poverty are clashing with the middle-class culture that governs schools in the small Oregon community where I serve as superintendent.

As recently as 2003, only one in four students was identified as living in poverty. That percentage has grown ever since. Today, 47 percent of our 5,200 students fall below the poverty line, and we are seeing the achievement gap widen.

What this reveals is the uncomfortable fact that students of poverty in Newberg, about a half-hour southwest of Portland, are much less successful than their peers who are not economically disadvantaged.

I was well aware that changing attitudes about learning for all students, especially those in poverty, needed to start with greater awareness and understanding by our educators. Applying that understanding to affect change in instruction for students would need to come from the ground up, not the top down.

There was no time to waste. It was time for us to make the numbers real.

Students’ Stories

At the school year kickoff last September, we launched the school district’s All Means All initiative. The school district produced a short documentary video, shown to the entire district staff, highlighting the hopes, dreams and struggles faced by students affected by homelessness, family issues and poverty.

The message really hit home by incorporating the stories and images of six local high school students describing the effects of poverty. None were on track to graduate, but each shared the importance of finishing school.

Their stories delivered a powerful, emotional hook for the new initiative. Principals picked up the discussion in their buildings, connecting it to their school population. Conversations about the impact of poverty on students in their school expanded to parent groups. Meanwhile, I carried the All Means All message to the broader Newberg community. The conversation was starting to change.

But it was something else that really challenged our long-held assumptions about the value of education to economically disadvantaged students and their families. It was an opportunity for educators in Newberg to “spend a month in poverty” on a professional development day last November.

Realistic Experience

Using the Missouri Community Action Network poverty simulation, more than 400 Newberg educators, including central-office administrators, experienced what it is like to live without enough money to meet their basic needs. Each participant took on the identity of a family member. Family groups had to provide basic necessities and shelter during four 15-minute “weeks.”

Families faced realistic problems — low wage jobs, unemployment, high utility bills, unreliable transportation, unaffordable medication and incarcerated parents. As participants accessed community resources and services stationed around the room, they faced language barriers, paperwork, frustrating delays and unfamiliar systems.

“It put us through the struggles our families are facing,” said one teacher. “I had no idea.”

Each school community debriefed their month in poverty. Did they manage to pay the rent? Keep the utilities on? Make loan payments? Look for work? Improve their situation?

“I was so immersed in meeting basic needs, I never even asked about how my child is doing in school,” commented an educator playing the role of a parent.

One of the greatest benefits of the simulation was the involvement of more than 70 local community leaders who volunteered to staff the simulated businesses and resource centers.

Having the mayor, school board and city council members, university professors, business and civic leaders involved in the experience further expands the awareness and understanding across the community.

Re-examining Barriers

In the months since the poverty simulation, the All Means All initiative has been taking hold throughout the district. The firsthand experience has resonated loudly, and staff are modifying behavior. Some changes are subtle, such as tuning in more carefully to their students’ needs, acting to connect families to resources, lending a hand or simply thinking differently about the support of at-risk kids.

Newberg’s teachers and administrators are examining barriers, such as technology access or connectivity at home, and homework assignments that require adult participation or costly materials to complete that prevent students from learning. Community leaders who participated in the simulation are discussing ways their organizations can support students and their families.

Other changes are much more visible. Schools are partnering with parents, local businesses and organizations to provide resources to support families with basic necessities such as food, clothing, personal hygiene items and school supplies. A grant to provide kindergarten students with iPads loaded with literacy and numeracy apps during the summer will continue to give low-income students access to learning outside of school.

A new priority in the district’s strategic plan explicitly addresses the needs of students in poverty to eliminate the achievement gap.

I know we have a long way to go to improve outcomes for all students, but the most important stride we have made is openly acknowledging the impact of poverty on our students and realizing we have to do things differently.