Although every educator knows firsthand about the effects that poverty can have on students, here at last is a book that makes it crystal clear why and how the effects of poverty have to be addressed in classroom teaching and school and district policy. Veteran educator and brain expert Eric Jensen helps you understand what poverty does to children’s brains and why students raised in poverty are especially subject to stressors that undermine school behavior and performance. Then learn how the effects of poverty can be reversed when educators employ the practices of turn-around schools and schools that have a history of high performance among students raised in poverty. Drawing from research, experience, and real school success stories, Jensen explains what educators everywhere can do to improve the achievement of economically disadvantaged students:
- How to recognize the signs of chronic stress caused by poverty.
- Why to assess low performing students for core skills that are affected by poverty, such as attention, focus, and problem solving.
- How to change school and classroom environments to alleviate the stress caused by chronic poverty.
- Ways to empower students and increase their perception of control over their environments.
- Which schoolwide factors lead to success and which are always achievement killers.
- How enriching learning environments that include the arts and highly engaging instruction can change students’ brains and improve their lives.
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Author Bio
Eric Jensen is a former teacher and current member of the Society for Neuroscience and New York Academy of Sciences. He has taught at all levels, from elementary through university level and is currently completing his PhD in human development. In 1981, Jensen cofounded SuperCamp, the nation’s first and largest brain-compatible learning program, now with over 50,000 graduates. He has since written Teaching with the Brain in Mind, Brain-Based Learning, Deeper Learning, Arts with the Brain in Mind, Enriching the Brain, Teaching with Poverty in Mind, and 21 other books on learning and the brain.
A leader in the brain-based movement, Jensen has made over 45 visits to neuroscience labs and interacts with countless neuroscientists. He was the founder of the Learning Brain EXPO and has trained educators and trainers for 25 years worldwide in this field. He is deeply committed to making a positive, significant, lasting difference in the way we learn.