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California students in high-poverty schools lose learning time, study says
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-learning-time-20141117-story.htmlCalifornia high schools with high-poverty students lose nearly two weeks of learning time annually because of teacher absences, testing, emergency lockdowns and other disruptions compared with their more affluent peers in other schools, according to a new UCLA study.
Although public schools generally offer the same number of school days and hours, following state law, the study detailed the significant differences in how the time is actually used. In heavily low-income schools, students lost about 30 minutes a day to factors often connected to economic pressures. Lack of transportation led to more tardiness, for instance, and more transiency made it more difficult to form stable classrooms.
Teachers at disadvantaged schools reported spending significantly more time on counseling, college and career advice, discussions about inequality and financial responsibility, access to healthcare and other issues not necessarily connected to academic subjects.
Their students were nearly three times as likely as more affluent peers to suffer stress from violence, immigration, caring for family members, lack of healthcare, hunger and unstable housing, the study found. And the schools struggled more with ineffective substitutes, access to school libraries and computers and noisy and dirty classrooms than higher-income campuses.
Although public schools generally offer the same number of school days and hours, following state law, the study detailed the significant differences in how the time is actually used. In heavily low-income schools, students lost about 30 minutes a day to factors often connected to economic pressures. Lack of transportation led to more tardiness, for instance, and more transiency made it more difficult to form stable classrooms.
Teachers at disadvantaged schools reported spending significantly more time on counseling, college and career advice, discussions about inequality and financial responsibility, access to healthcare and other issues not necessarily connected to academic subjects.
Their students were nearly three times as likely as more affluent peers to suffer stress from violence, immigration, caring for family members, lack of healthcare, hunger and unstable housing, the study found. And the schools struggled more with ineffective substitutes, access to school libraries and computers and noisy and dirty classrooms than higher-income campuses.
