Assignment for April 15, 2008

• Guest Speaker:– Professor William Carbonaro, Department

of Sociology

• Topic:– Unequal Educational Opportunities in

America

Today

• Laura Bradley speaks about her experiences in Immokalee, FL.

• i<clicker quiz• Questions/comments about

– John Borkowski’s presentation– Daniel Lende’s presentation

• Thoughts about Children in America’s Schools and/or my follow-up slides

• Overview of Chapter Nine, “Dreams”

i<Clicker quiz

1. According to Professor Borkowski and Kids Count in Indiana 2007, between 2000 and 2006 in St. Joseph County, IN, the number of

A. the monthly average number of persons issued food stamps fell

B. substantiated child neglect cases roseC. substantiated child sexual abuse cases roseD. the percentage of children in poverty fell

i<Clicker Quiz

2. Professor Borkowski’s research showed that children below the age of three years who are being raised by poor teen mothers

A. Are more likely to develop secure attachments to their mothers

B. Are more likely to have IQs below 85C. Are less likely to be mildly retarded D. Are less likely learning disabled

i<Clicker Quiz

3. Professor Borkowski explained that poor teens often are unprepared to parent because

A. parenting skills are genetically determined and their parents did not pass good parenting genes to them.

B. they do not have basic reading, writing, and math skills.

C. they have histories of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse

D. their mothers push them aside in their eagerness to be surrogate mothers.

What was the primary point you took from Professor Borkowski’s lecture?

• Alex: The circumstances of poor teens harm the development of their children

• Alyssa: Developmental delays caused by poor parenting• Ryan: Cycle of poverty in action in South Bend• Michael: He has the answer: early childhood development!• Robbie: The major role of parenting in the cycle of poverty• (Lisa: generational parenting shift)• Conor: Teen parents have lasting effects on their children• Claire: Don’t be a teen mother!!!

Psychology

• Irreversible damage after age 3; is this really true? IQ perhaps, but behavioral alterations as well?

• Most formative years between 0-3 years old; need for a strong foundation

• Even changes in environment later in life cannot fully reverse damage; power of early nurture environment. Failure to thrive has lasting effects.

i<Clicker Quiz

4. Draw upon Professor Lende’s lecture to identify which of the following statements is true?

A. Living in poverty generates stress that increases susceptibility to drug addiction.

B. Regression analysis is a methodology frequently used in analyzing drug addiction.

C. Rich rats snort more cocaine than poor rats.D. Rational computation models of human

behavior best fit individuals in poverty.

What was the primary point you took from Professor Lende’s lecture?

• Lindsey: Poverty is a surplus of problems, not necessarily a lack of resources

• Kaitlin: We have forethought, and can have self fulfilled prophesies

• Ryan: Societal stigma of drugs • Emma: Addiction can be both biological and social• [Mike’s Question: How would you incorporation stressors into

other disciplines? (ex- behavioral economics)]

What was the relevance of Professor Lende’s lecture for your understanding of poverty?

Dreams

April 10, 2008

1. What was the author's purpose in Chapter Nine?

Children in America’s Schools

• Colleen: Shift in appreciation of learning environment (buildings), conveys message to students

• Megan: Images add new perspective to narrative, striking; especially needed at school

• Melissa: Students knew spending of city monies• Julianna: Oprah episode, school switching; race and quality of

schools, correlation• Michael: Poor schools puts pressure on home situation to

compensate• Erica: Variation in motivation

My answer

• To explain why poor children receive poor educations.

• How would you answer this question?

JW’s Answer, cont

• Shipler wants to impress upon the reader that poor children receive poor educations because too often:– They do not have the support of their parents.– Their parents do not have the knowledge, time,

and resources to devote to their educations– They teachers are incompetent and lacking in

basic material supplies– Low expectations become a self-fulfilling prophecy

2. What stands out the most among the things you learned in this chapter?

3. What one question would you ask David Shipler about Chapter Nine if he visited us?

JW’s Answer

Two new questions

• In what other courses have you studied the issues in Chapter Nine?

• Can you recommend readings and/or speakers for Chapter Nine? If so, please do so.