The Influence of Socioeconomic Factors on Students

3.1 Define socioeconomic status.

• Socioeconomic status is the combination of family income, parents' occupations, and level of parental education. Socioeconomic status is divided into four classes - upper, middle, working, and lower - each with more distinct sub-classes therein.

3.2 Explain how different socioeconomic patterns influence school success.

• The children of higher socioeconomic classes experience better fulfillment of basic needs, family stability, school-related experiences (museums, concerts, libraries, learning materials, internet access, music, dance, sports), family interaction, and parental attitudes and values (especially concerning education and learning). This is in contrast to children of lower socioeconomic classes, who receive much fewer or worse quality of these factors. Due to this, low-SES elementary students come to school ill-prepared to learn, making them twice as likely to fall behind in reading and high school students are 5 times more likely to drop out. Only 1 in 4 high school graduates from low-SES families go on to college and earn a degree (compared to 8 in 10 of high-SES graduates).

3.3 How does the government define poverty? How does poverty influence learning?

• The government defines poverty by establishing poverty thresholds, household income levels that represent the lowest earnings required to meet basic living needs. As of 2011, the poverty threshold was $22,350 for a family of four.
• Children in poverty frequently go to school hungry, impacting concentration, memory, and general learning. Relocation can also put a lot of stress on students, making it difficult to concentrate and perhaps causing students to fall behind as they move from one district to another. Daily struggles and economic troubles at home can put strain on learning, as can the lack of involvement from parents in many areas such as those described in question 3.2.

3.4 How does homelessness influence learning?

• Homelessness, as a direct result of poverty, influences students' learning in many similar ways. There are, of course, additional problems. Families that have been evicted from their homes may relocate to different school districts where it's difficult to get their children back to the school they were in. They also don't have access to electricity meaning no food storage, alarm clocks, or access to the internet which is becoming a growing necessity in today's schools. Many homeless families find shelter in single-room motels where the whole family may be crowded, making homework a challenge with no quiet place to work.